Election Law

Lord Sikka Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

It sounds to me as if the noble Lord is dancing on the head of a pin here. The Government’s intention is that all elections that are due to take place in May 2026 will take place.

[Lord Sikka (Lab)]

My Lords, a major problem is that people are disillusioned with the political system. Political parties are busy selling themselves to the highest bidder. Nearly half of 18 to 24 year-olds are not registered to vote and turnout at elections is low. Even if people vote, political parties appease their paymasters first. So what proposals do the Government have to cleanse the political system?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

Actually, there are a very significant number of young people who have expressed their wish to take part in the political system. From my point of view, engaging more people in our system with the education steps that I spoke about earlier, to make sure that we introduce civic education and education around the political process, will help improve trust and confidence in the system.