Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

Lord Tyler Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Tyler]

Perhaps the noble Lord also saw that the Electoral Commission, in its advice to your Lordships' House, also said something that the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, did not mention: namely, that while it supported the principle of the amendment, it did not feel that it was necessary as its intended outcome could be achieved through the chief counting officer's power of direction for the referendum, as provided for in the Bill. Therefore it is not entirely fair to say that the situation has changed in the way that the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, and the noble Lord, Lord Bach, said.

As someone who has in the past given informal advice to the Electoral Commission, I agree that it is not beyond criticism. I am sure that some criticism of it is entirely proper, but it would be unfair to suggest that it has changed its mind in the way that was mentioned.

[Lord Bach]

I am very grateful to the noble Lord, as always—and the Electoral Commission must be even more grateful than I. These are sensible amendments that one would have thought the commission would have supported, given all that it said about the scandalous issues that arose in Sheffield and a few other places during the last election. It is remarkable that it seems to have changed its mind.

I will put that to one side. The Government will make up their mind about whether to do something about the scandal in May last year. My question to the noble and learned Lord is: what do the Government intend to do to make sure that this does not happen again in May this year?