Representation of the People Bill

Shivani Raja Excerpts

Report stage & 3rd reading
Wednesday 2nd September 2026 Commons Chamber

I thank the new Minister, her predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Chester North and Neston, officials and all the others who have worked on the Bill. I am grateful for the work that colleagues have done across the board—particularly those who have put forward the amendments I have spoken about. I hope that this work will strengthen our democracy—I know it will. We have got to keep a close eye on this issue, because it is too important.

[Shivani Raja (Leicester East) (Con)]

At the 2024 general election, just 52% of overseas postal ballots were returned in time to be counted. That is a shocking systemic failure of our democratic process. It means that nearly half of all overseas electors who took the time to register, requested a ballot and tried to exercise their democratic right were effectively disenfranchised by international mail delays.

As Members of this House, our fundamental duty is to maximise participation in the democratic system we are privileged to represent. When we look around the world at regimes where the public voice is silenced or undervalued, we must redouble our efforts to prevent a democratic deficit here at home.

The amendments tabled by my Conservative colleagues offer practical, common-sense fixes to the deficit we see today, ensuring that all British citizens can partake in our great democracy and that the Representation of the People Bill lives up to its name, representing all those who belong to our nation in a fair and equal way. New clause 63 would address the core logistical bottleneck by permitting in-person voting at designated UK embassies and consulates across the globe. For British citizens who cannot rely on slow, unpredictable international postal transit, this would provide a secure and reliable alternative, allowing them to put their cross in a box on election day. It would work hand in hand with new clause 64, which would mandate a comprehensive review into overseas participation to establish best practice and expand registration. New clause 65 would introduce another simple improvement, allowing citizens to register on the electoral roll when renewing their British passport, which would dramatically boost engagement among our global community.

Having rightly expanded the overseas franchise in recent years, Parliament has a moral obligation to provide the administrative infrastructure to make that right meaningful. It is deeply regrettable that the Government have failed to incorporate these practical solutions into the core text of the Bill. We will continue to champion these measures to ensure that every British citizen, wherever they live, work or serve, can make their voice heard at the ballot box.

[Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I start by paying tribute to the new Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), for all the work she did on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on these issues. I know that she will do a brilliant job in this role. I also pay tribute to everyone who has played a part in this Bill to date, because for all our ambitions for the things we would like to change in the world, if the process by which we make those changes is not fair and free, we will not be able to achieve anything. We all know and understand that.

Like everybody else, I recognise that new clause 31 is out of scope. I would gently suggest to the shadow Minister that there are many versions of proportional representation and electoral reform—those of us who have nerded out over this for years know that. We would welcome her having that conversation, which might be more illuminating than whether she is concerned about Zach Goldmsith’s leaflets.

I add my support to the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) on domestic abuse and those supported by many of my colleagues from east London—maybe that says something about politics in our part of town—about abuse of candidates. I know well what my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney (Rushanara Ali) has been through, and it is a testament to her character that she is here fighting for change. I also support the amendments tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne) on crypto donations. I do not really understand the technology, but I know that he does, and I understand and share his fear accordingly.

We come here today to debate this Bill because we all know that trust is a bygone issue in our politics. It takes something for us in this House to be lectured by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, but we are being lectured on this. It is like turkeys being told that Christmas is a good idea. IPSA has pointed out to us that only 28% of the public think that MPs care about their local community at all—so two thirds of our constituents think that we are here out of our own self-interest—and only 4% think that we are doing anything good for the country. The difficult question that we all have to take on the chin is: in whose interest do the public think we are acting? From today, if we do not take a stand with this Bill to tackle the ways that money has infiltrated our politics, the risk is that they will think we are acting in the interests of our own back pockets.

We have heard a lot of quotes today, so let me bring in William Blake, who said:

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but foresight is better”.

We have all seen it. We know that money is coming in. We know that this is something different, and we know enough to know that it is a problem.