Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to tackle bribery during elections.

Under section 113 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1983 it is an offence for a person to give money or a gift to any other person in order to induce them to vote or to refrain from voting at an election. There is a similar offence at section 114 of the RPA 1983 in relation to the treating of voters.

Furthermore, the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act) replaced an old and outmoded mix of common and statutory law and was designed to provide the courts, prosecutors and investigators the tools they needed to tackle bribery in the UK and overseas in the 21st century. The Act reflects the UK's continued commitment to combat bribery and provides a modern, comprehensive scheme of bribery offences.

If anyone has evidence of abuse of the electoral system, this should be reported to the Returning Officer or the Police who have powers to investigate.

We will continue to keep electoral law under review to ensure the electoral system is safe and secure.