Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they held in relation to amending the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill to allow an MP to (1) seek a dual mandate as an MLA, and (2) hold both mandates for the duration of the current Parliament; which political parties participated in these discussions; what agreement was reached; and (a) when, and (b) by whom, the decision was taken not to move any relevant Government amendments at Report stage in the House of Lords on 19 January.

The subject of dual mandates was debated extensively in the House of Lords during Committee Stage of the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill, following the tabling of an amendment by Lord Alderdice, which was supported by a number of noble Lords. At the conclusion of the debate, I undertook to consider the matter further with a view to returning to it at Report Stage. Following this, I carried out broad engagement in parliament, and spoke to representatives from a number of political parties setting out the Government's proposed approach.

After the Government tabled the amendment, however, the majority of Northern Ireland parties made clear that they did not wish to see any change to the current arrangements. As a result of this widespread opposition, the Prime Minister announced to the House of Commons on 19 January the Government’s decision not to move its amendment.