Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 1 June (HL Deb col 642), what is the evidential basis that there was extensive consultation with political parties during the course of the drawing up of the Representation of the People Bill.

The Government has undertaken consultation on the Representation of the People Bill over the whole length of its development. In July 2025 the then-Minister for Homelessness and Democracy, the Hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney, wrote to all frontbenchers inviting them to meet with her about the recently published Strategy for Elections, which forms the basis for the Bill and hosted discussions on the document open to all Members of both Houses.

Since then, the Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy has consulted with political parties throughout the passage of the Bill, including inviting frontbenchers to meet with her to discuss the Bill upon its introduction in the Other Place. Officials from my department have also met with the Parliamentary Parties Panel during the development of the Bill, most recently on 2 June.