Clause 27 - Amount of expenses which may be incurred by third party
Electoral Administration Bill
9:00 am
Jonathan Djanogly (Shadow Solicitor General (Also Assists Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs), (Assist the Home Affairs Team); Huntingdon, Conservative)
Good morning, Mr. Conway. The Newspaper Society has brought to our attention the fact that subsection (5) will allow expenditure incurred before the defined elections period to count towards the prescribed total by virtue of its being deemed later to be in connection with expenditure during the election period, irrespective of whether the identity of the candidate was known at the time.
The society is concerned that that will create so wide and uncertain an offence that it would be impossible for newspaper publishers or other third parties at risk under section 75(5) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 to regulate their behaviour in such a way that they could avoid inadvertently falling foul of the law. That concern seems legitimate, and I should be grateful if the Minister were to consider the problem.
Harriet Harman (Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Camberwell and Peckham, Labour)
I welcome you, Mr. Conway, to the Committee.
It is difficult, by definition, to deal with unauthorised expenditure. Authorised expenditure can be attributed to the candidate, so it is straightforward. Unauthorised expenditure, however, is different territory. I shall consider the point raised by the hon. Gentleman.
Clause 27 has two purposes. First, it clarifies an ambiguity about what types of expenditure are allowed by a third party under section 75 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 on promoting or disparaging a candidate's election without the authority of the candidate, his election agent or persons authorised in writing by the election agent.
Following the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Bowman v. UK, the Government amended section 75 of the 1983 Act by means of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 so as to increase the expenditure limit for unauthorised third parties. I understand that it stands at £500. However, section 75 remains ambiguous as to precisely what that money can be spent on.
Clause 27 is an attempt to clear that ambiguity. Expenditure by unauthorised third parties up to the levels already set in the 1983 Act will be allowed on holding public meetings or organising any public display; and issuing advertisements, circulars or publications, which is when newspapers would become involved. Those amendments will be retrospective, with effect from 16 February 2001.
Secondly, clause 27 provides that expenditure incurred by a third party with the authorisation of the agent or candidate will count towards the candidate's own expenditure limit during the relevant period. The relevant period, as we shall discuss in a moment, is the four months ending with the date of poll, except for by-elections, when it begins on the day of the vacancy and ends on polling day.
Those amendments provide clarification of the existing law and will fully meet the intentions of the ECHR judgement in the Bowman case. There are apparently some exceptions for the media, but I shall write to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) to clarify that point.
Brian Binley (Northampton South, Conservative)
Thank you, Mr. Conway. I am grateful to the Minister, but I seek clarification. Clause 27(3) states:
''After subsection (1) insert . . . (a) a newspaper or other periodical.''
The right hon. and learned Lady said that that does not include advertising. If that is the case, I am perfectly happy.
Harriet Harman (Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Camberwell and Peckham, Labour)
I will have to clarify that. It will include advertising by an unauthorised third party, but I am not sure whether that is what the hon. Member for Huntingdon was referring to. I do not think that he was referring to advertising. There are two separate things. One is unauthorised advertising; the other is what newspapers write. The hon. Member for Northampton, South (Mr. Binley) has helpfully drawn our attention to subsection (3)(a), but I would like an opportunity further to clarify the matter.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 27 ordered to stand part of the Bill.