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.