Clause 5
Political Parties and Elections Bill
11:30 am
Pete Wishart (Spokesperson (Overseas Aid; Culture, Media & Sport; Ministry of Justice); Perth and North Perthshire, Scottish National Party)
I, too, would be very interested to hear names.
I am grateful for the hon. Lady’s intervention—or should I say speech?—and I noted that her colleagues looked with wry interest when she said that she would be prepared to give up the Conservative nomination to the Electoral Commission to somebody from another party. In light of that kind suggestion, we could suggest somebody from the Scottish National party to fill her party’s nomination.
I am glad, however, that the hon. Lady has opened up this debate. If the four commissioners are to be truly non-political and non-partisan, I would be happy, but given some of the noes that I am hearing from Conservative colleagues, that might not be the case. I suggest that nominations for the party political commissioners will be truly and wholly party political.
My amendments would deal with that matter fairly and squarely by ensuring that any registered political party with more than two Members in this House would have a political commissioner on the commission. In one blow, that would deal with all the outstanding issues. Every significant party in all United Kingdom legislatures would be represented on the commission. The Scottish National party, the SDLP and the Democratic Unionist party would, therefore, have a say on the commission about electoral regulation within their own legislatures and Parliaments. Surely that is fair and transparent.
The Minister will tell me that that would mean a majority of political commissioners on the Electoral Commission, which I accept. However, I would prefer that to excluding certain parties. If that solution is not accepted by the Committee, I would suggest that we have no political commissioners at all, which again would be preferable to excluding some parties, which would mean that some legislatures are demoted and would lose an interest in the commission.
Two options are on the table: to ensure that all political parties with a significant political presence in all United Kingdom legislatures are properly represented on the Electoral Commission or none at all. The suggestion in the Bill is the worst of all worlds. Regardless of what the hon. Lady might say about the nomination process, the three big parties have their nominated appointee on the commission, and one will remain for all the minority parties. I have no idea how that will be decided. It will be left to the Speaker’s Committee, but I do not even know who is on that Committee and I have no idea how it will decide who that fourth commissioner will go to. I suspect that it will automatically select the largest minority party—the DUP—which would be unacceptable to the SNP, just as an SNP commissioner would presumably be unacceptable to the DUP.
No process is in place for sorting that out. It is a total mess. I ask the Minister to consider sincerely my genuine plea to resolve this problem. I want him to recognise that we are in a multi-legislature United Kingdom. How will he address this problem? Is it acceptable that the Governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and perhaps a coalition in Wales, do not have a place at the top table of the Electoral Commission? I look forward to the Minister’s remarks.