Clause 1
Political Parties and Elections Bill
4:30 pm
Jonathan Djanogly (Shadow Minister, Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Huntingdon, Conservative)
We move to clause 1, which deals with the functions of the Electoral Commission. In fact, we are moving back to clause 1. There is always something about moving backwards in Bills. I should like to put it on record that we have found it difficult to prepare comprehensively for these clauses. They are the most technical clauses in the Bill, and it would have been helpful to have had more time. As a result, amendments have been rushed with little or no time for consultation. That includes the Government amendments that we received on Friday. Although it is good to have seen the amendments—and I thank the Minister for having put some of them through—we have not been able to consult on them for obvious reasons. Frankly, that is not the best way to make law. I hope that lessons will be learned from the experience that we have had in this Committee, although that is unlikely to be the case.