Oral Answers to Questions — Electoral Register – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 8 December 1949.
Mr David Gammans
, Hornsey
12:00,
8 December 1949
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that only those Colonial civil servants who are paid out of money provided wholly by Parliament are eligible to vote in an election in the United Kingdom; and, as this rules out the Majority of Colonial servants, what steps he proposes to take in the matter.
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
Yes, Sir. The provision to which the hon. Member refers is contained in regulations approved by Parliament and accords, in my view, with the intention of Parliament when it enacted Section 6 of the Representation of the People Act, 1948.
Mr David Gammans
, Hornsey
Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise the anomaly that officers in the Consular Service abroad have a vote in this country, but officers in the Colonial Service abroad normally have no vote?
Mr James Ede
, South Shields
That is a point that should have been raised when we had a very full discussion on this matter when the Bill was going through the House.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
