Orders of the Day — European Parliamentary Elections Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 7:31 pm on 25 November 1997.

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Photo of Mr David Lock Mr David Lock Labour, Wyre Forest 7:31, 25 November 1997

Is not the argument that the right hon. Gentleman makes precisely the same as that which used to apply to his party in the south-east of England? I appreciate that that is a long time ago— we have had several events such as Winchester since then.

If a candidate was selected for the Conservative party for the constituency of South Downs West, he might as well go out and buy the restaurant guide for Strasbourg. The same applied in south Wales. If someone managed to get the Labour nomination for a single-Member constituency, the result was a foregone conclusion. Is not the precise defect of single-Member constituencies the fact that the power resides with the selectocracy—the people who put forward the candidate under the party name—not the people doing the voting?