Oral Answers to Questions — Cabinet Office – in the House of Commons at on 14 November 2018.
John Grogan
Labour, Keighley
What recent assessment he has made of the integrity of the postal voting system in local and national elections.
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
The British public deserve to have confidence in our democracy, and the Government are committed to ensuring that our electoral system, including postal voting, is fit for the future. Next year, Peterborough and Pendle will pilot improvements to the security of postal voting. The Electoral Commission’s evaluation of some similar 2018 pilots was published in July.
John Grogan
Labour, Keighley
Does the Minister acknowledge that the combination of postal voting on demand in Great Britain, but not in Northern Ireland, and large extended family networks sometimes gives rise to accusations of undue influence? What safeguards can be put in place?
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
I would condemn any such undue influence, and I suspect that the hon. Gentleman and I agree on that wholeheartedly. It is really important that postal voters are aware that their vote is theirs alone. That was the subject of a major awareness campaign at past local elections, and we hope to see similar again.
Bob Blackman
Conservative, Harrow East
Will my hon. Friend examine what happened at the local elections last year, particularly those in London? Large numbers of voters were added to the register, had postal votes and then disappeared off the electoral register very soon afterwards. There are clearly potentially fraudulent activities at work.
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
I would certainly expect returning officers to look into that carefully, and I would support them in their efforts to do so. It is difficult for me to make any more detailed comments on that from the Dispatch Box, but in general terms we certainly wish to keep the postal-voting process secure and safe and to ensure that that process contributes to the overall integrity of our elections.
Barry Sheerman
Labour/Co-operative, Huddersfield
Will the Minister assure the House that if there is an early General Election, our postal-vote system is robust enough and able to cope?
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
Yes, but I do not expect it to have to.
David Evennett
Conservative, Bexleyheath and Crayford
Does the Minister share my view that strengthening the integrity of the postal-voting system will ensure that our electoral system is fit for the future?
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
Yes, I do, which is why I refer again to the pilots that I mentioned in my first answer. They will be important to give voters reassurance and confidence that our system is doing what we expect it to do and thus that our elections overall are secure.
Gregory Campbell
Shadow DUP Spokesperson (International Development), Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
Does the Minister accept that we must ensure that there is no repeat of what happened in the most recent election in Northern Ireland, where, because the proxy and postal-vote system did not require people to produce photographic ID, there was a 600% increase in such voting in one Constituency, resulting in a perversion of democracy?
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
I am happy to take a closer look at the figure that the hon. Gentleman cites and the specifics of that case. I mention again the pilots that we have tested in 2018 and that will run again in 2019, which are about helping voters to be confident that the whole system—not only postal and proxy voting but the rest of the electoral system—is secure, by means of looking into ways for voters to identify themselves and show that they are who they say they are.
Chris Green
Conservative, Bolton West
Eric Pickles’s report “Securing the ballot” suggested that postal-ballot applications should have to be made every three years. Is my hon. Friend looking into that suggestion?
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
I am grateful to Sir Eric Pickles, as was—
Chris Green
Conservative, Bolton West
Lord Pickles, now.
Chloe Smith
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, Assistant Whip
Indeed. I am grateful to Lord Pickles for his report and his work, and we are looking carefully at the huge Majority of his recommendations and taking them forward wherever we can.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
If you've ever seen inside the Commons, you'll notice a large table in the middle - upon this table is a box, known as the dispatch box. When members of the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet address the house, they speak from the dispatch box. There is a dispatch box for the government and for the opposition. Ministers and Shadow Ministers speak to the house from these boxes.
In a general election, each constituency chooses an MP to represent it by process of election. The party who wins the most seats in parliament is in power, with its leader becoming Prime Minister and its Ministers/Shadow Ministers making up the new Cabinet. If no party has a majority, this is known as a hung Parliament. The next general election will take place on or before 3rd June 2010.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
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.
