New Clause 1 - Electorate per constituency

Part of Parliamentary Constituencies Bill – in the House of Commons at 3:15 pm on 14 July 2020.

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Photo of Cat Smith Cat Smith Shadow Minister for Young People and Voter Engagement 3:15, 14 July 2020

I think in the case of Port Talbot it was the 5% quota that meant that that decision had to be reached. When we are talking about quotas, we know that internationally a larger quota is used and promoted as best practice for securing fair representation. Indeed, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission’s code of good practice in electoral matters recommends allowing a standard permissible tolerance of an average of plus or minus 10%.

As the Minister knows, there is a consensus amongst respected experts such as David Rosser and Professor Charles Pattie who agree that the 5% rule causes significant disruption to community boundaries.