I shall speak to Amendment No. 7 in my name and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) who, unfortunately, has had to attend a meeting of the Select Committee on Home Affairs. I know that he wanted to be here.

The hon. Member for Stone raised an important issue in his amendment about the role of the Governor. It would be anomalous if the Governor were described as a simple functionary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in that that would mean that the Government were consulting themselves. In this instance, the Governor has a wider constitutional role. The hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Rosindell) has a point in saying that the Governor is effectively the Crown in the context of an overseas territory. The Governor carries out the functions of the Crown and, following the recommendation of the Secretary of State, is an appointment of the Crown. It is an odd Bill that requires the Executive to consult the Crown on matters of electoral law and there could be strange constitutional ramifications. It would be hard to envisage any context in which the Governor could express a personal view or a view that could be construed as controversial in any way in those circumstances without bringing into question large parts of the constitutional settlement. That would be a worrying turn of events in relation to what is a minor provision.