By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter Yesterday saw the Second Reading in the Commons of the Pensions Bill – the legislation currently in the news which accelerates the existing timetable for increasing the State Pension age to 66. This will mean the pension age will be increased from 60 to 65 for women by 2018, before being […]
By Jonathan Isaby In advance of the 2010 General Election, I was proud to found the successful Save General Election Night campaign to ensure that votes were counted as soon as the polls shut, despite a number of Returning Officers wanting to wait until the following day to conduct the count. My reasons for the […]
By Jonathan Isaby During last night's proceedings on the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, Tory MP Bill Cash proposed an amendment that the AV referendum should be subject to a 40% turnout threshold. He explained to the Commons: "My amendment is very modest. It simply calls on the Government to agree that we should […]
By Jonathan Isaby This afternoon in the Commons, Cabinet Office minister Mark Harper was summoned to the Dispatch Box to answer an Urgent Question on the decision to grant the right to vote to prisoners. Quite why Nick Clegg could not have done so, given that his is the only of the main parties to […]
by Paul Goodman It's worth keeping an eye on the progress of the NAME bill – the measure that paves the way for a referendum on AV and a reduction in the number of Commons seats. On Tuesday evening, Bernard Jenkin argued that the May 5 poll date should be moved – because some parts […]
A month ago, Jack Straw accepted a new clause tabled by the Conservatives to the Constitution and Governance Bill which enshrined in law that returning officers were duty bound to count the votes at general elections within four hours of the close of poll, i.e. on the Thursday night. It seemed that General Election Night […]
As promised by Eleanor Laing last week, the Conservatives have tabled an amendment to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill which would Save General Election Night by setting in statute a requirement for Returning Officers to count votes at general elections on the night. It proposes that counts could only be delayed if there are […]
Yesterday saw an adjournment debate in the Westminster Hall chamber initiated by Labour MP David Cairns on "the accountability of returning officers", which enabled MPs to discuss the Campaign to Save General Election Night. There were more than a dozen MPs present for the debate – far higher than usual for proceedings in Westminster Hall […]
Bob Spink, erstwhile Tory and MP for Castle Point, rather upset some of his former Conservative colleagues yesterday during a debate on the Political Parties and Elections Bill, including James Duddridge (right). MPs were debating raising the threshold for public donations to parties from £200 to £500. Mr Spink intervened: "An amount of £200 is […]
Tory MPs speak against Julie Morgan MP’s Private Members’ Bill in favour of lowering the voting age to sixteen. Brooks Newmark: "One of the big challenges is that it is hard enough to get 18 to 21-year-olds to vote, yet they too, at an earlier stage, called for more representation and wanted a say in […]