(1 day, 21 hours ago)
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Lord Jamieson (Con)
My Lords, I declare my interest as a councillor in central Bedfordshire.
The Bill is most welcome, and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Murphy of Torfaen, for bringing it forward. It makes the necessary provisions to ensure that, where divergence has arisen across the whole of Great Britain, shared democratic values are brought into closer practical alignment. In doing so, it strengthens the unity of our democratic system while respecting the distinct identities of the devolved nations. We on these Benches have always sought to bridge the gaps between the constituent communities that make our country so unique and vibrant.
It is right to acknowledge that the Bill builds on the work of the previous Government, including the Elections Act 2022, which took important steps to reinforce the security and transparency of our democratic processes. That Act introduced measures such as digital imprints on online campaign materials and enhanced security for political funding—reforms that were both timely and necessary. It is therefore regrettable that legislative consent was not granted for those measures at the time. This Bill now goes some way to mitigate the effect of those divisions.
I also reiterate what my noble friend Lady Scott said at Second Reading: I urge the Government to reconsider any proposals to dilute voter ID requirements. Today we are legislating to make voting easier while maintaining appropriate safeguards. We must not, at the same time, take steps to weaken the security of our elections.
Finally, accessibility is vital, but so too is security. Protecting the integrity of our elections by guarding against fraud or interference is a core duty of any responsible Government. In the other place, my honourable friend Paul Holmes rightly called for Ministers to
“take decisive and proactive steps…to prevent malign influence, whether domestic or foreign”—[Official Report, Commons, 4/7/25; col. 594.]
as we modernise and reform our systems. I would therefore be grateful if the Minister could use this opportunity to set out what specific steps the Government are taking to uphold that commitment.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his comments. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions to and support for the Bill, and particularly my noble friend Lord Murphy of Torfaen for his stewardship of the Bill through this House.
Our democracy remains at the heart of our Government’s purpose and mission. On the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, the Government will bring forward a number of changes in the forthcoming elections Bill, which will come before this House in due course; we will have the opportunity to discuss these matters further at that point.
I thank my noble friend Lord Murphy for his excellent contribution to our democratic process.
Lord Rennard (LD)
Before the Minister sits down, I note that I agree with some of the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, if not all of them. He makes some good points about the different gaps in and problems within our election laws. In our Second Reading and Committee debates, many of us across the House spoke about the need to consolidate properly all election laws.
We recognise that the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, has done extremely well in bringing this Bill forward— I shall call it a small, tidying-up measure. It is still a very important principle that people in Scotland and Wales can apply online to vote as absent voters; that should probably have been done in 2022, without needing a Private Member’s Bill. We frequently have debates in which the expertise in this House highlights the need, as the law commissions keep emphasising, for proper consolidation of election laws, bringing together the legislation of 2000 and the old legislation of the Representation of the People Act. Can the Minister say a bit more about the Government’s intention regarding consolidating election law in general?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Rennard; he is right to flag up that more work is to be done on elections. That is why, in response to the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, I referred to the forthcoming elections Bill. I am sure that noble Lords in this House, where there is indeed a great deal of expertise in election matters, will want to contribute to that Bill as it comes forward.
I hope we will be able to incorporate many of the matters we have discussed over the years that have been missed out of the elections process or need further tightening because of current circumstances— I believe that the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, was referring to that too. We have seen a significant change in the way things operate, so we need to make sure that election law keeps up with that. That is our aim as we bring forward the elections Bill, and I look forward to the contributions of all Members of the House when we do so.
Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Lab)
My Lords, it is quite difficult for a Welsh Labour politician to talk about elections dispassionately, but I will try to do that. I thank all those who have been involved in the Bill—my honourable friend Tracy Gilbert from the other place and, of course, all the officials and parliamentary officials who have put the Bill through. I would like to thank all Members here who realised that this is a small but important step in the right direction, in the sense that now, at last, voters in Scotland and Wales will be able to apply online for postal and proxy votes for the Senedd, the Scottish Parliament and for Scottish and Welsh local elections.
There is one point I want to emphasise before I sit down, and I know the Minister is aware of this. Now that the Bill has gone through its parliamentary stages and will become law very soon, it is important, because there are six months left before those important elections next year, that the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government now properly look at these new arrangements and ensure that people can vote by proxy or by post at the next Senedd and Scottish Parliament elections. As I said at Second Reading, I will continue to vote at Llantarnam church hall.
I beg to move that the Bill do now pass.