"The hon. Gentleman has made a lot of interventions, and other Members wish to get in.
When an election is over—you will recall the first general election I fought was against you, Madam Deputy Speaker—and the result is in, the people have spoken. As democrats, none of us says the …..." Stephen Williams - View Speech
"I was also at the Select Committee hearing with Professor Johnston of Bristol university to which the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Tristram Hunt) referred. Professor Johnston actually said that public inquires were usually games for political parties, and that some parties were able to hire expensive barristers. The public …..." Stephen Williams - View Speech
"No threshold was involved in the referendum to create the National Assembly for Wales in the summer of 1997. The area represented by the hon. Gentleman, Rhondda Cynon Taf, voted yes in that referendum. Is the hon. Gentleman suggesting that the votes of his own constituents should have been invalidated …..." Stephen Williams - View Speech
"I will be as brief as possible, as I know that many Members want to speak.
My basic point is that we have many elections in this country where we do not require a threshold in order to give legitimacy to the result. We know that this referendum is very …..." Stephen Williams - View Speech
"I am about to stop to allow others to get in. Bristol’s turnout is traditionally higher than that of most of the other great urban areas of this country, yet we do not say that the people elected to run our great cities in England are not fairly elected and …..." Stephen Williams - View Speech
"Does the hon. Gentleman accept that such anomalies already exist and have existed for a long time? In England it is common for local government elections to be held on the same day as a parliamentary election. In Bristol those local government elections follow an entirely different timetable from the …..." Stephen Williams - View Speech