Revealed: the AV referendum question
The wording of the question that voters will be asked in next May’s AV referendum has been published: Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the ‘alternative vote’ system instead of the current ‘first...
View ArticleLabour to oppose voting reform legislation
The Labour shadow cabinet has decided to vote against the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, insisting that it should not be given a second reading. From the Press Association, Labour...
View ArticleElectoral Commission: AV referendum question should be simplified
The question for the proposed referendum on the UK Parliamentary voting system should be made shorter and easier to understand, according to an assessment published by the Electoral Commission. As I...
View ArticleElections staff set to miss out on pay if they do a bad job
Amendments 265 and 266 to the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill may not have grabbed any headlines but they mark a very welcome change in policy – for under them the fees paid to...
View ArticleHint to MPs: read legislation before asking a question about it
It’s not unusual for me to be less than impressed with Parliamentary debates on election law matters as so many of those deciding on what legislation should say have so many large gaps in their own...
View ArticleNick Clegg and Simon Hughes ask: Are you registered to vote?
In the light of today’s news that 3.5 million voters are missing from the electoral register, and in view of the forthcoming boundary changes based on the number of voters on the electoral roll as it...
View ArticleDear Lord Falconer…
Dear Lord Falconer, You have me confused with your claim that the Parliamentary Constituencies and Voting Systems Bill is a hybrid bill (and so should go through a different and slower Parliamentary...
View ArticleChris Rennard writes… The battle for electoral reform in the Lords
Battle has been joined in the House of Lords over the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill (generally referred to as the PVSC Bill). Having passed all stages in the Commons, it came to...
View ArticleOpinion: the forgotten deadline in the Parliamentary Voting System and...
With the Yes to AV campaign getting into full swing (and attempts by the No camp to do the same), it is perhaps unsurprising that the majority of the recent commentary on the Parliamentary Voting...
View ArticleParliamentary pillow fight as peers face all-night sittings
Members of the House of Lords are bedding down for the first ermine sleepover in recent Parliamentary history as peers debate the government’s plans to hold a referendum on electoral reform....
View ArticleI hope this isn’t what Labour means by sensible debate over Parliamentary...
We’ve heard a lot in recent weeks about how keen the Labour Party is to have sensible debate, careful consideration and proper analysis of the government’s proposals to change the way Parliamentary...
View ArticleLib Dem Peer Lord Goodhart calls for filibuster ban
Video also available at BBC Democracy Live. Liberal Democrat Lord Goodhart has called for legislation to stop filibustering in the House of Lords. From the BBC: In a debate on the effect on Parliament...
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Compromise and conflict in the air in Lords stand-off over filibustering
There’s a finely balanced stand-off in the Lords over the Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Bill. Many Labour peers feel they are just a few days of filibustering away from achieving, for...
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Crossbenchers increasingly hostile to Labour as government makes boundary...
Increasing anger from crossbench peers at Labour’s filibustering in the Lords looks to be preparing the way for either Labour backing down or (for the Lords) highly unusual procedural decisions to end...
View ArticleChris Rennard writes: The row over the AV referendum will bring forward major...
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill has now had a longer Committee stage in the House of Lords than any legislation taken there since at least 1945. The Bill is not a particularly...
View ArticleDeal struck in Lords over Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill
From the BBC: Tory and Labour peers have reached a deal ending the deadlock which threatened to block a 5 May referendum on changing the Westminster voting system, Lords leader Lord Strathclyde has...
View ArticlePaul Tyler writes… Radicals and reactionaries on the red benches
Julian Glover, writing on the Guardian website, has called the situation in the House of Lords well today. “This is a ceasefire not an armistice,” he says. As of midday today (Wednesday), Lord...
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Labour’s filibustering and the consequences for political reform
A slightly shorter version of this piece appeared on OurKingdom last week: The unprecedented filibustering by Labour peers (or rather more accurately, given the splits between hardliners and moderates...
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Chris Rennard writes… So what was all the fuss in Parliament about?
Late on Wednesday night Nick Clegg was at the back of the House of Lords to see Royal Assent granted to the Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Bill. His presence there emphasised his...
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