UK Parliament / Open data

Government of Wales Bill

I will come back to that point, and perhaps the hon. Gentleman can hold on until I do. Let me deal with the Clwyd, West question. The White Paper said that the current arrangement for dual candidacy"““devalues the integrity of the electoral system in the eyes of the public and acts a disincentive to vote in constituency elections.””" However, we have heard already that, despite the jovial and ironic comments made by the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd), none of us has received sacks full of post about the issue from the general public. This has not been the cause of insomnia or outrage in Montgomeryshire and I do not believe that it has been to any significant extent outside the village of politicians themselves. I do not believe that the public really talk about this. Although that does not mean that we should not talk about it, we need to recognise that it is not realistic for the Government to suggest that they are responding to public opinion. The pressure of public opinion simply is not there on this issue.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
442 c104 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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