Electoral Administration Bill

My Lords, as noble Lords know, the commission consulted with political parties and electoral administrators before making the recommendation. We recognise, as noble Lords generally did in Committee, that it will remove the current burden on returning officers who have to decide whether a description is acceptable and, we hope, reduce the potential for inconsistent treatment of parties, which would be a great benefit. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, for his suggestion. I do not agree with Amendment No. 104, to limit the power of the Secretary of State to a number above 12, but if the noble Lord is willing then I am happy to look at 12 to see whether we might do something around that. I will need to take that away and talk to people, but there is considerable interest in the possibility of that being a suitable number. If the noble Lord will withdraw the amendment on that basis, I shall come back to him.