Electoral Administration Bill

I can most certainly give the hon. Gentleman that solace. There will be only one polling station. Amendments Nos. 17 and 18 relate to false statements at nomination. They are consequential on the removal of what was clause 23 of the Bill. An independent candidate in his consent to nomination would have been required to"““state that he has not been selected or authorised to stand in the name or on behalf of any registered party, organisation or other person.””" Clause 27(3) makes it an offence to make a false statement to that effect. However, as that statement is no longer required to be made, there is no need to create another offence. I know that Liberal Democrat Members will be particularly pleased that we are not creating any further offences. Amendments Nos. 19 to 26 and Amendment No. 88 relate to the provision for candidates’ expenses. Hon. Members might recall that we had a vigorous debate on that issue—led by the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde (David Cairns)—on Report in the Commons. [Interruption.] Indeed, it was led very ably. Several issues were raised and the Government took on board the views of hon. Members and resolved to work through them in another place. The key concern that we were trying to address by introducing the four-month period for candidates’ election expenses was that of unregulated spending taking place in advance of the elections expenses period beginning. We touched on that in an earlier debate this evening. The amendments that we are considering today will return us to the present situation in respect of the length of a candidate’s elections expenses period. A candidate’s election expenses will count against his or her statutory expenditure limit from the point at which they become a candidate. In the case of a candidate at a general election, that will be the period between the dissolution of Parliament and polling day. In local elections, it is the period from the last date of publication of the notice of election up until polling day. For the record, I should point out that these amendments will not affect the very useful provisions in clauses 29 and 31, which clarify the scope of activity by unauthorised third parties under section 75 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and what counts as election expenses for candidates. I recognise that the Bill will not now address the problem of unregulated amounts of money being spent by candidates in the months or weeks leading up to the point at which the general election is called. As I am sure that we are all aware, political campaigning techniques are becoming more sophisticated and more time, effort, and money is being invested in campaigning in marginal seats in particular. The issue is about money being spent at a local level—sometimes quite large amounts—and not counting as candidates’ election expenses because it is spent before the dissolution of Parliament. Labour Members have already expressed their concerns about the way in which that has affected results, particularly in the last general election, and I am sorry that we have been unable to come up with an early solution to the problem. However, along with working towards a consensus on this issue with the parties and peers in another place, we have talked to Sir Hayden Phillips and asked him whether he will extend his review to look at the issue of expenses of parties and candidates during the election period. This approach will make sense, because it means that all facets of party funding and election spending will be examined across the piece. I am sure that a comprehensive approach can then be achieved. I know that Sir Hayden will welcome any input that hon. Members care to make to that review on this and related matters.