Electoral Administration Bill

Members of Parliament do not have an automatic right to attend the count, which is why we reinstated the returning officer’s discretion to allow a Member of Parliament or the mayor, as I said, to do so. If the returning officer uses his discretion, Members of Parliament would not require nomination to attend the count. Finally, Lords amendments Nos. 104, 106 and 132 are Scottish technical amendments that clarify the fact that certain provisions in the schedules do not affect local government elections in Scotland, otherwise there could be an impact on devolved matters. I hope that the House will accept all the Lords amendments.