Government of Wales Bill

My Lords, I hear what the noble Lord says, and that helps to a degree. The real reason why I am going to ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment, despite the significance of the case that he has put forward, is that this issue is being addressed across the whole of the United Kingdom in the Electoral Administration Bill, which is in its final stages of consideration. Clause 24 of that Bill deals with the death of a candidate at a parliamentary election, and where the election has to be countermanded or abandoned it shortens the delay before a fresh election can be held. It also removes the need to countermand or abandon an election if the candidate who dies is an independent, which was part of the problem identified in the last general election. I assure the House that my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Wales plans to make generally analogous changes in an order that will update the rules for conduct of Assembly elections to be made under Section 11 of the Government of Wales Act 1998. The order will be brought forward for approval in plenty of time for the next Assembly elections in May 2007. So the amendment is unnecessary. We are aware of the issue and that there is widespread concern about it. We intend to deal with it in terms of UK elections, and the Secretary of State for Wales will deal with it for the next election to the National Assembly for Wales, in 2007.