Political Parties and Elections Bill

I raise one point that has not been touched on. I have considerable sympathy with the substance of paragraph (a), although it may be important to stress the desirability that someone has that background, rather than prescribe it. I also have sympathy with the point made in paragraph (b), although I recognise the problems that have been identified when you are appointing only one person. The problem I would draw attention to is the relationship between the two; it might be a bit depressing to do so, but paragraph (b) supposes that paragraph (a) encompasses a fairly diverse body of people already. You would have to do a study of those who have actually got the experience of the electoral system in this country—electoral administrators. It may be that we find that, with regard to the diversity to which the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, refers, we do not have a very diverse group from which to draw, which might limit it. There would be dangers of putting in the Bill, even though it is in very general terms of having regard to. In practical terms, there may be a problem with the relationship between the two paragraphs, and therefore a danger in putting those two proposals together in the Bill.