Political Parties and Elections Bill

Clause 6: Number of Electoral Commissioners Debate on whether Clause 6 should stand part of the Bill. I want to intervene briefly. The Minister could regard this as a probing question rather than a probing amendment. I notice that the number of commissioners can be nine or 10. Since that increases the number of appointed commissioners from the present situation, it would be helpful to know the Government’s reason for giving themselves that option for the final figure.