Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

My Lords, the amendment would insert a number of additional factors for the Boundary Commissions to take into account when drawing constituencies in the four parts of the United Kingdom. It in effect represents the opposition Front Bench’s conclusions in relation to the issues discussed under the previous group of amendments. At present, the new rules for drawing constituency boundaries proposed by the Bill are dominated by the overriding requirement for every constituency, with a few exceptions, to fall within the margins of 5 per cent either side of a new UK-wide electoral quota. The intervention of the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, in relation to the 5 per cent/10 per cent issue was interesting and instructive, and I strongly recommend that noble Lords read it tomorrow. Although Rule 5 in Clause 11 lists a number of further factors which the Boundary Commissions may also take into account when drawing constituencies, they are subordinate to the numerical prerequisite. In practice, that means, as we have just discussed, that the Boundary Commissions have very limited scope to take proper account of those other considerations. The only general rule that sits above the iron law of the electoral quota is the stipulation that each constituency shall be wholly within one of the four parts of the United Kingdom. That at least is recognition of the fact that there are certain political and administrative boundaries which it would be unwise to cross in pursuit of mathematical equality. We believe that that recognition does not go far enough and that the Bill should allow for greater sensitivity and flexibility when it comes to dealing with the administrative units within, as well as between, the four parts of the United Kingdom. Your Lordships heard in the previous debate that the Government’s intention in crafting these proposed new rules in their current form is to attain as great an electoral equality between seats as possible without splitting wards, which are the building blocks of parliamentary constituencies. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, as was quoted earlier, expressed that view in oral evidence to our Constitution Committee and on the Floor of the other place when he was being asked Questions in his Question Time. We have also heard that the Bill will fail to deliver the objective that the Deputy Prime Minister has named—that wards should be the building blocks. Independent electoral experts and the heads of the four Boundary Commissions have all made it clear that to meet the proposed numerical target, individual wards will almost certainly need to be divided. Noble Lords heard the quote from the four heads of the Boundary Commissions. As the conclusion of the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee of the other place has already been quoted I shall quote only the last sentence: "““The electoral parity target may require the Commissions to work with electorate data below ward level in many cases””." That would be a major change to the established pattern of political representation in England in particular, where at present no wards are divided between constituencies. The secretaries of the four Boundary Commissions also told the Select Committee: "““The electoral parity target will result in many constituencies crossing local authority boundaries. Early modelling suggests that in Scotland between 15 and 20 constituencies (of 50), and in Wales between 23 and 28 constituencies (of 30), would cross a local authority boundary””." They also said that, "““the application of the electoral parity target is likely to result in many communities feeling that they are being divided between constituencies””." The Government have been generally dismissive when concerns about split wards and crossed local authority boundaries were raised in the other place. They said that people would not care if their ward was split between different parliamentary seats and that it did not matter if council borders were crossed. I am absolutely sure that nobody is talking about this at the moment; it is not an issue that has grasped the public. But that does not mean that people would not notice the change or that it would not have negative consequences once the change arose. Split wards would give rise to confusion, at least among members of the public who live in them, with their MP being in one place and their councillor in another. Including parts of two or three local authority districts in a single parliamentary constituency would surely make life more difficult for a Member of Parliament and undermine the service that he or she is able to provide to constituents, as my noble friend Lady Smith of Basildon, recounted to the House last week. This was the point that psephologist Professor Ron Johnston emphasised to the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee when it took evidence on the Bill. He said: "““The issue is whether it is important particularly for administrators and for parties and MPs, and I am sure it is, because the fewer local authorities you have to deal with the better””." He said that a rule contained in the Bill referring to England, "““only includes some of the types of local authorities. It has gone back to the old wording of the previous Bill and only the boundaries of counties and London boroughs shall be taken regard of. Why not take regard of the unitary authorities as well? Why not take regard of the metropolitan boroughs or principal authorities? It seems to me that the Bill is deficient there and I wonder if that clause was not written in haste simply taking something from a previous Bill and it would be better to reconsider that. Wherever possible give an MP as few local authorities to deal with as possible””." These administrative confusions would also create significant problems for political parties at a structural level, especially in the case of the Conservative and Labour parties, which are organised on a constituency and ward basis. Professor Johnston informed the Select Committee that one academic study had shown that, "““when a ward was split a lot of the ward activists drifted away. They had lost their rationale to represent this place, this place no longer existed, it was in two parts and political activity declined””." I do not think that this is what any of us wish to see. The overall stated purpose of these Bills is to revive trust in politics, not reduce interest in politics. As it stands, this Bill is not a formula for increasing political activism and public engagement; it appears to be a recipe for undermining it. An aspect of the Bill that has not come under enough attention is the extent to which political parties at grass-roots level will be undermined by the boundary reforms set to be unleashed by these new rules. In particular, the requirement to have boundary reviews on the basis of the inflexible new rules every Parliament will produce much greater disruption than we have been used to. To quote the secretaries to the Boundary Commissions—I promise for the final time: "““Strict electoral parity, and a fixed total number of constituencies, will result in frequent constituency redesign””." That will mean very great organisational challenges for local party machines which, in the end, are run by volunteers. Something that we may have learnt over the 13 years in government was that reorganisations of state providers meant that there was a focus on the reorganisation and not a focus on the provision of the central purpose of those organisations. Amendment 71A is aimed at providing some solidity to the boundary review process—a better balance to the process for drawing constituencies, and a greater understanding about the potentially damaging knock-on effect of the rigidly mathematical framework to which the Government currently adhere—but does it in such a way as to accept the principle that there needs to be much greater mathematical consistency between constituencies. The Bill is right to stipulate that parliamentary constituencies should not cross national borders, and we do not propose to touch that rule, but we do propose to bolster it with a further rule that says that constituencies should not cross the electoral regions relating to the European Parliament. The Bill itself suggests that the Boundary Commission should take those regions into account. We would go a bit further, in a sensible move that would give future boundary reviews a stable framework within which the processes could unfold. The other elements of our amendment would provide a clearer requirement that administrative units and boundaries in the four parts of the United Kingdom, in particular the ward boundaries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, should be respected and given proper account when parliamentary constituencies are being created. I very much hope that the Government will treat these amendments in the spirit in which they are addressed—namely, recognising the need for greater numerical equality but, equally, trying to build on the importance of communities and to ensure that political activism and focus is on the things that really matter to the people that politicians are supposed to serve.