Committee of the whole House: 9 February 2010

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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Counting of votes in parliamentary elections

Mr Dominic Grieve

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Mr Eric Pickles

Geraldine Smith

David Cairns

NC98

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Representation of the People Act 1983 is amended as follows—

(2)	In Schedule 1 (Parliamentary elections rules), in paragraph 44, after sub-

paragraph (1) insert—

“(1A)

The counting of votes in a parliamentary election shall start within four

hours of the close of the poll, save in exceptional circumstances.

(1B)	The Secretary of State shall, after consulting the Electoral Commission,

prepare draft guidance on the definition of “exceptional circumstances”

for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1A).

(1C)	The draft guidance prepared under sub-paragraph (1B) may not be issued

unless a draft has been laid before, and approved by both Houses of

Parliament.”’.

Reducing the size of Parliament: equal constituencies

Mr David Cameron

Mr Dominic Grieve

Mrs Eleanor Laing

NC99

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)	The Parliamentary Constituencies Act is amended as follows—

(2)	For Schedule 2 of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 substitute—

“Schedule 2

The rules

1    (1)

The number of constituencies in the United Kingdom shall be reduced

by 10 per cent. from the figure existing on 1 July 2010.

(2)	A constituency shall be located wholly within one of—

(a)

England,

(b)

Wales,

(c)	Scotland, or

(d)	Northern Ireland.

(3)	The electorate of any constituency—

(a)	shall be as near the electoral quota as is practicable, and all

other special geographical considerations, including in

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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

particular the size, shape and accessibility of a constituency,

shall be subordinate to achieving this aim,

(b)	and shall in any case be no greater than 103.5 per cent. and no

less than 96.5 per cent. of the electoral quota, except where

this makes it impossible to meet the provisions of clause 2 of

this schedule.

(4)	In accordance with rules 1 to 3, the Commission may have regard to—

(a)	local authority boundaries in England, Wales and Scotland,

and

(b)	the boundaries of wards in Northern Ireland.

(5)	In the application of rule 3—

(a)	the expression “electoral quota” means a number obtained by

dividing the electorate of the United Kingdom by the number

of constituencies in it,

(b)	the expression “electorate” means in relation to a

constituency, the number of persons whose names will appear

on the register of parliamentary electors in force on the

enumeration date under the Representation of the People Acts

for the constituency.

(c)	in calculating this number, the Boundary Commission shall

have regard to—

(i)	the number of persons whose names appear on the

register of parliamentary electors in force, under the

Representation of the People Acts for the

constituency,

(ii)	official local authority population forecasts provided

by the Statistics Board, and

(iii)

any change in the number or distribution of the

electors likely to take place within five years from the

review,

(iv)	in all cases, the most up to date official electoral and

statistical data available.

(d)	the expression “electorate” means in relation to the United

Kingdom, the aggregate electorate as defined in subsection (b)

above of all the constituencies in the United Kingdom.

(e)	the expression “enumeration date” means, in relation to any

report of the Boundary Commission under this Act, the date

on which the notice with respect to that report is published in

accordance with section 3 of this Act.

(6)	In this Schedule, a reference to a rule followed by a number is a

reference to the rule set out in the correspondingly numbered

paragraph of this Schedule.

2	Each Boundary Commission shall, within eighteen months of the

passage of this Act submit a report to the Secretary of State under

section 3(1)(a) of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986.

3	Section 3A of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 shall not

apply to a report required under section (2).”’.

Committee of the whole House: 9 February 2010

884

Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Remaining New Schedules

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Chris Huhne

NS2

To move the following Schedule:—

‘Single Transferable Vote System of Election for the House of Commons

First stage

1    (1)

The returning officer shall sort the valid ballot papers into parcels according to

the candidates for whom first preference votes are given.

(2)	The returning officer shall then—

(a)	count the number of ballot papers in each parcel;

(b)	credit the candidate receiving the first preference vote with one vote

for each ballot paper; and

(c)	record those numbers.

(3)	The returning officer shall also ascertain and record the total number of valid

ballot papers.

The quota

2    (1)

The returning officer shall divide the total number of valid ballot papers for the

constituency by a number exceeding by one the number of members to be

elected at the election for that constituency.

(2)	The result of the division under paragraph (1) (ignoring any decimal places),

increased by one, is the number of votes needed to secure the return of a

candidate as a councillor (in this Schedule referred to as the “quota”).

Return of members of House of Commons

3    (1)

Where, at any stage of the count, the number of votes for a candidate equals or

exceeds the quota, the candidate is deemed to be elected.

(2)	A candidate is returned as a member of the House of Commons when declared

to be elected in accordance with paragraph 8(1).

Transfer of ballot papers

4    (1)

Where, at the end of any stage of the count, the number of votes credited to any

candidate exceeds the quota and, subject to paragraphs 5 and 8, one or more

vacancies remain to be filled, the returning officer shall sort the ballot papers

received by that candidate into further parcels so that they are grouped—

(a)	according to the next available preference given on those papers; and

(b)	where no such preference is given, as a parcel of non-transferable

papers.

(2)	The returning officer shall, in accordance with this paragraph and paragraph 5,

transfer each parcel of ballot papers referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(a) to the

continuing candidate for whom the next available preference is given on those

papers and shall credit such continuing candidates with an additional number

of votes calculated in accordance with sub-paragraph (3).

(3)	The vote on each ballot paper transferred under sub-paragraph (2) shall have a

value (“the transfer value”) calculated as follows—

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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

A divided by B

Where A = the value which is calculated by multiplying the surplus of the

transferring candidate by the value of the ballot paper when received by that

candidate; and

B = the total number of votes credited to that candidate, the calculation being

made to five decimal places (any remainder being ignored).

(4)	For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3)—

(a)	“transferring candidate” means the candidate from who the ballot

paper is being transferred; and

(b)	“the value of the ballot paper” means—

(i)	for a ballot paper on which a first preference vote is given for

the transferring candidate, one; and

(ii)	in all other cases, the transfer value of the ballot paper when

received by the transferring candidate.

Transfer of ballot papers—supplementary provisions

5    (1)

If, at the end of any stage of the count, the number of votes credited to two or

more candidates exceeds the quota the returning officer shall—

(a)	first sort the ballot papers of the candidate with the highest surplus;

and

(b)	then transfer the transferable papers of that candidate.

(2)	If the surpluses determined in respect of two or more candidates are equal, the

transferable papers of the candidate who had the highest number of votes at the

end of the most recent preceding stage at which they had unequal numbers of

votes shall be transferred first.

(3)	If the numbers of votes credited to two or more candidates were equal at all

stages of the count, the returning officer shall decide, by lot, which candidate’s

transferable papers are to be transferred first.

Exclusion of candidates

6    (1)

If one or more vacancies remain to be filled and—

(a)	the returning officer has transferred all ballot papers which are

required by paragraph 5 or this paragraph to be transferred; or

(b)	there are no ballot papers to be transferred under paragraph 5 or this

paragraph, the returning officer shall exclude from the election at that

stage the candidate with the then lowest number of votes.

(2)	The returning officer shall sort the ballot papers for the candidate excluded

under sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph into parcels so that they are

grouped—

(a)	according to the next available preference given on those papers; and

(b)	where no such preference is given, as a parcel of non-transferable

papers.

(3)	The returning officer shall, in accordance with this article, transfer each parcel

of ballot papers referred to in sub-paragraph (2)(a) to the continuing candidate

for whom the next available preference is given on those papers and shall

credit such continuing candidates with an additional number of votes

calculated in accordance with sub-paragraph (4).

(4)	The vote on each ballot paper transferred under sub-paragraph (3) shall have a

transfer value of one unless the vote was transferred to the excluded candidate

in which case it will have the same transfer value as when transferred to the

candidate excluded under sub-paragraph (1).

(5)	This paragraph is subject to paragraph 8.

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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

Exclusion of candidates—supplementary provisions

7    (1)

If, when a candidate has to be excluded under paragraph 6—

(a)	two or more candidates each have the same number of votes; and

(b)	no other candidate has fewer votes, sub-paragraph (2) applies.

(2)	Where this sub-paragraph applies—

(a)	regard shall be had to the total number of votes credited to those

candidates at the end of the most recently preceding stage of the count

at which they had an unequal number of votes and the candidate with

the lowest number of votes at that stage shall be excluded; and

(b)	where the number of votes credited to those candidates was equal at

all stages, the returning officer shall decide, by lot, which of those

candidates is to be excluded.

Filling of last vacancies

8    (1)

Where the number of continuing candidates is equal to the number of

vacancies remaining unfilled, the continuing candidates are deemed to be

elected.

(2)	Where the last vacancies can be filled under this paragraph, no further transfer

shall be made.

By-elections

9	Where a vacancy occurs in any constituency, paragraphs (1) to (8) apply to the

subsequent by-election.

10	Where more than one vacancy exists in a constituency when a writ for a by-

election in that constituency is moved, only one by-election is to be held for

the vacant seats and paragraphs (1) to (8) apply as if the number of members

to be elected is the total number of seats vacant in that constituency.’.

David Howarth

Mr David Heath

Chris Huhne

NS3

To move the following Schedule:—

‘Constituency boundaries for single transferable vote system of election

for the House of Commons

(1)	Notwithstanding anything in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 or in

any other relevant legislation, the parliamentary constituency boundaries and

the number of members to be elected for each constituency shall be:

	Name of constituency	Local authority areas	Number of
		contained within	members to be
		constituency	elected
	Teesside	Darlington, Hartlepool,	5
		Middlesbrough, Redcar and
		Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees
	Durham	Durham	4
	Northumberland	Northumberland	3
	North Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne, North	4
		Tyneside
	South Tyne	Gateshead, South Tyneside,	5
		Sunderland
	North Lancashire	Lancaster, Preston, Ribble	4
		Valley, Wyre
	South West Lancashire	Blackpool, Chorley, Fylde,	5
		South Ribble, West
		Lancashire
	South East Lancashire	Blackburn with Darwen,	4
		Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle,
		Rossendale
	Cumbria	Cumbria	5
	Bury, Rochdale & Oldham	Bury, Oldham, Rochdale	5
	Stockport & Tameside	Stockport, Tameside	4
	Manchester	Manchester	4
	Salford & Trafford	Salford, Trafford	4
	Wigan & Bolton	Bolton, Wigan	5
	Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens	Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton	5
	Liverpool & Wirral	Liverpool & Wirral	6
	West Cheshire & Halton	Halton, Cheshire West &	4
		Chester
	East Cheshire & Warrington	Warrington, Cheshire East	5
	Scarborough & North	Hambleton, Richmondshire,	3
	Yorkshire	Ryedale, Scarborough
	York, Harrogate, Selby and	Craven, Harrogate, York,	5
	Craven	Selby
	Hull & East Riding	East Riding of Yorkshire,	5
		Kingston upon Hull
	North & North East	North East Lincolnshire,	3
	Lincolnshire	North Lincolnshire
	Bradford	Bradford	4
	Leeds	Leeds	6
	Calderdale & Kirklees	Calderdale, Kirklees	5
	Wakefield	Wakefield	3
	Barnsley & Doncaster	Barnsley, Doncaster	4
	Sheffield & Rotherham	Sheffield, Rotherham	6
	North Derbyshire	Amber Valley, Bolsover,	5
		Chesterfield, Derbyshire
		Dales, High Peak, North East
		Derbyshire
	South Derbyshire	Derby, Erewash, South	4
		Derbyshire
	North Nottinghamshire	Ashfield, Bassetlaw,	4
		Mansfield, Newark &
		Sherwood
	South Nottinghamshire	Nottingham, Broxtowe,	5
		Gedling, Rushcliffe
	Lincolnshire	Lincolnshire	6
	West Leicestershire	Blaby, Charnwood, Hinckley	4
		& Bosworth, North West
		Leicestershire
	East Leicestershire &	Leicester, Rutland,	4
	Rutland	Harborough, Melton, Oadby
		& Wigston
	Northamptonshire	Northamptonshire	5
	North Staffordshire	Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-	4
		under-Lyme, Staffordshire
		Moorlands
	South Staffordshire	Cannock Chase, East	5
		Staffordshire, Lichfield,
		South Staffordshire, Stafford,
		Tamworth
	Shropshire	Telford & Wrekin,	4
		Shropshire
	Herefordshire	Herefordshire	2
	Worcestershire	Worcestershire	5
	Wolverhampton & Walsall	Walsall, Wolverhampton	4
	Dudley & Sandwell	Dudley, Sandwell	5
	Birmingham North	The 20 Council wards	4
		comprising the present
		constituencies of
		Birmingham, Erdington,
		Birmingham, Hodge Hill,
		Birmingham, Ladywood,
		Birmingham, Perry Barr and
		Sutton Coldfield
	Birmingham South	The 20 Council wards	4
		comprising the present
		constituencies of
		Birmingham, Edgbaston,
		Birmingham, Hall Green,
		Birmingham, Northfield,
		Birmingham, Selly Oak and
		Birmingham, Yardley
	Coventry & Solihull	Coventry, Solihull	4
	Warwickshire	Warwickshire	5
	Cambridge & Peterborough	Peterborough,	6
		Cambridgeshire
	West Norfolk	Breckland, King’s Lynn &	3
		West Norfolk, North Norfolk
	East Norfolk	Broadland, Great Yarmouth,	4
		Norwich, South Norfolk
	Suffolk	Suffolk	6
	North West Essex	Braintree, Chelmsford,	5
		Epping Forest, Harlow,
		Uttlesford
	East Essex	Southend-on-Sea,	5
		Colchester, Maldon,
		Rochford, Tendring
	South Essex	Thurrock, Basildon,	4
		Brentwood, Castle Point
	East Hertfordshire	Broxbourne, East	4
		Hertfordshire, North
		Hertfordshire, Stevenage
	West Hertfordshire	Dacorum, Hertsmere, St	5
		Albans, Three Rivers,
		Watford, Welwyn Hatfield
	Bedfordshire	Luton, Bedford, Central	5
		Bedfordshire
	West End	City of London,	5
		Hammersmith & Fulham,
		Kensington & Chelsea,
		Westminster, Camden
	East End	Islington, Hackney,	6
		Newham, Tower Hamlets
	South Central London	Southwark, Lambeth,	6
		Wandsworth
	Ealing & Hounslow	Ealing, Hounslow	4
	Harrow & Hillingdon	Harrow, Hillingdon	4
	Brent & Barnet	Barnet, Brent	4
	North London	Haringey, Enfield, Waltham	5
		Forest
	North East London	Barking & Dagenham,	5
		Havering, Redbridge
	South East London	Lewisham, Bexley,	5
		Greenwich
	Croydon and Bromley	Bromley, Croydon	5
	South West London	Kingston upon Thames,	5
		Merton, Richmond upon
		Thames, Sutton
	Buckinghamshire	Milton Keynes,	6
		Buckinghamshire
	North Kent	Medway, Dartford,	5
		Gravesham, Swale
	East Kent	Ashford, Canterbury, Dover,	5
		Shepway, Thanet
	South West Kent	Maidstone, Sevenoaks,	4
		Tonbridge & Malling,
		Tunbridge Wells
	Brighton & East Sussex	East Sussex, Brighton &	6
		Hove
	West Sussex	West Sussex	6
	North East Hampshire	Basingstoke & Deane, East	5
		Hampshire, Hart, Rushmoor,
		Winchester
	South East Hampshire	Portsmouth, Fareham,	4
		Gosport, Havant
	West Hampshire	Southampton, Eastleigh,	5
		New Forest, Test Valley
	East Surrey	Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell,	4
		Mole Valley, Reigate &
		Banstead, Tandridge
	West Surrey	Guildford, Runnymede,	5
		Spelthorne, Surrey Heath
		Waverley, Woking
	Isle of Wight	Isle of Wight	2
	Berkshire	Berkshire	6
	Oxfordshire	Oxfordshire	5
	Wiltshire	Swindon, Wiltshire	5
	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	5
	Bristol & South	Bristol, South	5
	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire
	Bath & North Somerset	Bath, North East Somerset,	3
		North Somerset
	Somerset	Somerset	5
	Dorset	Bournemouth, Poole, Dorset	6
	North & East Devon	East Devon, Exeter, Mid	5
		Devon, North Devon,
		Torridge, West Devon
	South Devon	Plymouth, Torbay, South	5
		Hams, Teignbridge
	Cornwall & Isles of Scilly	Cornwall, Isles of Scilly	5
	Gwynedd	Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd	2
	Clwyd	Conwy, Denbighshire,	4
		Flintshire, Wrexham
	Powys	Powys	2
	Dyfed	Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire,	4
		Carmarthenshire
	West Glamorgan	Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot	3
	Mid Glamorgan	Bridgend, Rhondda, Cynon	4
		Taff, Merthyr Tydfil
	South Glamorgan	Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff	4
	Gwent	Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent,	5
		Torfaen, Monmouthshire,
		Newport
	Northern Isles	Orkney Islands, Shetland	1
		Islands
	Eilean Siar	Eilean Siar	1
	Highland	Highland	3
	Aberdeen & Moray	Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire,	5
		Moray
	Angus	Angus, Dundee	3
	Central Scotland	Clackmannanshire, Perth and	3
		Kinross, Stirling
	Argyll & Bute	Argyll & Bute	1
	Fife	Fife	3
	Edinburgh	Edinburgh	4
	South East Scotland	East Lothian, Midlothian,	3
		Scottish Borders
	Dumfries & Galloway	Dumfries & Galloway	2
	Ayrshire	East Ayrshire, North	4
		Ayrshire, South Ayrshire
	Glasgow	Glasgow	5
	Outer Glasgow	East Dunbartonshire, East	4
		Renfrewshire, Inverclyde,
		Renfrewshire, West
		Dunbartonshire
	Lanarkshire	North Lanarkshire, South	5
		Lanarkshire
	Falkirk & West Lothian	Falkirk, West Lothian	3
	Northern Ireland North West	Ballymoney, Coleraine,	4
		Cookstown, Derry,
		Dungannon, Fermanagh,
		Limavady, Magherafelt,
		Moyle, Omagh, Strabane
	Belfast & South Antrim	Antrim, Ballymena, Belfast,	5
		Carrickfergus, Castlereagh,
		Larne, Lisburn,
		Newtonabbey
	Northern Ireland South East	Ards, Armagh, Banbridge,	4
		Craigavon, Down, Newry &
		Mourne, North Down

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Committee of the whole House: 9 February 2010

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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill, continued

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Revised 9 February 2010