Committee of the whole House: 12 October 2010

316

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

(b)	the draft of an Order in Council laid before Parliament under subsection

(5A) of section 3 of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986

(substituted by section 8(6) below) which provides for the additional

member system, in accordance with subsection (4) of section 3 of that

Act as amended by section 8(5A) below, has been submitted to Her

Majesty in Council under section 4 of that Act.’.

Mr Roger Godsiff

Fiona Mactaggart

80

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  32,  at end insert—

‘(1A)

The Minister must make an order bringing into force section [Mandatory voting

at general elections: amendments] if more votes are cast in the referendum in

favour of the answer “Yes” than in favour of the answer “No” to the second

question.’.

Liz Kendall

Stella Creasy

Sir Peter Soulsby

Stephen Twigg

Kate Green

119

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  32,  at end insert—

‘(1A)

The Minister must make an order bringing into force section [Single transferable

vote elections for the House of Lords] if more votes are cast in the referendum in

favour of the answer ‘Yes’ than in favour of the answer ‘No’ to the second

question.’.

Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil

Jonathan Edwards

Hywel Williams

Mr Elfyn Llwyd

145

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  33,  leave out from ‘if’ to second ‘the’ in line 34 and insert

‘the answer “alternative vote” is not selected in the referendum’.

Mr Christopher Chope

66

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  34,  after ‘“No”,’, insert ‘or the number of votes cast in the

referendum in favour of the answer “Yes” is less than two-thirds of the number of persons

casting a vote in the referendum,’.

Mr John Baron

243

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  34,  after ‘No’, insert ‘or the number of votes cast in favour of

the answer “Yes” is not greater than half of those eligible to vote.’.

Caroline Lucas

Mr Douglas Carswell

Austin Mitchell

10

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  34,  leave out from ‘“No”’ to end and insert ‘to Question 1,

the Minister must make an order repealing the alternative vote provisions and section (The

single transferable vote system: amendments) and section (The additional member

system: amendments).’.

Committee of the whole House: 12 October 2010

317

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

Mr Roger Godsiff

Fiona Mactaggart

Liz Kendall

Stella Creasy

Sir Peter Soulsby

Stephen Twigg

81

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  39,  after ‘subsection (1)’, insert ‘or (1A)’.

Caroline Lucas

Mr Douglas Carswell

Austin Mitchell

11

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  39,  leave out ‘subsection (1)’ and insert ‘subsections (1),

(1A) or (1B)’.

Austin Mitchell

252

Page  4,  line  24,  leave out Clause 6.

Sir Stuart Bell

104

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  1,  at end insert—

‘The alternative vote system

37(ZA)

There shall be two elections, to be held on succeeding Sundays, where in the

event no candidate obtains 50 per cent. of the vote in the first election there

shall be a run off in the second election between the first and second choice

candidates in the first election.’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

206

Clause  7,  page  5,  leave out lines 2 to 11 and insert—

‘How constituency votes are to be given

37A(1)

A voter votes by marking a constituency ballot paper and a top-up ballot paper.

(2)	A voter marks the constituency ballot paper with—

(a)	the number 1 opposite the name of the candidate who is the voter’s

first preference (or, as the case may be, the only candidate for whom

the voter wishes to vote),

(b)	if the voter wishes, the number 2 opposite the name of the candidate

who is the voter’s second preference,

and so on.

(3)	The voter may mark as many preferences (up to the number of candidates) as

the voter wishes.

(4)	A voter marks the top-up ballot paper with a mark opposite a single political

party list of candidates.’.

Committee of the whole House: 12 October 2010

318

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

Mr Christopher Chope

62

Clause  7,  page  5,  leave out lines 9 to 11 and insert ‘but no preference beyond the

second may be indicated.’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

207

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  13,  after ‘How’, insert ‘constituency’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

208

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  16,  leave out ‘ballot papers and so to determine which

candidate is elected’ and insert ‘constituency ballot papers and so determine which

constituency candidate is elected, and how top-up votes are to be counted and so

determine the allocation of top-up seats to political parties.’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

209

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  34,  at end insert—

‘(5A)

Top-up ballots shall be counted simultaneously’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

210

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  36,  after ‘no’, insert ‘constituency’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

211

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  40,  after ‘each’, insert ‘constituency’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

212

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  42,  after ‘which’, insert ‘constituency’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

213

Clause  7,  page  5,  line  43,  after ‘rejected’, insert ‘constituency’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

214

Clause  7,  page  6,  line  5,  after ‘each’, insert ‘constituency’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

215

Clause  7,  page  6,  line  7,  after ‘which’, insert ‘constituency’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

216

Clause  7,  page  6,  line  8,  after ‘the’, insert ‘constituency’.

Committee of the whole House: 12 October 2010

319

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

Mr Philip Hollobone

217

Clause  7,  page  6,  line  9,  at end insert—

‘(2A)

After rule 50 in that Schedule there is inserted—

“50A (1)

The returning officer shall give public notice of the total number of

votes given for each political party together with the number of

rejected ballot papers under each head shown in the statement of

rejected ballot papers and return this information to the Clerk of the

Crown.

(2)	The Clerk of the Crown shall determine the allocation of top-up seats

in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, by applying the

D’Hondt formula to the total aggregated top-up votes in each of the

four parts of the United Kingdom, as declared by each and every

returning officer in that part.”.’.

Austin Mitchell

253

Page  4,  line  40,  leave out Clause 7.

Mr Philip Hollobone

221

Schedule  6,  page  144,  line  29,  at beginning insert—

‘Constituency ballot’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

222

Schedule  6,  page  144,  line  39,  at end insert—

‘Top-Up Ballot

Vote for one political party only. Put no other mark on the ballot paper, or your

vote may not be counted’.

The Deputy Prime Minister

198

Schedule  6,  page  147,  line  18,  leave out ‘45A(4) or (5) above in’ and insert ‘45A

above—

(a)

in’.

The Deputy Prime Minister

199

Schedule  6,  page  147,  line  19,  at end insert—

‘(b)	in the case of an election with only two candidates who receive an

equal number of votes.’.

The Deputy Prime Minister

200

Schedule  6,  page  147,  line  20,  at beginning insert ‘Where paragraph (1)(a)

Committee of the whole House: 12 October 2010

320

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

applies,’.

The Deputy Prime Minister

201

Schedule  6,  page  147,  line  26,  leave out from ‘Where’ to second ‘the’ and insert

‘paragraph (1)(a) above applies but the tie is not resolved under paragraph (2) above, or

where paragraph (1)(b) above applies,’.

The Deputy Prime Minister

202

Schedule  6,  page  147,  line  28,  leave out ‘remaining’ and insert ‘two’.

Austin Mitchell

254

Page  144,  line  16,  leave out Schedule 6.

Nia Griffith

Kevin Brennan

Nick Smith

Owen Smith

Chris Bryant

152

Clause  8,  page  6,  line  31,  at end insert—

‘(3)	After subsection (1) there is inserted—

“(1A)

Before commencing work on any report or review the Boundary

Commission for Wales must—

(a)	consult such organisations and individuals as it sees fit to

determine the issues which should influence its decisions, and

(b)	following consultation with the Secretary of State for Wales and

the Welsh Assembly Government, appoint three independent

persons to be known as the Wales Convention on Parliamentary

Representation, “the Convention”.

(1B)	The duties and powers of the Convention shall be established by the

Secretary of State by regulations made by statutory instrument, and must

include—

(a)	inviting representations from organisations and individuals,

(b)	assessing these representations,

(c)	holding meetings and public hearings, and

(d)	publishing reports.

(1C)	A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (1B) is

subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of

Parliament.”.’.

Graham Stringer

37

Clause  8,  page  6,  line  33,  after ‘(2)’, insert ‘Subject to the terms of subsection

(2AA) below’.

Committee of the whole House: 12 October 2010

321

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

Edward Miliband

Sadiq Khan

Chris Bryant

Mr Peter Hain

127

Clause  8,  page  6,  leave out line 35 and insert—

‘(a)	within twelve months of Part 2 of the Parliamentary Voting System and

Constituencies Act 2010 coming into force in accordance with section

16(2) thereof’.

Graham Stringer

38

Clause  8,  page  6,  line  36,  at end insert—

‘(3A)

After subsection (2) there is inserted—

“(2AA)

The boundary review due to be completed by the date set out in

subsection (2)(a) above shall not begin until both Houses of Parliament

have approved a report from the Electoral Commission certifying that in

its opinion sufficient measures have been taken to provide for the

registration of eligible voters.”.’.

Caroline Lucas

Mr Douglas Carswell

Austin Mitchell

12

Clause  8,  page  7,  line  9,  at end insert—

‘(5A)

In subsection (4) the words are inserted at the end—

  “and each such report shall also provide for multi-member constituencies

of three members, stating the name by which they recommend that each

such area should be known, and for the additional member system as

provided for in the Scotland Act 1998, as close as possible to 57 per cent.

to be allocated for constituency representatives and the remaining seats

to be allocated for closed party lists.”.’.

Chris Leslie

Graham Stringer

58

Clause  8,  page  7,  line  17,  at end insert—

‘(5AA)

The Secretary of State must, so far as reasonably practicable, lay before

Parliament the draft of a separate Order in Council relating to each county (in

England or Wales) or area (in Scotland) identified in Schedule 1 to the

Lieutenancies Act 1997.’.

Mr Graham Allen

Sheila Gilmore

Simon Hart

Tristram Hunt

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Sir Peter Soulsby

234

Clause  8,  page  7,  line  17,  at end insert—

‘(5AA)

The draft of an Order in Council laid under subsection (5A) above may only give

effect to the recommendations contained in all four reports under subsection (1)

above with modifications, where those modifications have been made with the

agreement of the Boundary Commissions.’.

Committee of the whole House: 12 October 2010

322

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

The Deputy Prime Minister

162

Clause  8,  page  7,  line  22,  at end insert—

‘( )	In Article 3 of the Lord President of the Council Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/1837)

(which makes certain functions of the Secretary of State exercisable concurrently

with the Lord President) the reference in paragraph (1) to the Parliamentary

Constituencies Act 1986 is to be read as a reference to that Act as amended by

this section.’.

Edward Miliband

Sadiq Khan

Chris Bryant

Mr Peter Hain

128

Clause  9,  page  7,  leave out lines 27 to 37 and insert—

‘UK Electoral quota

1	The UK Electoral Quota shall be defined as the total electorate of the United

Kingdom on the designated enumeration day divided by 650.’.

Mr Graham Allen

Graham Stringer

41

Clause  9,  page  7,  line  28,  leave out ‘600’ and insert ‘gradually reduced to 600 in

accordance with the terms of rule 1A.

1A  (1)

In each periodic report submitted by a Boundary Commission under section

3(2), the overall number of constituencies in each part of the United Kingdom

shall be no more than in the previous report.

(2)	The Boundary Commissions shall meet at the outset of each periodic review to

determine the overall number of constituencies in the United Kingdom, and the

number to be allocated to each of the four parts of the United Kingdom by each

Commission, in accordance with rule 8.

(3)	The Boundary Commissions shall ensure that the overall number of

constituencies in the United Kingdom is reduced in each succeeding periodic

report to no more than 600 by 2029 in their fourth/fifth periodic reports.’.

Mr Christopher Chope

67

Clause  9,  page  7,  line  28,  leave out ‘600’ and insert ‘585’.

Andrew George

74

Clause  9,  page  7,  line  28,  leave out ‘600’ and insert ‘500’.

Mr Philip Hollobone

218

Clause  9,  page  7,  line  28,  leave out ‘600’ and insert ‘450’.

---

Revised 12 October 2010