Scottish Parliament and the AV Referendum
Written evidence from Jim Mather MSP (AV 17)
Thank you for your letter of 21 September to my colleague Bruce Crawford MSP.
I have taken over Bruce’s responsibilities for elections policy and I am writing to set out the Scottish Government’s views on the proposal that the AV Referendum should be held on the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament next May.
The Scottish Government was not consulted on the UK Government’s proposal to hold the AV Referendum on the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament in May 2011, nor on the proposal that the next UK General Election should be held on the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament in May 2015.
The Scottish Government believes that the lack of consultation, and the substantive decision to hold UK wide contests on the same day as devolved elections, shows a lack of respect for the devolved administrations. We also believe that it undermines the integrity of elections to the Scottish Parliament and risks voter confusion. Elections to the Scottish Parliament are important to the people of Scotland and we believe they have the right to make their electoral choices without the distraction of a parallel UK contest.
Holding separate contests on one day would also create operational and practical risks for those charged with administering the elections. I understand that the Electoral Management Board for Scotland has written to the Secretary of State for Scotland to highlight a number of these in the context of May 2011.
We have recent experience in Scotland of the difficulties which can be caused by holding separate elections on the same day. You will recall the difficulties which were encountered in 2007 when local government elections were held on the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament.
The subsequent Gould Report found that having two sets of elections on the same day, using different systems of voting, contributed to the confusion and problems which arose in May 2007. One of the key recommendations of the Gould Report was that the two sets of elections should be separated.
The Scottish Parliament legislated to implement this recommendation through the Scottish Local Government (Elections) Act 2009 which decoupled local government elections in Scotland from elections to the Scottish Parliament. Decoupling was supported in the pre-legislation consultation and the legislation was passed by the Scottish Parliament without opposition at any stage. In legislating the Scottish Government was keen to ensure that separate elections were given due prominence and that one electoral contest should not overshadow another.
Media coverage of, and public debate around, next year’s elections to the Scottish Parliament is likely to be affected by coverage of the simultaneous AV Referendum and this could potentially distort the outcome. It is disappointing that, while the UK Government is showing signs of willingness to work with devolved administrations to avoid potential difficulties in 2015, it is not prepared to have similar discussions about the timing of the AV Referendum in 2011.
Jim Mather MSP
Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
1 October 2010
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