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Electoral Law

Volume 921: debated on Thursday 2 December 1976

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9.

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes he intends to make in the electoral law in Northern Ireland.

An Order in Council will shortly be presented to make provision for the 1977 and subsequent local government elections. It will provide for them to be conducted under the same system of proportional representation as was used in 1973, but for restricted postal voting on the same criteria as apply to local elections in England and Wales. The Order will also make provision for the same limits on candidates' expenses as apply in local government elections in England and Wales. The right of candidates to send election addresses post-free, which they enjoyed in 1973, will be retained.

Is the Secretary of State aware of the need for early clarification of all the rules and regulations concerning the local government elections? Is he aware that we on the United Ulster Unionist Bench fully support the restriction on postal voting and that we agree that it should be restricted to those categories named in the Representation of the People Act? Will he ensure that the limitation of candidates' expenses is imposed on an individual basis and not upon groups of candidates?

I shall give consideration to what the hon. Gentleman says about getting out more information. I may be able to make a lengthier statement for the Press so that people in Northern Ireland can understand the changes that are taking place regarding the future local government elections. Candidates' expenses were £300 in the last election. Under the new system, they will be increased, and joint candidates' expenses will be improved, too.

On the wider question of election, what initiative is the Secretary of State taking to increase the Northern Ireland representation in this House?

My priority would be to encourage the politicians in Northern Ireland to go for a devolved Government first.

Will the right hon. Gentleman change the electoral law to ensure that, irrespective of what happens in Great Britain, there will be no delay in having direct elections to the Common Market by making the Province a single constituency which returns three or four Members to the EEC Parliament? This would provide greater democracy in the Province than now exists.

That is an entirely different question from the one on the Order Paper. Perhaps we should wait until the Bill on this subject has been published.

Will the right hon. Gentleman enlarge on his remarks about fuller representation in this House? Does he not think that it would be fairer if, when proposals for devolved government for Northern Ireland are being discussed in this House, the Northern Ireland people had proper numerical representation in the House?

Since I came into this office I have always recognised—and I have said it more than once—that Northern Ireland is under-represented in the House of Commons. At present, if representation for Northern Ireland were equated to the division of electorates in the rest of the country, Northern Ireland would be entitled to at least four more seats, but I do not think that it is either appropriate or the most opportune time to go into the question of increased parliamentary representation. I hope that the politicians in Northern Ireland in particular will start thinking seriously about how best they can agree upon a devolved form of government. We may then be able to settle the question of parliamentary representation in the House of Commons.

In a speech by my right hon. Friend in Northern Ireland recently, he called upon local politicians in Northern Ireland to try to get together to find out whether there is a basis for the formation of a devolved Government. Does he not think that the time is now opportune to use the agencies of his office to determine whether it would be possible to call a conference of elected representatives in Northern Ireland, with the intention of bringing about devolved institutions there? Those who attended would then be seen as seeking a solution to the problem; those who refused to go, except on their own terms, would be seen for the destructive sector which they now are.

In view of what my hon. Friend said in the latter part of his supplementary question, I do not know whether it would be helpful. He wanted really to highlight those who had been obstructive rather than those who wanted to be helpful. I am always willing to listen to suggestions. As the Convention failed, I would have thought that the local politicians themselves should be prepared to consider the reasons why the Convention did not succeed and why we could not have moved on to a form of devolved government in which we could have achieved acquiescence by the major sections of the community in Northern Ireland. If they can do that, I am prepared to listen.