asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 10 January (WA 101) concerning the votes of deceased Members in the Northern Ireland Assembly, who can exercise such a vote where the deceased Member was the only representative of his or her party. [HL1345]

In relation to the Transitional Assembly established by Section 1 of the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006, Standing Orders 17(h) and 17(i) provide that the nominating officer of the party of the member that held the seat on the vacancy occurring shall be entitled to exercise that vote. “Nominating Officer” is defined in Standing Order 22 (a) as

“(i) The person registered as nominating officer under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 as the party's nominating officer; or (ii) a Member of the Assembly nominated by him for the purposes of this Standing Order.”

In cases where the nominating officer is not an MLA himself/herself, it is assumed that the nominating officer shall exercise that vote by nominating a serving MLA under Standing Order 22 (a)(ii) to act as nominating officer for that purpose. Standing Orders will be amended shortly to make this clearer.