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Parish Councils (Planning)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes a valuable point. People put themselves forward for election and turn out to vote if it means something. We see that in the House. In constituencies which are hard fought—marginal constituencies—turnout is extremely high. My constituency is one of them. It has been a traditional marginal, which I always win, but by nothing as vulgar as a four-figure majority. It means that we have one of the highest turnouts in the country. If the role of parish councils were strengthened and better understood, people would be more likely to put themselves forward and we would have more hotly contested elections.