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Political Parties and Elections Bill

Surely the case for representation from Northern Ireland, by way of an example, is demonstrated by the Bill itself, because as you will have noticed, Mr. Deputy Speaker, it amends the system of elections to the European Parliament in Northern Ireland, which is contrary to the Electoral Commission's proposals. Rightly or wrongly, the Government have been persuaded by Northern Ireland politicians to discard the commission's advice. In a sense, that is a compelling case for Northern Ireland politicians to be represented on the commission, because their view prevailed. Their view was: ““We deal with elections, so let's give the advice, rather than these nitwits on the Electoral Commission who've never fought an election in their lives.””