Skip to main content

Proceeding contribution from Lord Tunnicliffe (Labour) in the House of Lords on Tuesday, 5 May 2009. It occurred during Debate on bill and Committee proceeding on Political Parties and Elections Bill.


Political Parties and Elections Bill

In a sense, I have to accept that the interpretation offered is in reductio ad absurdum correct. However, political parties are limited to £20 million spending in the year before an election and, as such, to spend a million pounds in one constituency would be less than wise. Regulation of election expenditure is already complex; any further proposals would introduce further complexity and be difficult and unwieldy to operate in practice. Defining when a central party’s expenditure is regarded as local or national would be particularly difficult. A further problem arises when expenditure could be said to be targeted at voters from a particular constituency but is not used in that constituency. The amendment goes on to state that where boundaries change between elections the commission would have the power to apportion expenditure.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
710 c208GC 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
Subjects
Costs Finance Elections Donors Expenditure Electoral Commission Members Political parties Loans Regulation Trade unions Tax allowances Taxation
Legislation
Political Parties and Elections Bill 2007-08 to 2008-09
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk