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Political Parties and Elections Bill

But the noble Baroness knows that, if a leaflet goes out on a regular basis, with a picture on it of the person who happens to be in line to be the candidate, and it says that that person is the spokesman for one particular area, that is all within the triggering rules as they once applied. The electorate are supposed to say at that point, "Well, of course we didn’t actually think that that person was running for election because they never said beneath their name that they were the candidate". I just do not see that. What I am struggling for is that from our point of view we are saying that we are open to this issue. We have accepted the issue that has come forward about the 55 months and the attempt to limit the amount spent in the pre-election period and we welcome the point made very clearly that there would be a commitment that the use of the communications allowance by incumbent members during that pre-election period would similarly be restricted and curtailed. That is making progress in the right direction, but I do not think that the wording of the noble Lord’s amendment or the stand clause debate that we are having takes us one step in the direction that I think in time we will all have to move.