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Political Parties and Elections Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to all those who have contributed to the debate, although I must say that I found the tone of the Minister’s response much less forthcoming that I had hoped it would be as a result of the very effective way in which the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, in his normal emollient way, had invited the Minister to be equally emollient. There is a serious issue here. I understand what the Minister says about the Electoral Commission’s work, and it was clear from the Gould commission that what it recommended was not intended to be the last word on this subject; as I anticipated, there would be further discussion about the ballot paper design. I hope that I can read from what the Minister has just said that the continuing review to which he referred is ongoing: that it has not stopped and will not cease simply because there is a problem at the moment. I also understand that the Electoral Commission will review what happened in this respect in the recent European parliamentary elections. I hope that I have got that right. The Minister may like to intervene if I have got it wrong, but I hope the fact that he is not intervening suggests that that is exactly what will happen. In those terms, having aired an important issue and the Government having responded, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 76A withdrawn.