§ 20. Mr. KINGasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is prepared to move that the Schedules to the Representation of the People Bill be committed to a Standing Committee?
§ The SECRETARY Of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir George Cave)No, Sir. I do not think that the course proposed is desirable.
§ 68. Mr. FELLasked the Secretary to the Local Government Board if the Census returns enable any accurate estimate to be formed of the number of married women over thirty years of age; and if he can get out a table of the numbers of the estimated electors under the various proposals of the Representation of the People Bill?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Hayes Fisher)The latest date at which an estimate of the number of married women over thirty years of age can be; made is the middle of 1916. The numbers at that time are estimated to be:
As regards the latter part of the question, I may point out that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when moving the Second Reading of the Bill, stated that the number of male electors to be added by the Bill would be about 2,000,000, and, as the existing number of electors, according to a Home Office, Return of 1915, is 8,357,000, the total number of male electors under the Bill would be rather more than 10,000,000. My right hon. Friend also stated that the number of women enfranchised by the Bill would be about 6,000,000, of whom 5,000,000 would be married women, the remainder being women who are themselves in separate occupation of premises.
England and Wales … 5,597,000 Scotland … 621,000 Ireland … 502,000 6,720,000