§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That Mr. Speaker do issue his, Warrant to the Clerk of the Crown to make out a new Writ for the electing of a Member to serve in this present Parliament for the County of Hertford (St. Albans Division), in the room of Lieut.-Colonel Sir Francis Edward Fremantle, O.B.E., T.D., deceased."—[Mr. James Stuart.]
§ Mr. LoverseedI oppose this Writ, because in the case of the St. Albans Division the question of the electoral register once more comes forward. In this Division the register is perhaps worse than in most other constituencies. Our Prime Minister said the other day that democracy was rule by the majority. I would point out that in the case of the St. Albans Division the majority are not on the register. When the hon. Member for Barnstaple (Sir R. Acland) opposed the moving of a Writ for the constituency which subsequently did me the honour of electing me, one hon. Member very properly observed that the making of a new register would delay the election for six months. He was perfectly correct, but since that time the position has changed completely. The Government have agreed in principle on how the new register shall be compiled. The necessary information is already in the hands of the food offices, and we are now faced with the position that we can either have an election in St. Albans in three weeks' time on a register which is totally out of date, and in which the majority will have no vote, or an election in six weeks' time on a register reasonably representative of the people of that Division. This matter is a challenge to democracy. If we subscribe to democracy, we must also subscribe to the rights of the individual over the age of 21 to vote. For that reason, I beg to oppose this Writ.
§ Question put, and agreed to.