HC Deb 27 April 1948 vol 450 cc338-41
Mr. Younger

I beg to move, in page 159, line 2, after "officer," to insert "or mayor."

This is a drafting Amendment to cover cases where there is a borough council election in a borough which is divided into wards and where the returning officers in the wards are aldermen but where the mayor is responsible for the whole.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. Younger

I beg to move, in page 159, line 17, at the end, to insert: (4) Nothing in sub-paragraph (I) of the foregoing paragraph or in this paragraph shall require any steps to be taken on a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, Bank Holiday or day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning. This is merely to ensure that a registration officer will not be required to prepare certain lists on Sundays or on public holidays, just as exception is made for other matters on these days.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendments made: In page 159, line 31, leave out "elector," and insert "electors."

In page 160, line 15, after "or," insert "as."

In page 161, line 16, at end, insert:

"Supplementary

6. Where the expression "returning officer or mayor," is used in this Schedule, the reference to the mayor shall apply, and shall only apply, in the case of an election of borough councillors under the Local Government Act, 1933, and in the case of any such election paragraph 10 of Part I of the Second Schedule to that Act (which provides for the case where there is no mayor or the mayor is unable to act) shall apply for the purpose of this Schedule as it applies for the purpose of that Schedule."—[Mr. Younger.]

Mr. Ede

I beg to move, in page 161, line 29, at the end, to insert: (4) Where a nomination paper bears the signatures of more than the required number of persons as proposing, seconding or assenting to the nomination of a candidate, the signature or signatures (up to the required number) appearing first on the paper in each category shall be taken into account to the exclusion of any others in that category. This Amendment has the same effect as regards local government elections as the Amendment already in the Bill with regard to Parliamentary elections.

Amendment agreed to.

Consequential Amendments made.

Mr. Grimston

I beg to move, in page 162, line 10, at the end, to insert: (9) A candidate's election agent shall be entitled to attend proceedings during the time for delivery of nomination papers or making objections thereto. This Amendment is designed to bring the procedure of local government elections into line with the procedure of Parliamentary elections.

Mr. Ede

This Amendment attempts to bring the law in local government elec- tions more or less into line with Parliamentary elections. At the present time no one has the right to attend and object at local government elections. The validity of nomination papers is determined by the mayor or the returning officer, and his decisions are then notified to the candidates. The difference between Parliamentary and local government elections was enacted deliberately. Until the Local Government Act, 1933, came into force, for the elections of borough councils the mayor was required to attend at the town hall for a short period of one day to decide the validity of objections to nomination papers, and any candidate or election agent had the right to attend. The decision of the mayor had to be given in writing. This decision applied also to county council elections. In my local government days before the 1914–18 war, I attended with the opposing candidate. We examined each other's nomination papers in the hope of finding some defect in one or other of them in order to avoid the expense of a contested election. On the other hand, since 1894 no such provision applied to urban or rural council elections.

The matter was considered by the Local Government and Public Health Consolidation Committee, known as the Chelmsford Committee, which in paragraph 23 of their Interim Report of March, 1933, came down against this procedure being applied to local government elections. I think the mayor, who will be advised by the town clerk as to the validity of nomination papers, is quite competent to discharge this function, and I should have thought that it was not desirable now to re-enact a provision which Parliament, advised after careful consideration, removed from the Statute Book as recently as 1933.

Mr. Grimston

I am obliged to the right hon. Gentleman. In view of his explanation, I beg to ask leave to withdraw my Amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Consequential Amendments made.

Mr. Younger

I beg to move, in page 163, line 31, to leave out from "may," to "require," in line 32, and to insert: if present when the counting or any recount of the votes is completed. This Amendment and the next two Amendments are similar to the ones with which we dealt a few minutes ago in respect of Parliamentary elections. These relate in regard to any request for a recount in local government elections.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendments made: In page 163, line 33, leave out "one or more times," and insert "or again recounted."

In line 34, at end, insert: (3) No steps shall be taken on the completion of the counting or any recount of the votes until the candidates and election agents present at the completion thereof have been given a reasonable opportunity to exercise the right conferred by the last foregoing sub-paragraph.

In page 164, line 41, at end, insert: (5) In particular, where the votes are counted by sorting the ballot papers according to the candidate for whom the vote is given and then counting the number of ballot papers for each candidate, the counting agents shall be entitled to satisfy themselves that the ballot papers are sorted right."—[Mr. Younger.]

The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Thomas Fraser)

I beg to move, in page 164, line 41, at the end, to add: 12. This Part of this Schedule shall, in its application to Scotland, have effect as if sub-paragraphs (6), (7) and (8) of paragraph t, sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 were omitted. The paragraphs which it is proposed to leave out so far as Scotland is concerned are unnecessary, inasmuch as they refer to the statement of persons nominated which is published in England, while no such paper is published in Scotland.

Amendment agreed to.

Schedule, as amended, agreed to.

Fifth Schedule agreed to.