§ Q2. Mr. Cyril Smithasked the Prime Minister if he will now add an adviser on electoral reform to the Central Policy Review Staff.
§ Q13. Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Prime Minister if he will now add an adviser on electoral reform to the Central Policy Review Staff.
§ Q14. Mr. David Steelasked the Prime Minister if he will now add an adviser on electoral reform to the Central Policy Review Staff.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. I do not intend to appoint to the Central Policy Review Staff members with responsibility for specific subjects, and the areas of policy which it covers must generally remain confidential to the Government.
§ Mr. SmithI thank the Prime Minister for his answer. Does he agree that there is something wrong with the electoral system when the Liberal Party can poll 6 million votes and have only 14 seats? Does he consider therefore, that as a matter of urgency and on sheer grounds of justice and fair play the Government should give urgent consideration to this matter one way or the other?
§ The Prime MinisterThat seems to be a slightly different question. The Question on the Order Paper relates to the Central Policy Review Staff. I understand the strength of feeling of some right hon. and hon. Members on this matter. If they would like to express their views and, in particular, any proposals they may have for machinery for discussing this matter, they might care to do so in the first instance through the usual channels. The question can then be looked at having regard to the feelings of the House as a whole.
§ Mr. LiptonDoes my right hon. Friend derive some comfort from the fact that in a recent speech the hon. Member for Rochdale (Mr. Smith) solemnly announced that the present administration would stay in power until the next General Election?
§ The Prime MinisterFrom the days when I knew the hon. Member for Rochdale (Mr. Smith) as a member of my party I have always paid the highest attention to his weighty pronouncements, though I was a little disappointed—since the hon. Gentleman left my party because the then Labour Government put a fixed control on rent increases and he wanted to increase rents in Rochdale—that he 155 did not move a censure motion on the Government for this year's rent freeze.
§ Mr. WainwrightIs the Prime Minister aware that when the Conservative Government introduced the single transferable vote in Northern Ireland they had to rely to a great extent on the volunteer efforts of the Electoral Reform Society? Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that it would be undesirable, if Kilbrandon is to be implemented, if his Government had to rely on a volunteer society, with hard-pressed officers, to a still greater extent?
§ The Prime MinisterThat sounds a slightly different question. The Electoral Reform Society has been very much engaged by all sorts of organisations on recent matters of great public importance.
Sir Harmar NichollsIn view of the laughter following the answer to the last supplementary question but one, may I ask the Prime Minister to bear in mind that there is a real possibility—indeed, it may be the right thing—of this Government not remaining in power without thero being a General Election? It could be that a broader-based Government without an election is the best answer to our present-day problems.
§ The Prime MinisterI always listen to the hon. Gentleman's comments, on whichever side of the House he sits, with great interest. He cannot expect to get a recount next time.
§ Mr. MarksWould it not be undemocratic to have a system that forced the country to accept the policies of a political party that received only 6 million votes?
§ The Prime MinisterIt has been wisely said that we are all minority parties in this House and that a situation could arise in which the decisive voice was not from a party that received 6 million votes but from a group from Northern Ireland or wherever it might be. I think that we are getting a long way from the Central Policy Review Staff which, fortunately, is above all these matters in its considerations.
§ Mr. SteelThe Prime Minister earlier suggested that instead of the CPRS we might use the usual channels. Does that mean that he does not exclude the possibility of setting up a Speaker's Conference on this matter?
§ The Prime MinisterI am not excluding anything. The words I used—I considered them carefully—were that any views that any right hon. or hon. Members might have on this matter should be raised through the usual channels. I referred to any ideas they might have for the proper machinery for discussing these matters. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman, who is the Chief Whip of his own party and is therefore his own usual channel, might like to consider that.