HC Deb 15 May 1975 vol 892 cc637-40
10. Mr. Molyueaux

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he will obtain a report from the Chief Electoral Officer on the recent Convention election; and if he will make a statement.

15. Mr. Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he was satisfied with the working of the electoral arrangements at the recent Constitutional Convention elections.

Mr. Orme

The Chief Electoral Officer is required by the Election Rules to furnish information on the voting to my right hon. Friend within 28 days of the declaration of the result, and as soon as practicable to publish a report, including detailed results, election expenses and any other matters he considers relevant. My right hon. Friend was satisfied with the working of the electoral arrangements.

Mr. Molyneaux

Now that it has been demonstrated that majorities will always tend to elect majorities however the system is tailored, will the Secretary of State give thought to the abolition of the so-called system of proportional representation? Will he also take steps to end the extension of postal voting, which has been shown to be open to abuse? Will the Minister recognise that a return to standard British electoral practices would do a great deal to remove the confusion which has been caused by switching from one system to another several times within a year?

Mr. Orme

Despite the hon. Gentleman's last point, in relative terms this was a high poll in Northern Ireland. The hon. Gentleman may be interested to know that there were 88,000 postal votes as opposed to 136,000 on the last occasion, despite there being only a small reduction in the percentage of the poll. Therefore, many more people felt free to go to the poll to cast their vote. I think that the hon. Gentleman's opening remark was not really worthy of the question.

Mr. McNamara

Is my right hon. Friend aware that those of us who have observed elections in Northern Ireland over the past few years were impressed by the recent election, as a general statement, in terms of the general conduct of the poll? We were very pleased by the absence of the security forces other than normal policing in many of the polling stations. That was something we welcomed. Following the result of the election, will my right hon. Friend confirm that Her Majesty's Government will feel bound by the three principles laid down in the White Paper?

Mr. Orme

The answer to my hon. Friend's last point is "Yes". As regards the conduct of the election, I hope that hon. Members were extremely pleased that apart from one small incident the election went off without any real difficulty and that the Army did not have to play any major part in it. That reflects on what the hon. Member for Antrim, South (Mr. Molyneaux) said about a return to normal British standards, and we welcome it.

Mr. Powell

Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that unrestricted postal voting, the original intention of which was to diminish intimidation, is now itself a cause both of intimidation and of malpractice? Will he obtain a report on this subject specially from the Chief Electoral Officer, which will enable him to consider whether in this respect we should not at once secure a return to the standards repeatedly reaffirmed for Great Britain?

Mr. Orme

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question and the tone in which he put it. The Chief Electoral Officer, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, is independent, but he will make a report. I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that the Government will consider the postal vote procedure for the future. We recognise that charges were made about postal voting but we have no evidence as yet. We are waiting for a full report, but we have an open mind on this matter and the Government will consider it in complete detail.

Mr. Biggs-Davison

I echo the tributes of the Minister of State and the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, Central (Mr. McNamara), whom I accompanied on election day in Mid-Ulster and Londonderry. I welcome the fact that polling stations were open throughout the Province. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware—this is not put in any carping spirit—that in Derry personation agents were still sitting at the presiding officer's table, which I understand is no longer in order in Northern Ireland? While it was good that people were voting in the Creggan, is he aware that we witnessed intimidation and propaganda immediately outside the Holy Name polling station?

Mr. Orme

I thank the hon. Gentleman for those remarks. We will, of course, consider every aspect of the matter. However, I think the important matter for the House is that we had reports from Mem- bers and the Government have given reports on subsequent elections over the last two or three years, and it seems that the Convention election passed off with the least incident. It did not pass off perfectly but it certainly passed off with the least number of incidents in terms of recent elections. We feel that this is an encouraging sign.

Mr. McNamara

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. The hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Biggs-Davison) stated that we saw intimidation. We saw what might well have been intimidation and heard reports of intimidation, but we did not see any actual intimidation.

Mr. Speaker

That is not a matter for the Chair.