HC Deb 09 May 1984 vol 59 cc879-80
20. Mr. Boyes

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received about the Local Government (Interim Provisions) Bill since the Second Reading debate on 11 April.

Mr. Patrick Jenkin

I have received just over 80 representations since the Bill was introduced.

Mr. Boyes

I guarantee that when I ask the Secretary of State what the balance was he will tell me that most of them were against the measures, because in the local elections in my area, as I mentioned earlier—[Interruption.] This is the best evidence possible of what is happening and what people feel about these things. It is how people put their crosses in the ballot boxes that matters. Is the Secretary of State aware that the Conservative Sunderland Echo said: As the Prime Minister notched up her fifth year in power, the electorate turned … locally to her political opponents" —as they will more in the coming years, until Conservative Members are in opposition.

Mr. Jenkin

I am not sure that I have wholly hoisted on board the obviously important point that the hon. Gentleman was seeking to make to the House. I should like to assure him, however, that, despite a number of orchestrated responses that have been got up in campaigns by some authorities, there have been a number of helpful and constructive suggestions, and we are taking them fully into account.

Mr. Forth

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is a matter of great regret that Opposition Members constantly ask us to believe that local elections, which should be held on the basis of local government and local opinions, are nothing more than a sounding board for opinions on a quite unrelated matter. Does he not agree that we should interpret local election results on a local basis, and not continually use them to pray in aid for some other issue?

Mr. Jenkin

Yes, my hon. Friend makes a perfectly fair point. Indeed, the fallacy to which he has drawn attention is fed by those electoral pundits who say that if this result were carried over into the national elections the leader of the Opposition would be in No. 10. These things are thoroughly false.