Electors (Hansard, 20 May 1992)

§ 12. Mr. Dunn
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the average number of electors for Scottish constituencies; and if he will make a statement.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
The average electorate for Scotland, based on the current electoral register, is 54,570.

§ Mr. Dunn
Do not the figures suggest an imbalance in terms of equity in the number of electors that it takes to constitute a constituency in Scotland compared with the number in England? Does not my hon. Friend therefore agree that the options before his Department are to reduce the number of seats in Scotland or to increase the number of seats in England; which would he prefer?

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
My hon. Friend's case is that if the population in England is swelling, there may be a case for increasing the number of parliamentary seats south of the border; but if he considers the history of the issue, he will see that since 1918 the number of Scottish constituencies has increased by one, whereas since 1948 the number of English seats has increased by 18 and the number of Welsh seats by two. The present settlement takes account of Scotland's status as a small nation and of large, sparsely populated and inaccessible areas. The issue has been considered three times since 1945 and on every occasion Parliament decided in favour of 71 seats for Scotland.

§ Mr. Norman Hogg
Does the Minister accept that there would be more people on the register in Scotland if the register were properly compiled? Is he aware that, in my constituency of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, a large number of electors were deprived of their vote because the register had been incompetently prepared and that my agent, Mrs. Anne McGuire, and I spent election day fielding complaints from constituents who had lost their vote? What steps will the Minister take to ensure that registers are properly compiled so that electors get the vote to which they are entitled?

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
We undertake extensive advertising to make certain that all who are eligible are on the roll to exercise their democratic right, but I shall look into the hon. Gentleman's specific point about his constituency.

§ Mr. Malcolm Bruce
As I represent the Scottish constituency that has the largest number of votes—I point out to the hon. Member for Dartford (Mr. Dunn) that I represent 81,500 voters and that there is a wide disparity—may I congratulate the Minister on giving a robust defence of the reason why Scotland should be represented in the House in that way and also make it absolutely clear that there can be no question of reducing the representation by Scottish Members of Parliament in the House before the creation of a Scottish Parliament?

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
The situation might change entirely were there to be a tax-raising Scottish Parliament. There was a Parliament in one part of Britain—at Stormont—and if similar procedures were applied to this House, the number of Scottish Members of Parliament would be reduced to 40.

§ Mr. Wilson
I congratulate the Minister on having shed some light into the tunnel of the hon. Member for Dartford (Mr. Dunn). As I am sure the Minister knows, the Home Affairs Committee discovered as recently as 1986 that These disparities should be regarded as an intended consequence of the 1949 Act 251 and, in the judgment of that Committee—accepted by successive Governments— it would not be feasible on political grounds to change the Rules"—

§ Madam Speaker
Order. We do not read or quote during parliamentary questions. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman knows that.

§ Mr. Wilson
Will the Minister send the conclusion of that report and perhaps equip the hon. Member for Dartford with a copy of it, and possibly also with a map—especially of the north of Scotland—to explain to him some of those disparities?

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
I can confirm that, as the hon. Gentleman said, the Select Committee on Home Affairs examined that issue in 1986 and did not recommend any change. I should point out to my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Mr. Dunn) that the reason for the 71 seats being increased to 72 was that the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended one extra seat for Scotland in its third periodic report in 1983 arising out of representations, in the main from Glasgow.