HC Deb 25 November 1974 vol 882 cc59-60W
Mr. Tim Renton

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in line with the majority recommendation of the 1967 Speaker's Conference on Electoral Law, he now considers that the results of public opinion polls should not be published for a period of at least 72 hours before the close of the poll; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. Roy Jenkins

This recommendation was rejected by the Government at the time because of the difficulty of preventing evasions of such a prohibition, and this conclusion was subsequently endorsed by Parliament. I do not believe there has been any lessening of the difficulties since then.