HC Deb 23 October 1990 vol 178 cc120-2W
Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the population have registered to vote in each of the years since 1979 for which figures are available.

Mrs. Rumbold

A table showing the number of registered electors in England and Wales, and Scotland, the approximate corresponding eligible population at the previous mid-year and the percentage of the population registered to vote, is given in appendix B to "Electoral statistics 1990" published by HMSO on behalf of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (series EL No. 17), a copy of which is in the Library. The table is accompanied by a commentary which suggests reasons for the variation from year to year in the proportion of the population registered to vote.