§ Lord Greavesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will comment on the circumstances in which a ballot box from the Temple School polling place for polling district CTC in the Cheetham Ward of Manchester City Council on 2 May took 90 minutes to arrive at the count compared to less than 30 minutes for all the other boxes in that ward; whether the content of this ballot box affected the result of that election; and what action they intend to take to prevent any future such occurrence. [HL4511]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonI understand that the returning officer's investigation of this delay found no evidence of electoral malpractice. All candidates were notified in writing of the findings of that investigation. The contents of the ballot box which had been delayed were mixed with the contents of another ballot box in accordance with the proper procedures for conducting the count. This prevents any speculation about the effect of the contents of a single ballot box on the outcome of any election. The returning officer has put in place measures to ensure good practice at future elections and I see no reason for the Government to take further action.