Friday, August 01, 2008
Labour plans stymied
Labour's attempts to cut off the flow of Conservative money into key marginal seats has hit a snag as the result of resistance from the Electoral Commission.
The Government has proposed new legislation to restrict spending for a whole parliament, from the moment a candidate is adopted by the party, starts leafletting constituents or gives media interviews. No local candidate would get more than £12,000. In reality the idea was doomed to fail as parties would just have resorted to adopting candidates later and promoting them as campaigners instead.
Nevertheless the Electoral Commission has raised a number of practical objections, saying that they would not be able to issue finalised guidance until the relevant primary legislation had received royal assent, the commission had carefully considered the wider context in which guidance would operate, and consulted widely on the content of the guidance. They are adamant that no changes to the rules surrounding elections should be applied to an election held within six months of those changes coming into force.
This position effectively means that even if the Government were to pursue its legislation it would be unlikely to take effect until after the next General Election and that may well be too late.
The Government has proposed new legislation to restrict spending for a whole parliament, from the moment a candidate is adopted by the party, starts leafletting constituents or gives media interviews. No local candidate would get more than £12,000. In reality the idea was doomed to fail as parties would just have resorted to adopting candidates later and promoting them as campaigners instead.
Nevertheless the Electoral Commission has raised a number of practical objections, saying that they would not be able to issue finalised guidance until the relevant primary legislation had received royal assent, the commission had carefully considered the wider context in which guidance would operate, and consulted widely on the content of the guidance. They are adamant that no changes to the rules surrounding elections should be applied to an election held within six months of those changes coming into force.
This position effectively means that even if the Government were to pursue its legislation it would be unlikely to take effect until after the next General Election and that may well be too late.
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it will be too late. Labour have had 11 years to sort political funding out, limit the influence of the few very wealthy, make votes fair and reform the Lords.
How long will we have to wait until our cracked political system throws up a real progressive government?
Labour's legacy will be summed up in two short words: Iraq & failure.
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How long will we have to wait until our cracked political system throws up a real progressive government?
Labour's legacy will be summed up in two short words: Iraq & failure.
# posted by 
: 3:09 PM
: 3:09 PM<< Home
