Our response to the Government’s White Paper on party finance

The Government published its White Paper, ‘Party finance and expenditure in the United Kingdom’, on 16 June. Subsequently the Political Parties and Elections Bill was introduced to Parliament on 17 July. We have published a response welcoming the new sanctioning and investigation powers proposed. However, we do not believe that the Government’s proposals to change the make up of the Commission can be made to work without compromising confidence in our independence.

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New websites and newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of our re-vamped newsletter! The register will bring you our latest news, events and publications every quarter.

This month we have relaunched our main website – www.electoralcommission.org.uk and will soon be improving our voter information site – www.aboutmyvote.co.uk . Both sites have new handy features to make it quicker and easier to get information. Take a look and let us know what you think!

Electoral and structural reviews

The Boundary Committee for England – part of the Electoral Commission – has published draft recommendations on local government electoral arrangements in Wiltshire, West Sussex and Shropshire, following public consultation.

Consultations on council size for new unitary authorities began in Durham and Northumberland on 15 July and will run until 15 September. A consultation on council size for Cornwall's new unitary authority ended on 18 July, and the Committee is now considering the evidence provided.

The Committee has also published draft recommendations on the structure of unitary authorities in Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon. 

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Registration and election standards

We set performance standards for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) (PDF) in July and will open consultation on standards for Returning Officers (ROs) in Great Britain in September. This has involved collecting baseline performance information from EROs and ROs. This information will help identify areas where a performance standard may be helpful in supporting improvement.

New Commission Chair

We are delighted the Speaker of the House of Commons has announced that Jenny Watson is to be proposed as the new Chair of the Commission. Our current Chair, Sam Younger, will finish his term in December after eight years.

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Reports on May elections published

We have recently published our reports on the 1 May local government elections in England and Wales, and the Greater London Authority elections. Overall the elections ran smoothly. In England and Wales legislative change introduced for the first time at elections in 2007 was bedding down well and although these were the first scheduled elections in London since significant legislative changes no major problems were reported. We recommend a full cost benefit analysis for the use of e-counting at future GLA elections.

Turnout was 35.8% in England, 43.8% in Wales and 45.3% in the GLA elections. Turnout was higher among postal voters: 70.7% of electors issued with a postal vote voted in England, 71.4% in Wales and 72.1% in London.