A Complaint From Geraldine Dreadful MP
Iain Dale 9:06 PM

Geraldine Dreadful MP has written me a letter rightly taking me to task for my interview with Nick Griffin. Read it HERE.

"Developing and issuing guidance on the new duty to begin counting votes with four hours of close of poll. The Electoral Commission will issue guidance for Returning Officers on any changes to the Parliamentary Elections Rules as soon as possible once the Bill receives Royal Assent.
We do not believe that such guidance could - or should attempt to - anticipate all of the possible reasonable steps which might be taken by a Returning Officer in order to comply with the new duty imposed by this Clause, for a number of reasons:
* The extent to which steps taken by Returning Officers are considered reasonable will need to be determined on a case by case basis - e.g. what is considered reasonable for a compact borough constituency may not be for a more geographically disparate county constituency; what is considered reasonable for a constituency where there are no combined local government elections may not be for a constituency where the parliamentary election is combined with local government elections.
* In addition, what are considered to be "reasonable steps" will to a degree depend on the level of financial resources available to returning officers and, in particular, the extent to which they will be able to claim payment from the Consolidated Fund for additional expenses incurred in taking what they consider to be "reasonable steps".
To ensure Returning Officers are able to make decisions on the correct approach the Government should also clarify how it would assess whether any additional costs incurred in ensuring that the counting of votes begins within four hours of close of poll are reasonable, and amend its guidance notes for Returning Officers as appropriate. We will continue to work with all parties as the Bill progresses to seek resolution to these remaining issues."
"Dear x
I have received the following note from the Chief Executive which has been published on the website over the weekend but, in case you have not yet seen it and in view of its importance, I reproduce it below for all Members' information:-
"I have now received a letter from Michael Wills MP, Minister of State at the MoJ to explain the Government's latest position in respect of the amendment made to the Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill. As you will know, the purpose of the amendment is to require overnight counts at parliamentary elections.
The Minister's letter acknowledges the various comments that have been made since the amendment was passed. In that light, his letter explains that the Government, with the support of the Opposition front bench, has now tabled a further amendment to the Bill regarding the counting of votes at a Parliamentary election. This clause will now be debated at Report stage of the Bill on Tuesday, 2 March.
The letter explains that the amendment follows further discussions between the parties and also seeks to take account of discussions with the Electoral Commission and the concerns that the AEA has shared with MoJ officials.
The purpose of the amendment would be to delete the previous amendment and to replace it with a new clause which would provide that a Returning Officer must take reasonable steps to begin counting the votes given on the ballot papers as soon as practicable within four hours of the close of poll. The clause would require the Electoral Commission to produce guidance on this duty. Where the count does not begin within the specified time period, Returning Officers would be required to publish a statement within 30 days of the poll giving the time that the count began, explaining why it did not begin before 2 am. and setting out those steps that were taken. This statement would have to be provided to the Electoral Commission, who would be required to list those constituencies that did not start the count before 2 am. in its statutory report on the conduct of the election. The clause would apply to all Parliamentary elections (including by-elections) in future.
The amendment has yet to be published but when it is (probably on Monday), it can be found at:-
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2009-10/constitutionalreformandgover
nance/documents.html
Although many would have preferred to keep the existing arrangements, I am sure that this situation is better than that which would have been the case if the previous amendment had survived. At least, it does restore the decision to the ARO and give them some freedom of choice in determining when best to undertake the count.
I have, of course, asked to be kept advised on developments and progress through Parliament although the answer to that, so far as the House of Commons is concerned, will be easily available from Hansard on Wednesday morning. The Bill with this amendment, if approved, will then transfer to the House of Lords."
Best wishes,
Nigel
Nigel Hurll
Website Manager, Association of Electoral Administrators

The clause requires Returning Officers to take reasonable steps to begin the count by 2am. That is a clear duty and goes further than the existing legislation which requires them only to make arrangements for the counting of votes "as soon as practicable" after the close of poll. It is clear in our view that when the amendment becomes law, it would not allow for Returning Officers simply to excuse themselves from starting the count within the 4 hour period set out. Of course, the legislation cannot guarantee overnight counts everywhere - there might for example be some constituencies with challenging geography where, despite reasonable steps being taken, it is impossible to begin the count by 2am. Or there might be unforeseen circumstances on the night. But the formulation is much clearer about what is expected than the current legislation, and Returning Officers will not be able to dismiss the duty lightly.
1. Paul Flynn reports from his booklaunch.Just had some really exciting news. I sooo wish I could tell you. But rest assured you will be the first to know. Feel free to speculate!
1. Mark Pack reviews WHY VOTE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT. Why indeed.
Labels: 7 Days Show
Labels: BNP, Nick Griffin
"The Mail on Sunday story is not true. Sam has never voted Labour and never
will. She took 5 weeks off work to campaign for the Tories in Stafford in 97
election!"
1. Richard Willis on the date of the budget and the election.David Cameron has twice refused to be interviewed by me, once for this newspaper and once for a TV programme I made about him for Channel Four. When I have sought to question him at Press conferences or public events, he has been highly reluctant to speak to me. I understand this reluctance, and take it as a compliment, but I do not think it is creditable or right.
NEW CLAUSE 37 - Parliamentary elections: counting of votes
'(1) Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) (parliamentary elections rules) is amended as follows.
(2) In rule 44 (attendance at counting of votes) after paragraph (5) insert-
"(6) In making arrangements under this rule, the returning officer shall have regard to the duty imposed on him by rule 45(3A) below."(a) after paragraph (3) insert-
"(3A) The returning officer shall take reasonable steps to begin counting the votes given on the ballot papers as soon as practicable within the period of four hours starting with the close of the poll.";
(b) after paragraph (7) insert-
"(8) The Electoral Commission shall issue guidance to returning officers on the duty imposed by paragraph (3A) above."
"Counting of votes: statement by returning officer
53ZA (1) In a contested election, if the counting of the votes given on the ballot papers did not begin within the period specified in rule 45(3A) above, the returning officer shall before the expiry of the period of 30 days starting with the day on which the poll closed-
(a) prepare and publish a statement giving the information specified in paragraph (2) below, and
(b) deliver it to the Electoral Commission.
(a) specify the time at which the counting of the votes given on the ballot papers began,
(b) describe the steps taken under rule 45(3A) above, and
(c) explain why the counting of the votes given on the ballot papers did not start within the period specified in rule 45(3A) above.
(3) Where a statement is delivered to the Electoral Commission under paragraph (1)(b) above, the Commission shall specify in any election report they produce that a statement has been delivered to them under that paragraph in respect of the constituency to which the statement relates.
(4) In paragraph (3) above "election report" means a report under section 5(1) or (2A) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 in relation to the parliamentary election in question."'.- (Mr. Wills.)
1. Luke Akehurst remembers Michael Foot.
I'm sorry, but Cathy Newman's so-called Exclusive on Channel 4 News tonight is pretty lame. Cathy has had a number of really good scoops lately, but this is not one of them. Earlier, she tweeted...@cathynewman: C4News Exclusive: leaked email warns party's throwing away election victory with "shambolic" campaign http://bit.ly/bfboLs
@cathynewman Bingle's email matters b/c it's what MPs, peers and ppcs are saying privately. Have i touched a nerve with tory tweeters?


Remember about a month ago I wrote THIS post about my mobile phone bill? It was £2,500, and it turned out the next month's was even more. I twittered about it and was contacted by Vodafone's web relations team. To cut a long story short, they have spent the last month trying to get to the bottom of it. No one is totally sure, but it appears that UberTwitter caused it.