Coming up in the Lords

Of particular interest -

• Appointments to Committees - June 2;
• Question on appointments of special advisers - June 7 Q3
• Question on Barnett formula - June 7 Q4
• Question on membership of Lords Reform committee - June 8 Q2
• Question on electoral registration & avoidance of fraudulent registration - June 14 Q1
• Question on Post Legislative scrutiny - June 14 Q4
• Questions on review of parliamentary boundaries - June 15 Q2; June 24 Q3
• Question on savings in the administration of Government - June 24 Q1

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath has requested a Question for Short Debate [QSD] on the government's approach to reform of the House of Lords. Lord Grocott has requested a QSD on the operation of proportional representation for elections to the European Parliament. Arrangements for QSD are made through the Whips Office.

For full information go to "House of Lords Business"

Prospects for Electoral Reform

The Guardian this morning reports on a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on which disagreements were highlighted over electoral reform. The article can be accessed here.

Britain now uses a variety of voting systems. Elections to the House of Commons have retained the "First Past the Post System". With a large number of parties contesting seats - and diffusion of votes (It is now 60 years since Labour and the Conservatives took nearly all the votes cast at a General Election) - anomalies can arise. A party can win a "landslide" victory with an ever declining percentage of (a) votes cast (b) total electorate.

For more information on the debate - visit the website of the Electoral Reform Society. It is an active campaigning organisation for change - so no claim can be made for impartiality - but the debate cannot be avoided.