Several constituents have contacted me about the Electoral Commission which is the independent body overseeing elections and regulating political finance in the UK.
In accordance with the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, the Commission has a range of supervisory and investigatory powers which enable them to monitor compliance with electoral finance laws proactively and enforce suspected offences.
I can assure you the Electoral Commission is operationally independent of government and is governed by the Commissioners. The Electoral Commission is accountable to Parliament through the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission.
While I appreciate the concerns expressed, I do not agree with the view that the requirement for a Strategy and Policy Statement will compromise the independence of the Electoral Commission. While the Commission will be required to have regard to the Strategy and Policy Statement, this does not give the Government new powers to direct the Electoral Commission’s decision making and it is commonplace for the Government to set a broad policy framework, as approved by Parliament, by which independent regulators should work. This is already the case for Ofcom and Ofgem, for example. The Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission and the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee were consulted on a draft of the statement and the final statement was voted on by a majority in Parliament.
I believe the Statement was compatible with the foundational principle that the Commission remains operationally independent, and I know that the Government has been clear on this fact. The Government had already made substantive revisions to the Statement, after the statutory consultation, providing clarifications and reassurances regarding the operational independence of the Electoral Commission.
Additionally, it clarified that the Statement articulated the Government’s view of factors the Commission should have regard to, but that Commissioners and the Commission’s executive leadership remain responsible for determining how the Commission exercises its functions.
I hope this goes some way to alleviating concerns. You may be interested to read more here:
Draft Electoral Commission strategy and policy statement - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
