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In the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, the Electoral Commission is the national
election commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
, created in 2001 as a result of the
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important ...
. It is an independent agency that regulates party and election finance and sets standards for how elections should be run.


History

The Electoral Commission was created following a recommendation by the fifth report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. The Commission's mandate was set out in the
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important ...
(PPERA), and ranges from the regulation of political donations and expenditure by political and third parties through to promoting greater participation in the electoral process. The
Electoral Administration Act 2006 The Electoral Administration Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed on 11 July 2006. Among its main provisions, the Act: * Provides a legislative framework for setting up a "Coordinated Online Record of Electors", kn ...
required local authorities to review all polling stations, and to provide a report on the reviews to the Electoral Commission. The
Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 The Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 (c 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It implemented the proposals contained in the Government White Paper on "Party Finance and Expenditure in the United Kingdom" published on 16 ...
granted the Electoral Commission a variety of new supervisory and investigatory powers. It fills significant gaps in the commission's current powers, the Act also provides a new range of flexible civil sanctions, both financial and non-financial are currently proposed to extend to regulated donees as well as political parties. The Act also permitted the introduction of individual electoral registration in Great Britain and made changes to the structure of the Electoral Commission, including allowing for the appointment of four new electoral commissioners who are nominated by political parties. There was widespread controversy surrounding the
2010 UK general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...
including allegations of fraudulent postal voting, polling stations being unprepared for an evening surge of voters, policing of voters protesting at one polling station, and only enough ballot papers for 80% of voters. The Electoral Commission was also criticized for its handling of the election.


Responsibilities and objectives


Integrity and transparency of party election finance

As the regulator of political party funding in the UK, the Commission's role is to ensure the integrity and transparency of party and election finance. Political parties must submit annual statements of accounts, detailing income and expenditure, to the Electoral Commission. The Commission publishes these on its website. Political parties and regulated donees are required to submit reports of all donations they receive to the Commission. The Commission maintains a publicly available and searchable register of these donations on its website. At general elections to the UK Parliament, EU Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly political parties are required to submit campaign spending returns to the Electoral Commission. The Commission may impose financial civil penalties on political parties and their accounting units if they fail to submit donation and loans returns, campaign spending return or statements of account. The Commission also has the power to seek forfeiture of impermissible donations accepted by political parties.


Registering political parties

The Commission registers political parties and regulates party compliance. The Commission maintains the registers of political parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.


Electoral registers and the electoral registration process

The commission produces guidance and gives advice on electoral registration to
electoral registration officer In the United Kingdom, an electoral registration officer (ERO) is a person who has the statutory duty to compile and maintain the electoral roll (which includes conducting the annual canvass). Any expenses incurred by an electoral registration offi ...
s in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
. The commission has published performance standards for electoral registration in Great Britain. Electoral registration officers are required to report against these standards and the commission will make this information publicly available. As part of this work, the commission runs a series of public awareness campaigns ahead of elections and throughout the year to encourage people to register to vote. These focus on audiences that research indicates are less likely to be on the electoral register, including recent home-movers, students and UK citizens living overseas.


Well-run elections and referendums

The Commission produces guidance and gives advice on electoral administration to returning officers and electoral administrators in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...
. The Commission has set performance standards for returning officers and referendum counting officers in Great Britain. These standards do not apply to local government elections in Scotland as they are a devolved matter. The Commission has a statutory duty to produce reports on the administration of certain elections (for example UK Parliamentary general elections) and may be asked to report on other types of election (such as local government elections).


EU seat distribution

The Electoral Commission was responsible for recommending which regions were allocated how many of the 73 seats that the United Kingdom held at the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.


Referendum responsibilities

The Electoral Commission has a number of responsibilities in relation to referendums. These include: *commenting on the wording of the referendum question (the government is responsible for proposing the wording) *registration of campaigners *designating lead campaign organisations and the making of grants *monitoring referendum expenditure limits and donations *certifying and announcing the result. *As with other electoral events, the Electoral Commission has a statutory duty to prepare and publish a report on the administration of a relevant referendum and to give guidance and advice to administrators and campaigners. *The chair of the commission, or someone appointed by the chair, will also be appointed as Chief Counting Officer. As of 2017, the Electoral Commission has overseen the holding of two UK-wide referendums. The first was the 2011 AV Referendum, and the second and most notable was the
2016 EU Referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...
. On both occasions the then chair of the Electoral Commission Jenny Watson acted as the appointed Chief Counting Officer. The commission also oversaw the 2004 North East England Devolution Referendum, the 2011 Welsh Devolution Referendum and also the
2014 Scottish Independence Referendum A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" ...
. The commission has no legal position in the legislation concerning referendums proposed by the devolved Scottish and Welsh administrations.


Organisation


Executive Team and Commissioners

* Bob Posner, Chief Executive. Formerly Director of Political Finance and Regulation and Legal Counsel, he was appointed Chief Executive in April 2019 having served as interim since January 2019 following the departure of Claire Bassett. * Aisla Irvine, Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance *Louise Edwards, Director of Regulation *Craig Westwood, Director of Communications, Policy and Research *Kieran Rix, Director of Finance and Corporate Services From 1 October 2010, additional Commissioners serve on a part-time basis who are nominated by the leaders of political parties, scrutinised by the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission and approved by the House of Commons by means of an Address to the Queen requesting their appointment. Those nominated by the three largest parties serve terms of four years, while the Commissioner nominated by a smaller party serves for a two-year term. The appointments of nominated Commissioners are renewable once. These current Commissioners are: * Alasdair Morgan * Sarah Chambers * Lord Gilbert of Panteg *Professor Dame Elan Closs Stephens CBE * Joan Walley * Rob Vincent CBE


National commissions

To reflect the views of stakeholders and the distinctive procedures and practices in the
countries of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), since 1922, comprises three constituent countries and a region: England, Scotland, and Wales (which collectively make up the region of Great Britain), as well as Northern Ireland, ...
there are devolved electoral commissions for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.


English regional offices

Since February 2007, the Commission has had regional offices across England in the South West, Eastern and South East, London, Midlands, and North of England regions.


Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission is answerable to Parliament via the Speaker's Committee (established by PPERA 2000). The Commission must submit an annual estimate of income and expenditure to the Committee. The Committee, made up of Members of Parliament, is responsible for answering questions on behalf of the Commission. The Member who takes questions for the Speaker's Committee is Bridget Phillipson.


Parliamentary Parties Panels (PPP)

The PPP is composed of representatives from all UK parliamentary political parties with two or more sitting MPs. The PPP was established by PPERA and meets quarterly to submit views to the Commission on matters affecting political parties. There are equivalent non-statutory bodies for the devolved legislatures in Scotland (Scottish Parliament Political Parties Panel), Wales (Wales Political Parties Panel) and Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Assembly Parties Panel).


Publications

The commission conducts a wide variety of research into electoral administration, electoral registration and the integrity and transparency of party finance, and a variety of guidance materials for political parties, regulated donees, and electoral administrators.


Criticism

On 5 June 2015, Lord Nigel Vinson criticized the Electoral Commission for its failure to remain politically non-partisan and called for it to be reformed. On 14 September 2018, whilst the British
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...
agreed that the Vote Leave campaign during the EU referendum had broken the law on spending limits, it also ruled that the Electoral Commission had misinterpreted the rules prior to the referendum taking place in advice it gave to the Vote Leave campaign, allowing them to break the law without even being aware. Anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Adonis Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, (born Andreas Adonis; 22 February 1963) is a British Labour Party politician and journalist who served in HM Government for five years in the Blair ministry and the Brown ministry. He served as Secretary of State ...
criticized the commission's incompetence, and said that "a rather more fit and proper body" should be in charge of any future referendums that might take place. On 13 May 2020, during Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative MP Peter Bone attacked the Electoral Commission for its investigations into four separate members of pro-Leave campaigns, who were all found innocent of any wrongdoing. He called the commission "politically corrupt, totally biased and morally bankrupt". Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded by saying that he had hoped "all those who spent so much time and energy drawing attention to their supposed guilt would spend just as long drawing attention to their genuine innocence". On 29 August 2020, Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party Amanda Milling called for major reform of the Commission in a piece in
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
, accusing the organisation of a "lack of accountability" and of operating by an "unclear rulebook".


Proposed changes to legislation governing the Commission

In February 2022, the Commission sent a public letter to ministers expressing concern about proposed changes to legislation governing the operation of the Commission. The letter said that the proposed provision in the elections bill for ministers to draw up a “strategy and policy statement”, enabling the government to guide the work of the commission, was “inconsistent with the role that an independent electoral commission plays in a healthy democracy” . The letter was signed by the full board of the commission except the Conservative peer Stephen Gilbert.


See also

*
Election commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
for similar organizations in other countries *Political events overseen by the Electoral Commission: **
Elections in the United Kingdom There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (commonly called 'general elections' when all seats are contested), elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, local electio ...
**
Referendums in the United Kingdom Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically, national referendums are rare due to the long-standing principle of parliamentary sovereignty. There is no constitutional requirement t ...
* :Boundary commissions in the United Kingdom


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
Elections in the United Kingdom Public bodies and task forces of the United Kingdom government Political funding in the United Kingdom