A f lawed commission
AS guardians of legality and fair play in elections from local council polls to referendums, it’s vital to our democracy that the Electoral Commission should be scrupulously impartial. Worryingly, it appears to be anything but.
With the Commission preparing to rule on whether the Vote Leave campaign broke spending rules before the EU referendum, it has emerged that more than half its members are committed Remainers.
Of nine commissioners, four – including the chairman, who used to be archEurophile Tony Blair’s private secretary – have publicly criticised Brexit or backed calls for the referendum to be overturned.
A fifth was National Secretary of the SNP, a party deeply opposed to leaving the EU. So it’s no surprise the Commission is probing alleged offences by Vote Leave for the third time, while ignoring equally credible claims against the Remain campaign.
The conflict of interests here is glaringly obvious and must be urgently addressed.
Any commissioner who has publicly made anti- Brexit statements should be disqualified from adjudicating on any decision about the referendum campaign.
And if confidence is to be fully restored, the Commission’s mix of superannuated civil servants, quangocrats and ex-MPs must be replaced by people of genuine stature and political independence.
SENIOR Electoral Commission members face calls to resign after voicing opposition to Brexit.
The watchdog’s chairman and three of his commissioners are under scrutiny over a series of comments criticising the Brexit campaign – even suggesting it should be overturned.
Commissioners are bound by the body’s code of conduct, which requires them to act ‘at all times’ to ‘uphold its impartiality.’ But yesterday it emerged that chairman Sir John Holmes had publicly spoken of his ‘regret’ at the outcome of the referendum and condemned the ‘panoply of Eurosceptic nonsense’ by Brexit campaigners.
Fellow commissioners Bridget Prentice, Lord Horam and Professor David Howarth were also revealed to have spoken out against Brexit. The Electoral Commission already faces accusations of bias from Brexiteers, who claim it is focusing on allegations of wrongdoing by the Leave campaign while ignoring similar claims against Remain.
The revelation that four of the its nine commissioners are publicly opposed to Brexit last night sparked calls for them to resign. Former Cabinet minister Priti Patel, whose complaint against alleged rule breaches by Remain was dismissed by the Commission this year, said: ‘There is clear evidence the chairman and commissioners have publicly given views that undermine the standards and impartiality required in these roles.
‘They should relinquish their positions and independent people should be brought in.’ Sir John’s comments came in a speech made before he was appointment last year.
He said he regretted the referendum outcome and that those pushing for Brexit had ‘no coherent plan for life afterwards’. Other commissioners have voiced opposition while in the post. Professor Howarth, a former Lib Dem MP, suggested the 2016 result could not ‘ bind the young’, as Leave voters would die out and be replaced by Remainers.
Former Labour MP Miss Prentice said Tony Blair’s suggestion the referendum result could be overturned was ‘spot on’ while Lord Horam said there was ‘great logic’ in a second referendum. A fifth commissioner is a former SNP national secretary, which is strongly opposed to Brexit.
But the Electoral Commission last night dismissed calls for the four commissioners to resign, saying none of them are involved in investigatory procedures and decisions, which are carried out impartially.