‘Not enough time’ to add 16-year-olds to the electoral roll if snap poll is called
OPPOSITION parties cannot force Boris Johnson to let 16 and 17-year-olds and EU citizens vote in a snap election, officials have said.
The Cabinet Office is understood to have told ministers that officials would need six months to ensure additional groups of voters were added to the electoral roll ahead of an election. The Electoral Commission is understood to hold a similar view.
The advice would appear to scotch plans by Labour and SNP MPs to secure immediate voting rights for under 18s and EU nationals if Mr Johnson lays a one-line election Bill in Parliament in an attempt to get around the Labour front bench’s opposition to a snap poll.
The move is being considered by Downing Street to secure an election with the approval of a simple majority of MPs rather than the 434 required under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, on which MPs are due to vote tomorrow. Jeremy Corbyn is expected to order his MPs to abstain or vote against the motion, virtually guaranteeing that it would fall.
Last night Mr Johnson warned EU leaders that if they granted Parliament’s request to delay Brexit from Oct 31 to Jan 31, “Parliament will just waste the next three months like it has wasted the last three years”. The Prime Minister added: “If Parliament cannot agree a way forward then is it time for a new parliament – and the only means of doing this is via a general election.”
Mr Johnson has told Cabinet ministers Sajid Javid will announce a Budget in January if the Tories secure and win an election next month. This week the party will launch a social media campaign encouraging voters to email MPs to urge them to back an election.
The party’s plans for a snap poll centre on a closely guarded list of between 30 and 40 target seats, many of which cover working-class areas in the West Midlands and the North. They include Bishop Auckland, in Co Durham, which Labour holds with a 502 majority, and Stockton South, near Middlesbrough, where Mr Corbyn’s party has a majority of 888.
Last night an Opinium poll gave the Conservatives a 16-point lead nationally, on 40 per cent compared with Labour’s 24 per cent and 15 per cent for the Lib Dems. The Brexit Party slipped by two points to 10 per cent.
Last weekend MPs approved Mr Johnson’s Brexit legislation at its first
‘If Parliament cannot agree a way forward then it is time for a new parliament – via a general election’
stage in the Commons but voted down his timetable for it to gain Parliament’s final approval in time for the UK to leave the EU on Thursday. Mr Johnson wants the EU to offer a short extension, until Nov 15 or 30, allowing additional time for Parliament to debate and approve the Bill. Mr Corbyn, who has left the door open to supporting a delay beyond Jan 31, has signalled that he will order his MPs to vote down tomorrow’s election motion. Mr Johnson’s aides are considering tabling a one-line bill that could be supported by the SNP and Liberal Democrats, both of which have been seeking an election.
Last night The Observer reported that the SNP and Liberal Democrats were planning to table a bill that triggers a Dec 9 election, before Mr Johnson is able to gain approval for his deal. The plan includes going on to support amendments like lowering the voting age.
Last week Ken Clarke, who now sits as an independent backbencher, confirmed that MPs would attempt to force radical measures into the bill. “People will want to reduce the voting age to 16,” he said, referring to a policy pledged by Labour and the SNP in their 2017 election manifestos. Some Labour MPs have also backed allowing EU citizens to vote in Westminster elections. Currently they can only vote in council and European Parliament polls. But Cabinet Office officials are understood to have made clear that the time between Parliament introducing voting rights for new groups and a December election would be insufficient. Last year, in a separate submission to the Welsh Assembly, the Electoral Commission warned: “... any changes to the franchise should be clear six months before Electoral Registration Offices are due to begin any scheduled annual canvass activities to enable all those who are newly eligible to vote to take the steps they need to successfully register and participate in the elections.”
The SNP have already lowered the voting age for the Scottish Parliament elections to 16. At the 2017 Westminster elections they pledged: “We will look to introduce our own legislative proposals at Westminster, working with other parties to give 16 and 17-year-olds a vote in all elections. And we will support extending the franchise to citizens of other EU countries.” A substantial number of the seats on the Conservatives’ list of targets for a snap poll are on a list of 100 towns
that the Government has recently said will each benefit from investment of up to £25million. Ministers have launched an advertising campaign ostensibly to ask residents of the towns how they would like the money to be spent. A Tory source acknowledged the move could help “sweep up Leave-voting towns in the North and the Midlands” in an election. The list of beneficiaries of the £3.6billion “towns fund” includes Bishop Auckland and Thornaby-on-Tees, in Stockton South. A government source said all 100 towns were chosen “according to the same selection methodology”, which included “analysis of deprivation, productivity, economic resilience and investment opportunities.”
This week Onward, a centre-right think tank, will publish a new report outlining its own suggestions for seats the Conservatives should be seeking to gain and defend. On Friday, James Cleverly, the Conservative chairman, visited Croydon Central and Brighton Kemptown. James Johnson, a former pollster at No 10, said: “These are seats that look hopeless on paper for the Conservatives but that they could win with a split Remain vote – even if the Tories lost votes.”