SNP CALL FOR FIXED TERM POLL CHANGE

SNP CALL FOR FIXED TERM POLL CHANGE

SNP Constitutional Affairs spokesperson Pete Wishart MP has called for
the new coalition Government to avoid scheduling the first fixed term
general election on the same day as elections for the Scottish
Parliament and Welsh Assembly in 2015.

The Conservative-Liberal Coalition Agreement, published on 12 May,
stated that the government would fix the date of the next general
election for the first Thursday of May 2015, but Mr Wishart has
pointed to recommendations which have already resulted in the
de-coupling of Scottish Parliament and local government elections in
Scotland.

The Gould Report, in the wake of the 2007 Scottish Parliament
elections, as well as studies by the Arbuthnott Commission, the
McIntosh Report and the Kerley Commission have all argued that
elections should be held on separate days citing the high rate of
rejected votes caused by the confusion of the list, first past the
post and STV votes being used at the same time among the principal
concerns. Mr Wishart has now tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in
Westminster urging the government to opt for a four year fixed term –
a period endorsed by the Liberal Democrats in a 2007 policy paper. The
party will also seek to amend legislation taken forward which provides
for a five year fixed term.

Mr Wishart said:

“The introduction of fixed term elections for Westminster are a great
reform, but it would be totally wrong to fix a date which clashes with
the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections.

“Clearly, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats pieced their
coalition agreement together in a hurry and failed to notice that the
first Thursday in May 2015 is already earmarked for the Scottish and
Welsh elections. It would be totally wrong to go ahead with both a
Westminster and a Holyrood election in the same day. Voters would be
confronted with three different voting papers, each using different
voting systems.

“Scottish Parliament and local government elections have already been
de-coupled and the arguments and studies which supported that still
stand. A four year fixed term would be one solution, and was indeed
Liberal Democrat policy. David Cameron and Nick Clegg need to check
their filofaxes and pencil in a new date for parliament to agree.

“Five year terms are the exception rather than the rule in most
parliaments and the the SNP will propose an amendment for a four year
term and expect all Scottish MPs to support it out of ‘respect’ for
the Scottish Parliament.”