Talk:Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)

Budget

The info panel on the right gives a figure for the Commission's budget but the article doesn't give any mention of where these funds come from. Anyone? 78.149.25.70 (talk) 19:14, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

This has been updated. Nome3000 (talk) 12:28, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

The tax-payer and inflation are two places where the funds come from. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gks731 (talk • contribs) 11:43, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Article highly outdated

The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections.

History

The Commission’s mandate was set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (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 required local authorities to review all polling stations, and to provide a report on the reviews to the Electoral Commission.

Responsibilities and objectives Integrity and transparency of party election finance[edit]

The Commission needs capitalising.

Well-run elections and referendums which produce results that are acceptable[edit] 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).

Organisation[edit] Commissioners and Chief Executive[edit] • Sir John Holmes was appointed by the Speakers Committee in January 2017 as the third chair of the Electoral Commission. Sir John was previously a senior civil servant and diplomat. • Rob Vincent • Professor Elan Closs Stephens • Anna Carragher • Dame Sue Bruce • Claire Bassett is the current Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission. From 1 October 2010, four 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.[9] These current Commissioners are:[10] • John Horam (Conservative) • David Howarth (Liberal Democrat) • Bridget Prentice (Labour) • Alasdair Morgan (Scottish National Party)

Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission[edit] 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 Parliamentary Questions on behalf of the Commission. The Member who takes questions for the Speaker’s Committee is Bridget Phillipson.

External links[edit] • Official website • Your Vote Matters

Article highly outdated

This page is highly outdated. This is most apparent in the Commissioners and Chief Executive section. Namely:

Chair: As of January 2017 Sir John Holmes is the Chair of the Electoral Commission Board.

There have been a number of other changes to the Electoral Commission Board. For more information see the Electoral Commission website.

The article appears to have last been updated before 1 October 2010, where it says "From 1 October 2010, four additional Commissioners...". This should be changed to the present tense.

There is nothing in the history section since 2010, missing key electoral events such as the 2011 Parliamentary voting system referendum, the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence and the 2016 EU referendum, in which the Commission played a crucial role.

The agency overview section references Peter Wardle as the Commission's Chief Executive. As of 2015 this has been Claire Bassett.

The Commission's annual budget projections are also available in more recent documents.

References

Controversies section

What do people think about a section concerning Controversies? There have been several criticisms of them recently, for example concerning the Darren Grimes case, and their investigation of Brexit Party funding. cagliost (talk) 09:00, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

I don't think either of those count as controversies. The EC does a very large number of investigations. In regards to the Grimes case, that is simply an investigation that went against them on appeal, its not really a 'controversy'. The appeal court still agreed with the EC about a number of points of law from their original investigation -https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/electoral-commission-response-successful-appeal

There was no investigation of the Brexit Party. The EC visited their premises and provided them - a newly formed, highly funded, high profile party - with specific guidance about their systems to ensure they remained compliant. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/political-parties-and-non-party-campaigners-accepting-payments-online

I'm not sure the latter is particularly notable.

A notable cases or events section makes more sense. This would allow for a broader selection of cases to be included and a more neutral tone to be taken. For instance, the EC issuing its biggest ever fine (£70,000) to the Conservative for the 2017 UKPGE seems notable or fines issued for offences committed in relation to the EU referendum. There are a number of other historic cases that could be included here too - the fallout and EC response to the 'Remember Lee Rigby' description registered Britain First comes to mind.

Nome3000 (talk) 11:40, 19 September 2019 (UTC)

Appointment of members from countries

Article mentions executive staff and party-appointed "additional commissioners," implying the staff are commissioners. EC site says there are 3 members representing Ireland, Scotland & Wales, plus the party representatives appointed by Parliament https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/about-us/commissioners/selecting-our-commissioners How are country reps and staff appointed? Are the staff members? Kim9988 (talk) 20:44, 12 August 2023 (UTC)