On 8 October, Alistair Lexden backed a successful cross-party Lords amendment to the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill to help young people coming up to the age of 18 get on the electoral register.
The amendment was overturned by the Government in the Commons. When the Bill came back to the Lords for its final stage on 26 November, he spoke in support of a further amendment proposed by the cross-bench peer, Lord Woolley of Woodford.
The earlier amendment would have required the Government to authorise electoral registration officers either to register young people automatically at the age of 16 when they are given their national insurance numbers, or alternatively to provide them with the information they need to register themselves. The Woolley amendment proposed only the second of the two options.
In his speech, Alistair Lexden said: “The new version before us today omits the provision for automatic registration, on which the Government based its entire opposition to the original amendment. This amendment proposes, in very modest terms, that it should be permissible for the young people, on whom the future of our country depends, to be notified about what they should do in order to gain the right to cast a vote and play their part in our democracy.”
The Government was not prepared to accept even this small addition to the Bill. It is not customary in the Lords for amendments of this kind to be pressed to a division at the final stage before a Bill becomes law. Lord Woolley withdrew his amendment. The Minister in charge of the Bill did, however, say that the Government would “see what can be done” to give young people information about electoral registration without a change in the law. “Obviously”, he added, “the Government will report back on the progress of that consideration.”
It was on that not entirely satisfactory note that the Lords left this important matter—for the time being.
