All applications to register new party descriptions are assessed against the criteria set out in law. The criteria are designed to ensure voters can mark the ballot paper with confidence.<\/p>
The description referenced was registered 23 years ago. The Commission has since updated its approach to descriptions that feature individuals\u2019 names, to ensure the statutory criteria which prevent voters from being misled or confused are met.<\/p>
The Commission periodically reviews the registers of political parties to ensure registered details continue to meet the statutory tests. It will consider descriptions that include an individual\u2019s name as part of its programme of future reviews.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Cat Smith"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Lancaster and Fleetwood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Cat Smith"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-16", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-16T15:41:18.477Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Political Parties: Registration"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 25444 on Political Parties: Registration, if she will ask the Commission to make an assessment of the consistency of those rules with the approval of a description on a ballot paper of the Liberal Party that includes reference to Steve Radford's candidate.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/609", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for George Galloway"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochdale"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "George Galloway"} ], "uin" : "26073"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716843", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716843/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Parties have the option to register descriptions which can appear on the ballot paper, instead of the party name. As the registrar for political parties, electoral law requires the Commission to assess whether a party\u2019s description meets the requirements set out in law. If it does not, the description cannot be registered.<\/p>
If a person, other than the candidate, is named in a description and thus appeared on the ballot paper, it is likely to mislead a voter about the candidate standing in their area. It would not therefore meet the legal requirements for a description, and the Commission would be required to refuse it.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4436", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Cat Smith"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Lancaster and Fleetwood"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Cat Smith"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-13T09:41:23.637Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "36"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Political Parties: Registration"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if she will hold discussions with the Electoral Commission on the reasons for which it rejected the application from (a) Kingston Independent Residents Group and (b) Workers Party Britain on registering a description that included the leaders of those parties.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "true", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/609", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for George Galloway"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Rochdale"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "George Galloway"} ], "uin" : "25444"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }