Parliament Website

Conduct Of The Secretary Of State For Wales And The Need For A Review Of The Result Of The Welsh Referendum

EDM number 653 in 1997-98, proposed by Owen Paterson on 15/01/1998.

That this House notes with grave concern the admission by the Secretary of State for Wales that last minute instructions issued to returning officers in the Welsh Assembly Referendum on 18 September failed to reach some constituencies; notes further the admission by Mr Tony Wilkins, the Chairman of the County Borough Labour Party in the Secretary of State's constituency, that 'it was evident for all to see that chaos ruled the night and no one was in control'; regrets the denial of responsibility by the Secretary of State to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee on 13 January 1998 for the proper conduct of the count; recalls that the Chief Counting Officer told the returning and counting officers on 2 September that if there was a close run result, this would be a matter for Ministers; notes that the result of the first count only gave a majority of 168 votes per constituency; accordingly calls on the Secretary of State to acknowledge that no momentous constitutional change should ever proceed on the basis of a ballot whose validity has been undermined by serious doubts; and therefore calls for an independent review of procedures adopted and, if necessary, a recount conducted by an independent authority, as the Secretary of State has a huge personal vested interest in the result and cannot be considered an impartial arbiter.

This motion has been signed by a total of 34 MPs.

MPDateConstituencyPartyType
Owen Paterson15/01/1998North ShropshireConservativeProposed
Richard Shepherd15/01/1998Aldridge-BrownhillsConservativeSigned
Shaun Woodward15/01/1998WitneyConservativeSigned
Nicholas Winterton15/01/1998MacclesfieldConservativeSigned
Ann Winterton15/01/1998CongletonConservativeSigned
Robert Syms15/01/1998PooleConservativeSigned
Desmond Swayne15/01/1998New Forest WestConservativeSigned
Richard Body15/01/1998Boston & SkegnessConservativeSigned
Philip Hammond15/01/1998Runnymede & WeybridgeConservativeSigned
Dominic Grieve15/01/1998BeaconsfieldConservativeSigned
James Gray15/01/1998North WiltshireConservativeSigned
Teresa Gorman15/01/1998BillericayConservativeSigned
Christopher Gill15/01/1998LudlowConservativeSigned
Howard Flight15/01/1998Arundel & South DownsConservativeSigned
Michael Fabricant15/01/1998LichfieldConservativeSigned
William Cash15/01/1998StoneConservativeSigned
Keith Simpson15/01/1998Mid NorfolkConservativeSigned
Nick Hawkins15/01/1998Surrey HeathConservativeSigned
John Hayes15/01/1998South Holland & The DeepingsConservativeSigned
Gerald Howarth15/01/1998AldershotConservativeSigned
Andrew Hunter15/01/1998BasingstokeConservativeSigned
Geoffrey Johnson Smith15/01/1998WealdenConservativeSigned
Edward Leigh15/01/1998GainsboroughConservativeSigned
Oliver Letwin15/01/1998West DorsetConservativeSigned
Julian Lewis15/01/1998New Forest EastConservativeSigned
Tim Loughton15/01/1998East Worthing & ShorehamConservativeSigned
Graham Brady15/01/1998Altrincham & Sale WestConservativeSigned
Ian Bruce15/01/1998South DorsetConservativeSigned
Sydney Chapman15/01/1998Chipping BarnetConservativeSigned
Peter Luff16/01/1998Mid WorcestershireConservativeSigned
Marion Roe19/01/1998BroxbourneConservativeSigned
Tim Collins22/01/1998Westmorland & LonsdaleConservativeSigned
Michael Colvin22/01/1998RomseyConservativeSigned
Crispin Blunt26/01/1998ReigateConservativeSigned

Download raw data as csv or xml.