PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
CONDUCT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WALES AND THE NEED FOR A REVIEW OF THE RESULT OF THE WELSH REFERENDUM (15 January 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.

Sponsored by:
Mr Owen Paterson (Conservative)