Committee publication · Correspondence · 8 September 2025
Letter, dated 18 July 2025, from Rt Hon Rushanara Ali, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Homelessness and Democracy relating to disqualification orders
From: Speaker's Conference (2024)
Inquiry: Speaker’s Conference on the security of candidates, MPs and elections
Summary
Rushanara Ali, Minister for Democracy, explains to the Speaker how disqualification orders work under the Elections Act 2022. These ancillary penalties ban offenders aged 18+ convicted of intimidatory offences motivated by hostility towards candidates or office holders from standing for or holding elective office for 5 years. Courts must impose them unless circumstances make it unjust; no data is currently held on usage, but the government is developing monitoring mechanisms.
Key findings
- Disqualification orders are mandatory ancillary penalties under the Elections Act 2022 for offenders aged 18+ convicted of intimidatory offences motivated by hostility towards candidates, campaigners or elective office holders, banning them from office for 5 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Courts may decline to impose a disqualification order only where particular circumstances would make it unjust, and must state reasons in open court; prosecution need not formally apply but must present evidence of hostility and remind courts of their obligations.
- No data is currently held on disqualification order usage; government is working across agencies to develop better understanding of electoral law enforcement and establish appropriate monitoring.
- Government is introducing three new legislative measures to tackle harassment and intimidation, including extending disqualification orders' remit to protect electoral staff from abuse.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Rushanara Ali, Lindsay Hoyle, Minister Sackman, Solicitor General, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Notable line
“Harassment and intimidation of voters, electoral staff and campaigners, both online and in person, is totally unacceptable and has a profoundly detrimental impact on our democratic process.”
Key Quotes
“Disqualification orders are a type of ancillary order (additional legal penalty which can be imposed alongside a sentence) which were introduced under the Elections Act 2022 and applies where an offender over the age of 18 has committed an intimidatory offence”
“When sentencing offenders in these circumstances courts must also make a disqualification order, which bans the offender from standing for or holding elective office for a period of 5 years.”
“If the conditions set out above are met, the court must impose a disqualification order; however, courts may choose not to apply a disqualification order where there are particular circumstances that would make it unjust, but they must state in open court the reasons for not making the order.”
“We do not hold any data on the use of disqualification orders. We are working with colleagues across government …”
“This includes an extension of the disqualification order's remit, to ensure that electoral staff are also protected from abuse.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗