Speeches by Ali.

“Just to add, I think it is very important that it is part of the work we do going forward. Picking up on the Chair’s comments earlier about building resilience and capacity, it is important to make sure that local authorities with that responsibility have the appropriate support. I am aware that in the last general ele…”

“We do. It was broadly well run. Of course, there were particular challenges around the timing of the election, which the Chair is very aware of, and some of the issues affecting electoral administrators. I have seen some of the evidence that was given in the previous sessions around that challenge, and they rose up to …”

“In relation to elections or—”

“Absolutely.”

“Absolutely. In terms of a voting age of 16, this is an important agenda. We have already engaged with the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The wider network of youth organisations is key, as is citizenship education, and obviously the Department for Education’s curriculum review…”

“I have taken a very close interest in the various Committees—this Committee as well as the MHCLG Committee and, of course, the other relevant Committees. Looking at the written submissions this Committee has received, as well as oral evidence, there are a lot of very important ideas and insights that we want to make su…”

“Stuart, do you want to get into this?”

“Thank you for that question, Chair. You pointed out some of the challenges in overseeing the last election and ensuring that it was successfully conducted. What is really important is that we have an opportunity through undertaking a strategic review of electoral registration conduct, which was launched back in October…”

“Thank you, Chair. I am grateful to be invited to this Committee and for the interest the Committee is taking in our work. This Government are absolutely committed to strengthening our democracy, encouraging full participation in our elections, and ensuring that all eligible electors have a voice and people’s views are …”

“The review is an important opportunity to feed in suggestions, and we are very interested in improvements and ideas for improvements that we can take into consideration. I know from my own experience the choice of venue can really matter. The space available can be an issue, which is linked to how practical it is for t…”

“Again, we are very interested in proposals, and the review will pick up some of those issues. We are also looking, of course, at how government information and technology can play a role. We will need to look at those proposals in the round and identify areas and proposals that could go a lot further in making it easie…”

“Broadly, there is trust in institutions, but obviously in some more than others, so it is important that we build on that—and, yes, delivery, responding to people’s everyday concerns, responding to the real-life challenges they face. Our country has gone through multiple crises—the pandemic, the cost of living crisis—a…”

“The Electoral Commission has an important role to play and we are keen to see that happen even more. This is a great opportunity. Of course, other institutions that can play a part in that are going to be important. As I say, it is an exciting agenda. I spent a great deal of time starting up charities to support young …”

“There are a number of discussions across Government about the use and importance of data, as you say, and linked data, in terms of policymaking. I mentioned DVLA, but there are other opportunities to look at how we can use government data in relation to voter registration, and we are having discussions. The Defending D…”

“I appreciate the point of the question, and we recognise that the current system of election law is complex. I know that in some quarters there have been calls to consolidate election law. We appreciate the strong sentiments around that, but simple consolidation would deny the opportunity for us to fix immediate proble…”

“There are a whole range of areas within this brief where I have been keen to learn from international experience, and officials draw on that international experience, as well as, of course, experience from Scotland and Wales, making sure that we are able to draw on each of the nations’ experiences. International experi…”

“As I mentioned earlier, the role that Government Departments play together, particularly the Department for Education and DCMS, is crucial. Youth Parliaments are important—Mr Speaker hosted the annual event here—as is the engagement of representatives in encouraging young people. More importantly, we are very intereste…”

“We are looking into it. I do not know if you want to come in on the specifics.”

“You are right, and it is not just now. There has been an ongoing issue around trust in politics, which is work that we all have to do to ensure that we can build trust. In our manifesto we set out that we will take action in relation to political finance, for instance, which is another area where some of the things tha…”

“The Liberal Democrats had the opportunity to change the system, and they didn’t.”