Party list replacements

[The Bishop]

He has already vacated it.

[Lord Twaddleford]

Nathan Gill has resigned from the Welsh Assembly:
North Wales Daily Post
BBC News

Mandy Jones, 3rd on the North Wales region UKIP list, is the most likely candidate to replace him, pending confirmation by the regional returning officer.

Can't say Gill resigning makes for a tragic loss by any measure...

[mondialito]

Dec 27, 2017 21:27:15 GMT Lord Twaddleford said:

Nathan Gill has resigned from the Welsh Assembly:
North Wales Daily Post
BBC News

Mandy Jones, 3rd on the North Wales region UKIP list, is the most likely candidate to replace him, pending confirmation by the regional returning officer.

Can't say Gill resigning makes for a tragic loss by any measure...

This was inevitable the moment Neil Hamilton usurped him for the Assembly leadership, wasn't it?

[neilm]

It's an odd move, he'll lose his MEP post in about 18 months whereas with this he could have carried on for a couple of years.

I wonder if he's going to defect to the Conservatives.

[cibwr]

Well by not being an AM he gets an extra 40K severance pay from the EU parliament.

[Ron Swanson]

I know that there have been issues with MEPs in particular being criticised for double jobbing in the party, keeping it all in house.

Bill Etheridge stood for council on the same day he was elected MEP, though he was 3rd on the list, and was elected a Cllr. Mike Hookem stood in Hull and lost.

Tim Aker stood for council after being elected as MEP. Odd indeed.

For me... perhaps hedging his bets that somehow Brexit might be overturned and he could keep his seat long term, as an anti EU party would generally score well enough in EU elections to secure seats. And if not the extra £ would come in handy.

Gill isn’t much of a politician, he doesn’t strike me as a Tory in the slightest. Probably the most boring, uncaptivating public speaker of all time.

He makes Phil Hammond seem like (insert the name of someone you could listen to all day).

[Pete Whitehead]

Jan 1, 2018 22:36:17 GMT Ron Swanson said:

I know that there have been issues with MEPs in particular being criticised for double jobbing in the party, keeping it all in house.

Bill Etheridge stood for council on the same day he was elected MEP, though he was 3rd on the list, and was elected a Cllr. Mike Hookem stood in Hull and lost.

Tim Aker stood for council after being elected as MEP. Odd indeed.

For me... perhaps hedging his bets that somehow Brexit might be overturned and he could keep his seat long term, as an anti EU party would generally score well enough in EU elections to secure seats. And if not the extra £ would come in handy.

Gill isn’t much of a politician, he doesn’t strike me as a Tory in the slightest. Probably the most boring, uncaptivating public speaker of all time.

He makes Phil Hammond seem like (insert the name of someone you could listen to all day).

Not odd at all. It was part of an almost successful strategy to capture the parliamentary seat

[Huw Pritchard]

Mandy Jones (UKIP) has been appointed Regional Member to National Assembly for Wales. As a result of Nathan Gill resigning www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/PDFFiles/Council-Democracy/National-Assembly-for-Wales-North-Wales-Notice-Jan-2018.pdf

[LDCaerdydd]

Fantastic that the returning officer managed to get the date of the election wrong, but anyway.

[finsobruce]

Jan 3, 2018 15:25:22 GMT LDCaerdydd said:

Fantastic that the returning officer managed to get the date of the election wrong, but anyway.

merely playing compared with that returning officer for Wakefield ( i think that's right) who was himself elected and then caused the borough to be disenfranchised.

[neilm]

Jan 3, 2018 17:02:56 GMT finsobruce said:

Jan 3, 2018 15:25:22 GMT LDCaerdydd said:

Fantastic that the returning officer managed to get the date of the election wrong, but anyway.

merely playing compared with that returning officer for Wakefield ( i think that's right) who was himself elected and then caused the borough to be disenfranchised.

How long ago was this?

[andrewteale]

Some new legislation has been published, with the intention of providing ways to avoid by-elections to the European Parliament wherever possible. At the moment a by-election has to be held if a party's list is exhausted.

There are two new pieces of legislation:

The European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/107). Amends section 5 of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 to, according to the explanatory note, "enable regulations to make provision for vacant seats in Great Britain and Gibraltar to be filled in additional ways in certain circumstances".

The European Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/106). These are the regulations referred to above. Here is the explanatory note:

These Regulations amend the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/293) (“the Principal Regulations”) to alter the provision for filling a vacancy arising mid-term in the seat of a member of the European Parliament in an electoral region in England, Wales, Scotland and Gibraltar.

Under the current provision, if a vacancy cannot be filled from a registered party’s list, a by-election is held to fill the vacancy. Instead of a by-election being held, regulation 2 makes provision for registered parties to nominate a replacement or, where the previous MEP stood as an independent candidate, it allows the seat to be filled by way of a substitute named on a notice given previously by the candidate. It is only after these options are exhausted that a by-election is held.

New regulation 81A is an interpretation provision and, in particular, describes the basis on which an MEP will be taken to have been elected for a registered party, been returned in the seat from a registered party’s list, stood as an independent candidate, returned in the seat as a substitute, or stood for two or more registered parties when elected at a by-election. It also describes the basis on which an MEP will be taken to have been nominated to the seat or returned in the seat as a substitute.

Regulation 82 of the Principal Regulations (initial response to vacancies) is amended by regulation 2(3) to remove the provisions relating to independent candidates and to modify the notice that the Secretary of State must send to the returning officer for the affected electoral region upon a vacancy arising in that region.

Regulation 83 (filling of vacancies from a registered party’s list) is amended by regulation 2(4) to make clear that it applies in cases where there is a vacant seat and the previous MEP was elected for a registered party at a general election or was returned in the seat from a registered party’s list under regulation 83. The requirement on the returning officer to notify the Secretary of State if he or she cannot fill a vacancy under this regulation has been removed.

New regulation 83A makes provision for a vacant seat, in the event it cannot be filled by reference to a registered party’s list under regulation 83, where the previous MEP stood on behalf of a registered party when elected to the seat at a by-election or where the MEP was nominated to the seat, to be filled by nomination. This nomination is to be made by the nominating officer of the relevant registered party.

Where the previous MEP stood on behalf of two or more registered parties when elected, new regulation 83B makes provision similar to that in regulation 83A for a person to be nominated jointly by the nominating officers of the registered parties.

New regulation 83C requires a returning officer to notify the Secretary of State if the registered party for whom the previous MEP was elected at a general election or, where the previous MEP stood in the name of two or more registered parties when elected, at least one of those parties, is no longer a registered party. The returning officer must also notify the Secretary of State in cases where the MEP was returned in the seat from a party’s list or was nominated, or jointly nominated, to the seat by a party or parties.

New regulation 83D makes provision for an MEP who stood as an independent candidate when elected or who was returned in the seat as a substitute to give a “notice of substitutes” to the returning officer in the MEP’s electoral region. This notice contains the names of up to six persons who may fill the vacancy, should the MEP’s seat become vacant.

Where an MEP who stood as an independent candidate vacates their seat, new regulation 83E provides for the persons named in the notice of substitutes to be contacted by the returning officer for the relevant electoral region.

If an MEP who stood as an independent candidate when elected did not give the returning officer a notice of substitutes and subsequently vacates their seat, new regulation 83F provides that the returning officer must notify the Secretary of State of that fact.

Where a seat cannot be filled under new regulation 83A, 83B (via nomination) or 83E (as a substitute), or there is no notice of substitutes, a by-election is to be held under regulation 84 (as substituted by regulation 2). A by-election is also to be held if the registered party for whom the previous MEP was elected at a general election or who returned the MEP in the seat from its list is no longer a registered party and where the previous MEP stood in the name of two or more registered parties when elected and at least one of those parties is no longer a registered party.

New regulation 85A makes provision for those nominated persons, or substitutes, who are relevant citizens of the Union (as defined in regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations to mean citizens of other European Union Member States other than the Republic of Ireland). When nominated as candidates at a European Parliamentary election, such citizens are required to provide a declaration. Regulation 2(2) amends regulation 28(1) of the Principal Regulations to provide that making a false statement in connection with this declaration is a criminal offence.

There are also some transitional and saving provisions which are highly unlikely ever to be used.

[Harry Hayfield]

Feb 4, 2018 17:09:54 GMT andrewteale said:

Some new legislation has been published, with the intention of providing ways to avoid by-elections to the European Parliament wherever possible.

But there aren't going to be any as we leave the European Parliament before the 2019 elections.

[neilm]

Feb 4, 2018 20:21:00 GMT Harry Hayfield said:

Feb 4, 2018 17:09:54 GMT andrewteale said:

Some new legislation has been published, with the intention of providing ways to avoid by-elections to the European Parliament wherever possible.

But there aren't going to be any as we leave the European Parliament before the 2019 elections.

There might be. What if the Northern Ireland MEPs all die or resign? Or even one of them? There's no list there.

[uhurasmazda]

Feb 4, 2018 20:21:00 GMT Harry Hayfield said:

Feb 4, 2018 17:09:54 GMT andrewteale said:

Some new legislation has been published, with the intention of providing ways to avoid by-elections to the European Parliament wherever possible.

But there aren't going to be any as we leave the European Parliament before the 2019 elections.

Oh, there are possibilities.

For instance, if UKIP finally file for bankruptcy and are deregistered, and if one of their former MEPs dies or resigns before the six month rule comes into effect, then even though there are more people on the list we still have to have a by-election.

A European by-election by FPTP over a whole region. It would be beautiful and terrible.

[andrewteale]

Feb 4, 2018 20:21:00 GMT Harry Hayfield said:

Feb 4, 2018 17:09:54 GMT andrewteale said:

Some new legislation has been published, with the intention of providing ways to avoid by-elections to the European Parliament wherever possible.

But there aren't going to be any as we leave the European Parliament before the 2019 elections.

As usual Harry, you fundamentally and completely miss the point. We have MEPs at the moment, they might die or resign at any time, and in certain circumstances that might have triggered a by-election. Nobody wants the expense or hassle of a by-election which might have to cover (say) the whole of south-east England.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

I wonder if HM Government fear that MEPs from one party will deliberately resign, and others refuse to take seats, in order to provoke regional byelections that are then argued as a 'referendum on Brexit'. That could be highly disruptive.

(Could potentially happen from either Remain or Leave side depending how the negotiations go)

[neilm]

What happens to MEPs who refuse to take their seats?

[neilm]

Feb 4, 2018 21:22:05 GMT uhurasmazda said:

Feb 4, 2018 20:21:00 GMT Harry Hayfield said:

But there aren't going to be any as we leave the European Parliament before the 2019 elections.

Oh, there are possibilities.

For instance, if UKIP finally file for bankruptcy and are deregistered, and if one of their former MEPs dies or resigns before the six month rule comes into effect, then even though there are more people on the list we still have to have a by-election.

A European by-election by FPTP over a whole region. It would be beautiful and terrible.

Would be even more fun in Northern Ireland.

We've not had an EP by election for almost 20 years, it would be good to have one just before we leave.

[timrollpickering]

Jul 5, 2017 8:43:17 GMT yellowperil said:

I am not quite sure how each party decides their list order  for devolved bodies,etc. I know Lib Dems are all decided by ballot of members and I'm not sure how many parties follow the same procedure. If its done by ballot, the party leadership should have no role on deciding succession -it automatically goes to the next in line unless I suppose the leadership leans heavily on the next in line to withdraw, which I would think would be scandalous. But that's what you get with iniquitous closed list systems.

The Conservative lists are in sections - approved incumbents in the upper rank, new candidates and incumbents who lose automatic top ranking at a regional meeting go into the lower pot. An all member ballot decides the order.

What you're referring to is slightly different - it's the procedure for replacing mid term vacancies. Although it follows the principle of the order on the list, the party is given a power to block a candidate in the order taking up the seat (I think by declining to supply an authorisation certificate). This power was, I believe, introduced because of concerns that in the period between the election and the dissolution of the body candidates could leave the party.

(A practical example from the first use of party lists in this country in the Northern Ireland Forum. In one constituency the sole Alliance Forum member was in poor health. The second candidate on the list of five had been elected to one of the province wide seats. The third & fourth candidates had left the party since the election. The party's then director of elections has said they couldn't get clarity as to whether Alliance would be able to bypass numbers 3 & 4 to fill any vacancy with number 5, or if a province wide member could resign that post and take up a constituency vacancy. As it happens the member stayed in the Forum and then lived for many more years, but I guess experiences like this fed into the subsequent use of lists in Great Britain.)

The Lib Dems legally have this power to veto replacements, but perhaps internal party rules mean the power is never exercised. However if you find a situation where a potential replacement list member is a serious problem, there may well be a struggle over whether to use the power or not.