Draft Strategy and Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission - Prof Justin Fisher

In this evidence, Professor Justin Fisher looks at a document called the draft strategy and policy statement for the Electoral Commission. He finds out that: 

• The Commission’s duties are already outlined in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act.
• Repeated evidence indicates that the Electoral Commission already provides high-quality guidance and advice to election participants.
• The statement effectively imposes a ‘free speech’ criterion on Electoral Commission decision-making, where its role in respect of digital imprints is to regulate party and election finance.
• There is a fundamental issue in arguing that the Commission should be accountable to those who are subject to its regulation – members of the UK Parliament.
• The core priorities identified in the statement create significant potential for additional avenues of legal challenge to the Commission’s work
• The statement overall represents both duplication of existing practice, and in places, presents solutions to implied problems for which there is insufficient evidence of their existence

Read the written evidence here

Read the the transcript of Prof Fisher's oral evidence

Watch the meeting: Parliamentlive.tv - Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee