Part of Orders of the Day — Representation of the People Bill – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 20 Ebrill 1948.
Mr Kenneth Younger
, Grimsby
12:00,
20 Ebrill 1948
I beg to move, in page 37, line 18, at the end, to insert:
(3) In relation to elections of a chairman of a district council or parish council or meeting in England or Wales, Part IV of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882 and the local corrupt practices Act shall, subject to such adaptations, alterations and exceptions as may be made by district or parish election rules under the Local Government Act, 1933, apply in like manner as in the case of elections under that Act of the mayor of a borough.
Perhaps we could discuss at the same time the next Amendment—in line 21, at the end to add:
of councillors, and in relation to any election so held of the chairman of a council.
The object of these Amendments is to put right an anomaly in the existing law under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882. The provisions of that Act, as they
relate to elections and the provisions of the Municipal Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Practices) Act, 1884, apply to the election of mayors and the chairmen of county councils, but not to the election of chairmen of district and parish councils. The Amendment in line 18 corrects that anomaly, and the Amendment in line 21 is consequential upon it.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
