City of London (Ward Elections) Bill (By Order) — 24 Feb 1999

Mr Jimmy Wray MP, Glasgow Baillieston voted in the minority (No).

Order for Second Reading read.

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

Many things in the City of London have a very long history. The local electoral system dealt with in the Bill is certainly one of them. In recent times, the shortcomings of the system have been the subject of some criticism--shortcomings that have been recognised by the City corporation itself.

Dealing with those shortcomings legislatively has, however, been less straightforward, but it is what the corporation seeks to do in the measure. It does so in the context that none of the political parties now has a policy of abolishing the corporation, so the issue is one of reform and of how the City's various interests may be more evenly represented.

Although the Bill is corrective in nature, it would be quite wrong to infer that local government in the City has failed to work. The reverse is the case. The common council, which discharges the local authority functions in the City, is widely credited for its innovative activities. Indeed, one of the foundations of the success of the City as the leading international financial centre is the support that is given by its own dedicated local authority, to which the present Prime Minister testified in a lecture in the City in September 1996.

The corporation's support for democratic rights also has a long history. This speech is not the occasion for that trawl through history, but it is perhaps worth recalling that the passage of the Great Reform Bill of 1832 through the House followed strident petitions to Parliament from the City civic urging those reforms.

The last royal commission on London local government, which sat for three years between 1957 and 1960--perhaps I should declare an interest and say that it

24 Feb 1999 : Column 450

was appointed by my father--recognised the distinct nature of local government in the City, and recommended its retention.

That was 110 years ago--the man who asked the question was my grandfather. Alas, I did not know him--he died before I was born. However, he would turn in his grave if I did not speak on the matter to which he devoted his life.

Question, That the Question be now put, put and agreed to.

Question put accordingly, That the Bill be now read a Second time:--

The House divided: Ayes 198, Noes 91.

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (Aye)Minority (No)BothTurnout
Con74 (+2 tell) 0046.9%
Independent0 10100.0%
Independent Labour1 00100.0%
Lab94 85 (+2 tell)143.6%
LDem25 2058.7%
PC1 0025.0%
UUP2 2040.0%
Total:197 90145.6%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Mrs Irene AdamsPaisley NorthLab (minister)no
Mr Joe AshtonBassetlawLabno
Charlotte AtkinsStaffordshire MoorlandsLabno
Mr Harry BarnesNorth East DerbyshireLabno
Kevin BarronRother ValleyLab (minister)no
Mr Tony BennChesterfieldLabno
Mr Andrew BennettDenton and ReddishLabno
Mr Gerry BerminghamSt Helens SouthLabno
Roger BerryKingswoodLabno
Mr Harold BestLeeds North WestLabno
Mr Peter BradleyThe WrekinLabno
Karen BuckRegent's Park and Kensington NorthLab (minister)no
Mrs Christine ButlerCastle PointLabno
Ronnie CampbellBlyth ValleyLab (minister)no
Mr Jamie CannIpswichLabno
Michael ClaphamBarnsley West and PenistoneLabno
Dr David ClarkSouth ShieldsLabno
Mr Tony ClarkeNorthampton SouthLabno
Harry CohenLeyton and WansteadLabno
Mr Iain ColemanHammersmith and FulhamLabno
Michael ConnartyFalkirk EastLab (minister)no
Frank CookStockton NorthLabno
Jeremy CorbynIslington NorthLabno
David CrausbyBolton North EastLab (minister)no
Ann CryerKeighleyLabno
John CryerHornchurchLabtellno
John CummingsEasingtonLabno
Mr Tam DalyellLinlithgowLabno
Ian DavidsonGlasgow PollokLab (minister)no
Mr Hilton DawsonLancaster and WyreLabno
Janet DeanBurtonLabno
Bill EtheringtonSunderland NorthLabno
Mrs Maria FyfeGlasgow MaryhillLabno
George GallowayGlasgow KelvinLabno
Neil GerrardWalthamstowLabno
Ian GibsonNorwich NorthLabno
Dr Norman GodmanGreenock and InverclydeLabno
Mrs Llin GoldingNewcastle-under-LymeLabno
John HeppellNottingham EastLabno
Jimmy HoodClydesdaleLab (minister)no
Kelvin HopkinsLuton NorthLabno
Mr Alan HurstBraintreeLabno
Brian IddonBolton South EastLabno
Eric IllsleyBarnsley CentralLabno
Lynne JonesBirmingham, Selly OakLabno
Fraser KempHoughton and Washington EastLabno
David KidneyStaffordLabno
Bob LaxtonDerby NorthLabno
David LepperBrighton, PavilionLabno
Tom LevittHigh PeakLabno
Martin LintonBatterseaLabno
Andrew LoveEdmontonLab (minister)no
Andrew MacKinlayThurrockLabno
Gordon MarsdenBlackpool SouthLab (minister)no
David MarshallGlasgow ShettlestonLabno
Robert Marshall-AndrewsMedwayLabno
Mr John MaxtonGlasgow CathcartLabno
John McAllionDundee EastLabno
John Martin McDonnellHayes and HarlingtonLabno
Mr John McWilliamBlaydonLabno
Mr Bill MichieSheffield, HeeleyLabno
Chris MullinSunderland SouthLabno
Doug NaysmithBristol North WestLabno
Mr Colin PickthallWest LancashireLabno
Mr Peter PikeBurnleyLabno
Steve PoundEaling NorthLab (minister)tellno
Gordon PrenticePendleLabno
Martin SalterReading WestLabno
Mr Malcolm SavidgeAberdeen NorthLabno
Jonathan R ShawChatham and AylesfordLabno
Barry SheermanHuddersfieldLabno
Alan SimpsonNottingham SouthLabno
Marsha SinghBradford WestLabno
Dennis SkinnerBolsoverLabno
Mr Gerry SteinbergCity of DurhamLabno
Mr George StevensonStoke-on-Trent SouthLabno
Ian StewartEcclesLabno
Mr Paul StinchcombeWellingboroughLabno
David TaylorNorth West LeicestershireLabno
Joan WalleyStoke-on-Trent NorthLab (minister)no
Robert WareingLiverpool, West DerbyLabno
Dave WattsSt Helens NorthLab (minister)no
Alan WhiteheadSouthampton, TestLab (minister)no
David WinnickWalsall NorthLab (minister)no
Mike WoodBatley and SpenLabno
Mr Jimmy WrayGlasgow BailliestonLabno
Anthony D WrightGreat YarmouthLabno
Mr David HinchliffeWakefieldLabboth
Mr Richard AllanSheffield, HallamLDem (front bench)no
David HeathSomerton and FromeLDem (front bench)no

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