A Bill to make provision extending the right to vote to 16 and 17 year olds; to make provision about the registration of voters; to make provision about the administration and conduct of elections, referendums and recall petitions; to make provision about election agents’ addresses; to make provision about political expenditure and political donations; to make provision about information to be included in electronic campaigning material; to make provision about offences and civil sanctions in connection with elections, referendums and recall petitions and with donations and expenditure for political purposes; to make provision about the disclosure of information by the Electoral Commission; to make provision about the disqualification of offenders for holding elective offices, and their sentencing, where offences are aggravated by hostility towards persons involved in elections, referendums or recall petitions or holders of such offices; and for connected purposes.
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The Representation of the People Bill is a wide package of changes intended to extend the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds, reform voter registration and how elections are run, tighten rules on political donations and campaigning, and strengthen penalties for election offences. It also looks at online campaigning information, foreign influence, and how the Electoral Commission operates. After detailed Committee scrutiny in the Commons, some Labour-backed amendments were accepted (notably lowering the voting age in practice by including 16–17-year-olds in recall petition thresholds and removing some local-electorate barriers), while many proposed reforms—especially on overseas voting, donor caps, and scrapping photo ID—were not adopted. The bill is now at Report Stage in the Commons for further consideration.
The bill is in Report Stage in the Commons after a lengthy Committee stage. A number of Labour-sponsored amendments were agreed (notably extending the recall-petition threshold to include 16–17-year-olds and removing certain EU-citizen restrictions), while many controversial proposals on overseas voting, donor caps, and scrapping photo ID were not adopted. The bill has not yet progressed to the Lords.
A dedicated Commons vote on a Reasoned Amendment to the Bill saw the amendment defeated by a large majority, with a cross-party split: a small bloc supported the amendment, while the majority, including Labour and Liberal Democrats, opposed it. This reflects broad cross-party consensus in the House against the particular amendment, while leaving other aspects of the bill open to further discussion at Report Stage.
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Showing agreed, defeated, and withdrawn amendments.
Based on 1 recorded vote • Sorted by % Aye
This Bill has been reintroduced in the new session of Parliament for 2026-27 and will resume at the stage it was in the previous session.
