Holyrood given new power to change its election dates

HOLYROOD will be handed a new power to vary the date of its elections by up to six months if it clashes with a Westminster poll, the UK government has announced.

• Michael Moore said: 'This is a common-sense solution'

The new power will be introduced because both parliaments are due to have elections in 2015 and fears had been raised that a Westminster poll would swamp another at Holyrood in terms of resources and media coverage.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has been looking at several options as part of the Fixed Term Parliament Bill, as well as holding discussion with presiding officers and party leaders in the devolved assemblies.

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However, the compromise announced yesterday will not affect the clash with the referendum on changing the Westminster voting system, which is due to happen next year.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore described the widely trailed six-month measure as a "common-sense solution".

He stressed that the power could not be used to prevent next May's Holyrood elections taking place on the same day as the UK-wide referendum on voting reform.

Mr Moore wrote to both First Minister Alex Salmond and Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson on the issue over the summer, telling them that the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government would look at how Holyrood could be allowed to move the date for its election.

And Cabinet Office minister Mark Harper has now written to them seeking their views on the proposal.

The measure could then be written into the Fixed Term Parliament Bill - the legislation going through Westminster which brings in fixed terms for the House of Commons.

Under the UK government's proposal, if MSPs agreed to put back the Holyrood elections, the date of subsequent elections would not be affected. This means that if the Scottish vote was delayed in 2015, the next Holyrood elections would still take place in May 2019.

Mr Moore said: "This is a common-sense solution. It means that Holyrood can decide if they want to move their election in 2015 and, if so, to a date of their choosing."

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The Scottish Secretary added: "In the first decade of devolution, a clash of elections could have been caused by the decision of the Prime Minister alone. If that had happened there would have been little notice and no way of avoiding having the elections on the same day.

"Now we can have a much more transparent electoral cycle and can put in place arrangements that are fairer for all involved."

He went on: "The UK government has been clear from the beginning that we should take steps to allow the Scottish Parliament to move their election in 2015 if they wanted to.

"We don't accept that the same applies in 2011, where we are combining the Holyrood election and a referendum on AV. This is completely different."Mr Moore argued that holding the Holyrood elections on the same day as the referendum on introducing the alternative vote system for future Westminster elections would "save the taxpayer millions, increase turnout and make life easier for voters, who will only be required to go to the polling station once".