Representation of The People Act 1948 - Part I: Parliamentary Franchise and Its Exercise

Part I: Parliamentary Franchise and Its Exercise

Part I of the Act declared that in future the United Kingdom would be divided into single-member borough constituencies and county constituencies. These terms replaced the former designations of parliamentary borough / division of a parliamentary borough and parliamentary county / division of a parliamentary county (in Scotland "burgh constituencies" replaced parliamentary burghs). There were to be 613 such constituencies, in place of the 591 under previous legislation.

These were to be the only constituencies, and thus abolished the right of graduates of universities from voting for a second MP to represent a university constituency. Constituencies which were represented by two MPs were also abolished.

Persons eligible to vote were to be British subjects of "full age" (21 years) and "not subject to any legal incapacity to vote", provided that they were registered to vote in the constituency. Each voter was only permitted to cast a single vote in one constituency, even if for some reason, they were registered in more than one. The arrangements which had given plural votes to electors who met a property qualification because of their business or shop premises were abolished.

Each constituency was to have an electoral registration officer, who was to compile the electoral register. In England and Wales, this officer was the clerk of the appropriate county or borough council; in Scotland, it was the assessor of a county or large burgh; and in Northern Ireland it was the town clerk of the county borough of Belfast or the secretary of the county council. An electoral register was to be published in Spring and Autumn of each year.

Qualifications for an elector to be registered were set out, with a residence in the constituency on a certain date being the principal requirement. There was an additional "service qualification" for members of the armed forces and other persons outside the state on diplomatic or other Crown business, and their spouses. Electors were to vote in person, except in exceptional circumstances where a proxy vote might be permitted.

Each constituency was to be divided into polling districts by the registration officer, who was also to designate polling places within each district. Rules were laid down on the process, for instance each civil parish in an English or Welsh county constituency was to be a separate district. Where a group of thirty electors felt that they were not provided with a convenient polling place, they were entitled to petition the Secretary of State for a review.

The procedure for recounts and for choosing a successful candidate by lot in the event of a tie were laid out. Where a candidate received less than an eighth of the total number of votes cast, they would forfeit their monetary deposit.

Finally Part I dealt with the appointment and duties of the returning officer. In England and Wales these were to be either the high sheriff of a county, the sheriff of a county corporate, the mayor of a borough or the chairman of an urban district council, as appointed by the Home Secretary. In Scotland the returning officer was to be a sheriff of a local sheriffdom, and in Northern Ireland the under-sheriff of a county or county borough.