Disputed Scottish election report ‘clarified’
All political parties were to blame for the shambolic Scottish elections in May, the author of a critical report has clarified.
Election expert Ron Gould – whose investigation into the Holyrood election was published earlier this week – has written to the Electoral Commission to “clarify” his findings after they prompted a political spat.
Explaining his findings, Mr Gould said it was clear from the start key legislative decisions affecting the running of the election were taken too late.
Mr Gould wrote: “I did not suggest in the report that specific actions were taken by ministers to advance their own party’s interests but that all political parties were concerned with the potential political advantage that could be gained by certain decisions, such as on the question of ballot paper design, and this delayed key decisions.”
He added: “When I examined the reasons for this I concluded that, while responsibility for taking these decisions lay with the Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive, all political parties in Scotland were involved in the long-running debates, contributed to the final decisions and shared in the failure to prioritise the interests of the voter.”
The former Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander was strongly criticised in Westminster and Holyrood for his role in election planning.
Although he apologised for the handling of the election, Labour insisted all parties must share the blame for the poor handling of the election.
At prime minister’s question time this week, David Cameron attempted to inflict damage on Labour by demanding Gordon Brown apologise for the mistakes. Mr Brown was warned to use temperate language when he responded by accusing Mr Cameron of misleading the house.
Mr Alexander’s successor, Des Browne, said he welcomed today’s letter for bringing clarity to the report.
Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has called for Holyrood to be handed responsibility for Scottish elections.
