The new chairman John Pullinger said they could have independent discussions with Scottish

Pullinger warned that the “ very, very tight ” rules risk excluding certain voter groups at this year’s

Investigations by the elections watchdog should be time-limited to one year, Whitehall’s standards chief has said, as he recognised the “ personal anguish and pain ” experienced by innocent campaigners subjected to lengthy inquiries. This week, a report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life will recommend a 12-month limit cut-off for starting investigations into alleged campaign offences. The Electoral Commission would then be given a year to carry out each inquiry.In an interview with Th

The elections watchdog has made a last-gasp plea to the government to drop a planned power-grab, warning it has “ no precedent ” in western democracies. The shake-up – enabling ministers to set the Electoral Commission’s “ strategy ” – would see ministers able to “ influence the operational functions and decision-making ”, it has protested. The plan, in the Elections Bill, has “ no precedent in the accountability arrangements of electoral commissions in other comparable democracies ”, a letter s

The vice-president of the EU Commission will appear before a Stormont parliamentary committee as tensions between Brussels and the UK remain high.... Amid the issues to businesses due to the Northern Ireland protocol, members of the Northern Ireland Assembly will tell the top EU official how the country is being" drowned out" post-Brexit.... What happened to him should not have happened." 9. 09am update: ‘London had everything!...