HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Elections And Registration Act 1915
OR:
Elections And Registration Act 1915 on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The Elections and Registration Act 1915 (5&6 Geo.5 c.76) was a war time act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...
that postponed local elections and the preparation of registers of electors. Initially the postponement was for one year, but the Act was renewed annually until the electoral cycle was resumed in 1919 following the cessation of hostilities.


Background

Elections to local authorities in the United Kingdom were held annually in either April or November. In August 1914 war broke out, although this did not initially effect the municipal elections which were duly held in November 1914 and April 1915. A coalition government was formed in May 1915, and in June it was announced that the cabinet intended to introduce legislation to both extend the life of Parliament by a year to 1917, and also to postpone the November 1915 borough elections. The postponement of elections would also mean that local authorities would not need to compile new electoral registers. The Elections and Registration Bill was duly introduced to the
Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...
only 22 July. The bill passed all stages in both houses rapidly, and received the
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...
on 29 July.


Provisions

The Act was a short document containing only four sections. *Section 1 provided that the..
"next statutory elections of
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
and
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle ...
councillors,
district councillors A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
, guardians, and parish councillors, shall be postponed for a year, and the term of office of the existing councillors and guardians shall accordingly be extended by one year.'"
Elections were no longer to be required to fill casual vacancies occurring in the membership of local councils and boards. Instead a vacant seat was to "be filled by means of the choice by the council or board of a person"... and "a councillor or guardian so chosen shall hold office in the same manner in all respects as if he had been elected to fill the vacancy". *Section 2 exempted the Common Council of the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
from the Act. *Section 3 provided that the parliamentary and local government register of electors in force at the time of the passing of the Act, should remain in force until 31 December 1916. *Section 4 dealt with the application of the Act to Scotland and Ireland.


Renewal

With the continuation of the war until November 1918, the provisions of the 1915 legislation had to be renewed on three occasions by the Parliament and Local Elections Acts of 1916, 1917 and the Parliament and Local Elections (No. 2) Act, 1917.6&7 Geo.5. C.44, 7&8 Geo.5. C.13, 7&8 Geo.5 C.50


See also

*
Local Elections and Register of Electors (Temporary Provisions) Act 1939 The Local Elections and Register of Electors (Temporary Provisions) Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 115) was a war time Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that postponed local elections and the preparation of registers of electors. Ini ...
, similar legislation operative for the duration of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. *
Coronavirus Act 2020 The Coronavirus Act 2020 (c. 7) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that grants the government emergency powers to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. The act allows the government the discretionary power to limit or suspend public ga ...
sections 59 to 70, which similarly suspended elections for a year during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
.


References

{{UK legislation Local government in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1915 Local government legislation in England and Wales Election law in the United Kingdom Election legislation