''Porter v Magill'' UKHL_67
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UKHL 67
is a UK administrative law case decided by the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

which arose out of the Homes for votes scandal involving Dame

Shirley Porter Shirley, Lady Porter (''née'' Cohen; born 29 November 1930), styled between 1991 and 2003 as Dame Shirley Porter, is a British politician who led Westminster City Council in London, representing the Conservative Party. She is the daughter and ...

. Under English law, the test for establishing bias was set out in ''Porter v Magill –'' whether a "fair minded and informed observer", having considered the facts, would conclude that there was a "real possibility" of bias.

Facts

The

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

majority of Westminster Council adopted a policy to sell

council house A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

s in parts of the City where it was believed that home owners were more likely to vote Conservative. It became known as "the homes for votes scandal", involving

. As the leader of Westminster City Council, she helped formulate a policy which appeared to be designed to sell off the council housing at a lower price for the purpose of electoral advantage in marginal wards. The issue was, could the resulting investigation's decision be quashed where an initial press conference appeared to be biased.

Judgment

The

accepted that

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s are elected. However, their powers can only be used for the purposes for which they are conferred, and not for the electoral advantage of a political party. Also the new (and final) test of bias was introduced: "''Would the fair-minded and informed observer conclude that there was a real possibility of bias.''"

Notes

2001 in case law 2001 in London 2001 in British law 2000s in the City of Westminster United Kingdom administrative case law Political history of London House of Lords cases United Kingdom constitutional case law {{England-law-stub

Facts

Judgment

See also

Notes