Electoral Commission Recommends Gibraltar Join South West Constituency

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

01 September 2003

Following a two month consultation period the United Kingdom's Electoral Commission announced last week its recommendation that Gibraltar be combined with the UK's South West constituency for purposes of elections to the European parliament which are due to take place again in 2004.

"We strongly support the proposition that Gibraltar should be included within the South West Region and join together on a cross-party basis to argue the case...We are long accustomed to taking into account sub-regional interests and to managing a whole composed of distinct parts," announced the Electoral Commission in a statement.

"Our priority has always been to ensure the most effective representation of the people of Gibraltar. We believe that combination with the South West best satisfies this condition and will be broadly welcomed by people in Gibraltar and in the region," Chair of the Commission Sam Younger added at a press conference in the jurisdiction last week.

The Commission's report states that there other were constituencies considered to incorporate Gibraltar, most notably the South East with its maritime connections and London with its obvious synergies in the financial sector.

"However, we concur with those who have suggested that Gibraltar's distinct identity and specific interests may be less easy to promote and represent within the London region. It is primarily for this reason that we have not recommended London," the Commission's report explains.

The UK government has been compelled to enfranchise Gibraltar as part of a domestic constituency resulting from a judgement handed down by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Matthews vs UK in 1999. The case was brought by Ms Matthews on the grounds that Gibraltar's exclusion from the European electoral process was a clear violation of the population's human rights.

According to Mr Younger, the Electoral Commission's report has been submitted to the Lord Chancellor's department, who is then charged with presenting the recommendation before parliament for approval. Once the legal formalities are dispensed with, then preparations are likely to begin towards the European Elections next year. This will mean UK electoral law will be extended to Gibraltar and the political parties taking part will be required to register such items as campaign spending and donations with the UK Electoral Commission.

The decision was welcomed by European Liberal Democrat leader and South West MEP Graham Watson.

"This long-overdue announcement corrects the historic injustice which denied the citizens of Gibraltar the right to vote in the European elections despite being EU citizens who have to apply EU law" said Mr Watson, adding: "This disenfranchisement of Gibraltarians was unacceptable and became legally unsustainable once the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Britain in 1999."

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