The Electoral Commission (ElCom) is an institution with a lamentable record of failing to fulfil its role as guardian of our political system. After so many contrary and arguably politically partisan decisions in recent years, one has to ask: Who guards this guardian?
Its chairperson Jenny Watson, as a former women’s rights activist and former member of Liberty and Charter 88, has a strong left-wing influence in her background. Why Watson was ever considered an appropriate candidate for such a politically sensitive role is open to question. She began in the role in 2009, appointed by the Labour Government under Gordon Brown’s premiership, which perhaps explains a great deal.
What is less easy to understand is why her tenure was renewed under David Cameron’s premiership, when her first period in office came to an end in December 2012. By then, ElCom’s propensity for getting it wrong was becoming well known and most of the problems had occurred under Watson’s leadership. She
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