Scotland Office ignore key election solution

SNP Westminster leader, Angus Robertson MP, has expressed disappointment following the publication of the Scotland Office’s formal response to the Gould report on last year's elections.

Mr Robertson said:

"It is very disappointing, but frankly not surprising, that the Scotland Office have ignored Gould’s core recommendation that responsibility for elections be entrusted to the Scottish Parliament.

"It was Scotland Office bungling that led to last year’s election fiasco, and now we have another botched response from the same department.

"It strikes me that the Scotland Office is more interested in clinging to one of its few remaining powers, than doing what is best in terms of the conduct of elections in Scotland.

"While I welcome the decision to support the Scottish Government’s proposals to decouple local government elections from Parliamentary elections and that the idea of a Chief Returning Officer post will be considered, by denying the Scottish Parliament control over elections, we have a job half done."