Tory MP Tom Hunt has been left begging local members in his constituency for help and to act as his ‘emergency proxy’.
The rules requiring voters to bring a form of acceptable ID to the polling station have backfired on one Tory MP, who has discovered that he lacked the appropriate form of identification ahead of the local elections today.
Tory MP Tom Hunt has been left begging local members in his constituency for help and to act as his ‘emergency proxy’.
ITV political correspondent Harry Horton managed to obtain a screenshot of a Whatsapp message, where Mr Hunt is seen asking for help from members following a “bit of drama”, adding: “Turns out I have no appropriate ID to vote tomorrow”.
He then goes on to ask local party members for help: “However. There is an emergency proxy option if you lose your ID. Deadline tomorrow. Who would like to do the honours?”
Voters have been required to bring photographic identification for certain elections in the UK since May 2023.
Voter ID is required at by-elections and recall petitions, general elections, local elections and referendums in England, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales.
Acceptable forms of Voter ID include:
- Passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state, or a Commonwealth country
- A photo driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or an EEA state (including a provisional driving licence)
- A Blue Badge
- Older Person’s Bus Pass
- Disabled Person’s Bus Pass
- Freedom Pass
- Identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
- Biometric immigration document
- Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
- National identity card issued by an EEA state
- Anonymous Elector’s Document
Should you not possess an acceptable form of ID, you are able to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate. It’s free to apply for, and will be accepted at the polling station when you want to vote.
The government claims that it introduced voter ID rules in a bid to combat electoral fraud, however critics have said that it will have far more negative consequences and could disenfranchise those from poor and minority backgrounds in particular.
Election staff have warned that there will be ‘significant disruption’ to the next general election as a result of the rollout of voter ID nationally.
A report published by the all-party parliamentary group on democracy and the constitution last year, found that ‘the current voter-ID system is, as it stands, a ‘poisoned cure’ in that it disenfranchises more electors than it protects.’
Latest data from the Electoral Commission shows that, between 2018 and 2022, only 11 of the 1,386 alleged cases of electoral fraud resulted in convictions. Meanwhile, House of Commons research has shown that voter ID rules could result in 1.1 million fewer people voting in the next general election.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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