Drakeford: ‘Tory Government Has A Voter Suppression Agenda’

Welsh First Minister insists party is using 'far-right' tactics

First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford smiles during the election count at the House of Sport in Cardiff, Wales, on May 6, 2022. Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

The Conservative government is pursuing a “deliberate voter suppression agenda,” the first minister of Wales has alleged.

Mark Drakeford insisted voter fraud “doesn’t exist” and claimed the Conservative Party is using “far-right” tactics from the United States to make it more difficult for people to vote.

The local elections on May 4 marked the first time it has been compulsory for all voters in England to show photo identification when arriving at polling stations, as required under the Elections Bill passed by Parliament in April 2022.

The Electoral Commission said that the elections were “well run” but said some voters were turned away for failing to produce acceptable photo IDs.

Voters leave a polling station in Bridlington Priory Church, Yorkshire, England, on May 4, 2023. Danny Lawson/PA Media

Responding to a question during Tuesday’s plenary session in the Senedd, Drakeford said: “The chair of the Electoral Commission himself witnessed people being turned away from polling stations and very concerningly he witnessed those people we rely on to conduct elections suffering abuse from people who felt that they had been unfairly denied their democratic rights.

“I have no doubt at all that this act is part of a deliberate voter suppression agenda pursued by the Conservative government.

“The way they think they can win elections is to learn the lessons from the far-right in the United States, and that is to make it more difficult for people who might not support them to turn up and cast their vote.”

‘A Problem That Doesn’t Exist’

In Wales, voters are now also required to show photo ID at polling stations in some elections including police and crime commissioner elections, parliamentary by-elections, recall petitions, and general elections.

However, they will not need to show ID to vote at Senedd or local council elections as the powers over those voting systems are devolved to the local administration, which is run by the Labour Party.

Drakeford said Labour will not require voter ID in Wales, insisting that the issue of voter fraud does not exist.

“We will not be pursuing that course of action here in Wales. Our policies are designed to make it easier for people to cast their vote, not more difficult,” he said.

“There wasn’t a single prosecution across the whole of the United Kingdom last year for voter fraud. This is a solution in search of a problem, a problem that doesn’t exist.

“The problem that is being created is that people who wish to participate in the democratic process are being denied that right and we will not collude in that in Wales.”

‘Security and Integrity’

Darren Millar, a Conservative member of the Senedd, said he was “baffled” by the Welsh government’s position on the matter.

He said: “This is about the security and integrity of our elections. We know that across the whole of Western Europe voter ID is the norm, and in most Western democracies it is the norm.

“But it seems that you have an issue with it, perhaps because of your own party’s record on fraud cases which have happened in Labour areas, such as the Tower Hamlets frauds, the Birmingham frauds as well, back in 2004.”

The 2014 mayoral election in the London borough of Tower Hamlets was overturned after the High Court found evidence of vote-rigging and malpractice.

Lutfur Rahman, a former Labour politician who was standing on behalf of Tower Hamlets First, was found to have breached election rules.

An election commissioner also described Bangladesh-born Rahman as an “evasive and discursive witness whose evidence was untruthful on occasion” and suggested he had played “race” and “religious” cards.

The 2004 local elections in Birmingham were also found to have been marred by “massive, systematic, and organised fraud.”

In a ruling issued in the following year, Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey, KC, upheld allegations of postal fraud relating to six seats won by Labour in the ballot.

Mawrey said at the time, “The system is wide open to fraud and any would-be political fraudster knows that.”

He said that the fraud would “disgrace a banana republic” and had made a mockery of the election.

The judge also expressed regret that recent warnings about the failings had been dismissed by the then-Labour government as “scaremongering.”

Election Integrity

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the photo ID requirement will help make sure voting is a “high-integrity process.”

Voter ID is not entirely a novelty for the UK, as it has been a requirement in Northern Ireland for nearly 40 years.

Voter ID requirements were introduced in Northern Ireland after the 1983 general elections following concerns about the extent of voter fraud. Since 2003, photographic ID has been required.

Since 2014, the Electoral Commission has recommended that photo ID should be required in the rest of the UK.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “It’s vital we keep our democracy secure, prevent the potential for voter fraud, and bring the rest of the UK in line with Northern Ireland which has had photo identification to vote in elections since 2003.

“This follows successful pilots in 2018 and 2019, including in Woking where over 99 percent of people were able to successfully cast their vote.

“Following local elections in May, it is essential that we understand how voter identification has operated in practice. Extensive analysis of the data collected from polls is now being undertaken by the Electoral Commission and the government, with final reports set to be published later this year.”

PA Media contributed to this report.