Slough will not contact Government with concerns over voter ID

Slough council will not be taking a stand against the contentious new voter ID laws, the council has agreed – reluctantly, in Labour’s case.

The voter ID laws that came into force for the May 2023 local elections meant that those without a photo ID would not be allowed to cast their ballots.

Echoing national party lines, Labour voiced their opposition to the newly introduced law at the first meeting of the council, which took place last night (May 18).

They asked to ‘formerly write to the electoral commission to raise this council’s concerns with voter ID and the impact it has had on residents.’

This was a proposed amendment to a seemingly unrelated motion to ‘note and welcome the return of councillors elected to Slough Borough Council’.

In stark contrast, the Conservatives of Slough met this amendment with no enthusiasm.

They argued that there may have been some ‘teething problems’ with the voter ID system – but that ultimately, it was for the good.

Labour’s Councillor Mark Instone (Langley Foxborough) suggested that, had this legislation not been introduced, voter turnout might have been higher.

This, he said, might have resulted in the Tories performing better in the local elections – and scoring an overall majority, as opposed to needing to be ‘propped up’ by the Lib Dems.

But Cllr Iftakhar Ahmed (Con, Wexham Court) said that voter turnout had not been that much lower in these elections than the previous 2019 ones, before the new rules were introduced.

Voter turnout was 32.35 per cent, compared to 28.88 per cent in 2019, a 3.47 percentage point difference.

However, returning Labour councillor Harjinder Gahir (Wexham Court) said he had spoken to numerous people in his ward and begged to differ that the new policy had made no difference.

“I can tell you that some people don’t want to bother to vote because they don’t have the ID,” he said, adding that older people in particular were put off – a demographic that makes up a significant proportion of the population.

New leader of Labour, Cllr Pavitar Mann (Britwell), expressed confusion over the Conservatives’ reluctance to entertain this amendment, especially given they had acknowledged ‘teething problems.’

“The amendment is simply asking to have a better understanding of what those were,” she said.

She echoed concerns on the national stage that the voter ID policy was simply a form of gerrymandering – i.e, manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency to favour one party or class.

Cllr Mann highlighted that a former Government minister ‘openly and publicly said [so]’ most likely referring to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has been vocal in his criticism of the voter ID policy.

But new leader Dexter Smith (Colnbrook & Poyle) thought that his Labour opposition was just clinging to voter ID as an explanation for why they lost the election, refusing to accept that the people of Slough ‘wanted them out.’

The proposal to open up a dialogue over voter ID with the Government was squashed, with 24 votes against (all the Tories and Lib Dems) and 17 votes for (all Labour).