Time for a new Great Reform Bill

Labourite electoral corruption was rampant, but a diffuse investigation would be a waste of time. Better to concentrate on anomalous results where corruption is most likely to have affected the outcome. The following are the ones where a close result and a lower-than average swing against suggest it would be most worth digging:   

• Birmingham Edgbaston - Labour majority of 1,274, swing against of only 0.47%
• Bolton West - Labour majority of 92, swing against of 5.88%
• Dudley North - Labour majority of 649, swing against of 4.73%
• Eltham - Labour majority of 1,663, swing against of only 1.82%
• Luton South (ex Margaret Moran) - Labour majority of 2,329, swing against of 4.59%  
• Oldham East and Saddleworth - Labour majority of 103, swing against of 5.08%
• Rochdale - Labour majority of 889, swing against of only 0.79%
• Tooting - Labour majority of 2,524, swing against of only 3.6%
• Wirral South - Labour majority of 531, swing against of only 3.98%

Whatever else an eventual Con-Lib administration might do to reform our corruption-prone electoral system, they should start by abolishing the postal vote for all except those who can prove disability or unavoidable absence, institute a total renewal of the electoral register, and require proof of identity at the polling station for all future elections.

They should also undo 13 years of Labour gerrymandering to produce numerically balanced constituencies, and legislate meaningful punishment for electoral intimidation and fraud.