Committees

Modernising Elections

Inquiry

The Government has introduced the Representation of the People Bill, which includes its manifesto commitment to lower the voting age to 16. They have described this Bill as “the biggest expansion of democratic participation in a generation”. The Bill had its second reading on 2 March 2026.

This inquiry will examine the health of electoral democracy in the UK today, in light of the decline in voter turnout in recent elections and diminishing voter trust in democratic institutions. We will scrutinise the potential effectiveness of the Government’s proposals for increasing democratic engagement, including its reforms to the voting age and the move towards automated systems of voter registration. We will also consider best practice for implementation of these changes.

The Government have commissioned an independent review, led by Philip Rycroft, into foreign financial interference in UK politics. Our inquiry will also consider this issue and the outcome of that review. The Government have said that the measures in the Representation of the People Bill “will mean foreign actors will no longer be able to use their money to interfere in the UK’s elections.” Our inquiry will assess whether these changes will be effective in closing existing loopholes in the rules governing foreign political donations and whether further reforms are needed.

Large majorities of voters reported seeing some kind of misinformation on social media at the last general election and do not believe that the enough is being done to tackle this. Our inquiry will also take evidence on what more can be done to reduce voters’ exposure to mis- and disinformation.

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 22 April 2026.

Upcoming events

View all events

No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Tuesday 30 June 2026
10:15am Public
Modernising Elections - Oral evidence 30 June 2026
10:15am
  • Philip Rycroft
11:00am
  • Duncan Hames (Senior Director of Policy and UK Programmes at Transparency International UK)
  • Dr Susan Hawley (Executive Director at Spotlight on Corruption)
  • Dr Sam Power
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 19 May 2026
10:00am Public
Modernising Elections - Oral evidence 19 May 2026
10:00am
  • Sam Stockwell (Senior Research Associate at Centre for Emerging Technology and Security (CETaS))
  • Marianna Spring (Social Media Investigations Correspondent at BBC)
10:30am
  • Hanno Fenech (UK Policy Manager at Center for Countering Digital Hate)
  • Azzurra Moores (Associate Director for Information Ecosystems at Demos)
  • Mitali Sud (Senior Policy Manager at Internet Matters)
  • Phoebe Arnold (Policy and Partnerships Manager at Full Fact)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 21 April 2026
10:00am Public
Modernising Elections - Oral evidence 21 April 2026
10:00am
  • Professor Toby James (Professor of Politics and Public Policy at University of East Anglia)
  • Professor Maria Sobolewska (Professor of Political Science at University of Manchester)
  • Professor Alan Renwick (Professor of Democratic Politics at University College London)
10:30am
  • Laura Lock (Deputy Chief Executive at Association of Electoral Administrators)
  • Tom Jenkins (Acting Secretary at Boundary Commission for England)
10:50am
  • Vijay Rangarajan (Chief Executive at Electoral Commission)
  • Alison Williams (Director of Devolution and Law at Electoral Commission)
  • Sam Hartley (Director of Policy, Research and Voter Engagement at Electoral Commission)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: hclgcom@parliament.uk
  • Address: Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA