Member

79: After Clause 24, insert the following new Clause— “Services to support political parties to be specified as essential activities(1) The Secretary of State must, within six months of the day on which this Act is passed, make regulations under section 24(3) to specify that an activity carried out for the primary purpose of the operation of a registered political party is an essential activity.(2) In this section “registered political party” means a party registered under Part 2 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.(3) Regulations made under subsection (1) must designate one or more appropriate regulatory authorities for the specified activities.”Member’s explanatory statement This new clause would require the Secretary of State to specify services with the primary aim to support the operation of political parties as essential activities under Part 3, bringing them within the scope of the Bill’s security and resilience regime.