Labour: 800,000 voters have fallen off electoral register

Around 800,000 voters have disappeared from the electoral register since the Government changed the system to individual registration, according to Labour.

The Government changed the system of electoral registration so that individuals rather than households register to vote because of concerns over fraud. But new figures show the switch has led to 1.8 per cent of voters being removed.

Labour said registration numbers in university towns were most likely to be affected, leading to concerns the drop in registration would lower the number of votes for Jeremy Corbyn’s party disproportionately.

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Figures published by the Guardian suggest Canterbury, has seen a 13 per cent drop, while there has been an 11 per cent fall in registration in Dundee West.

Labour MP Gloria De Piero has written to written to the Cabinet Office to urge all universities to offer to register students when they enrol.

She said: “As you will know, Individual Electoral Registration prevents universities from block registering all their students in halls of residence, but measures should be taken to ensure that it is as easy as possible for individual students to register.”

Meanwhile the SNP, Greens and Plaid Cyrmru used a joint letter in the Independent on Sunday to make a joint call for electoral reform.

SNP MP Angus Robertson said the move to a more proportionate voting system was “long-overdue”.

He said: “The SNP has long supported electoral reform as a matter of principle and I strongly believe that proportional representation - where there is a direct relationship between the percentage of votes a party wins and the percentage of seats they win - is important for a more democratic and more representative parliament.

“Of course in Scotland we already have proportional representation for the Scottish Parliament and local elections – it has proven to work well and gives voters a stronger say in who represents them in parliament.

“It’s time the Westminster parties learnt from the success of the fair voting system already in place in Scotland and Wales and applied it to Westminster elections.”