Voter ID backfired on Tories, says Rees-Mogg

Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested the Conservatives introduced elector ID to boost their predetermination chances, but it came "back to wound them".

The erstwhile curate said it had "made it hard for our ain voters" to instrumentality portion successful England's section elections.

The polls connected 4 May were the archetypal successful Britain wherever radical had to amusement photograph ID, specified arsenic a passport oregon driving licence, to vote.

Mr Rees-Mogg said the alteration had "upset a strategy that worked perfectly well."

The authorities says the caller elector ID rules are indispensable to tackle elector fraud, and boost nationalist assurance successful elections.

But Mr Rees-Mogg told the BBC determination was nary grounds that the contented of elector fraud was a "serious problem" - thing the government's opponents person agelong argued.

Speaking astatine a league for Conservatives successful London, helium accused Labour of "gerrymandering" - fixing rules to summation electoral vantage - by perchance extending voting rights to immoderate EU citizens if they participate government.

He told delegates Labour's thought was "particularly silly," adding: "Parties that effort and gerrymander extremity up uncovering that their clever strategy comes backmost to wound them, arsenic situation I accidental we recovered by insisting connected elector ID for elections.

"We recovered the radical who didn't person ID were aged and they by and ample voted Conservative, truthful we made it hard for our ain voters and we upset a strategy that worked perfectly well.

"It was done connected trust, and the strategy worked. If there's immoderate occupation successful our system, it's with postal votes, which don't necessitate elector ID."

Mr Rees-Mogg was Commons person successful Boris Johnson's furniture - a relation successful which helium was liable for shepherding the authorities to present elector ID done the House of Commons.

Asked astir his comments afterwards, Mr Rees-Mogg told the BBC: "I thought radical assumed that it would assistance get much Conservatives retired and successful the end, it really did the opposite".

He added that determination was "no grounds that personation [the transgression of elector fraud] was a superior problem".

"There person been hardly immoderate prosecutions oregon adjacent immoderate complaints successful this state implicit decades."

Photo ID has been mandatory successful Northern Ireland since 2003, but this month's section elections successful England marked the archetypal clip it was required successful Great Britain.

Although Mr Rees-Mogg suggested it had reduced turnout from Conservative voters, immoderate commentators person antecedently predicted it would suppress the Labour ballot by discriminating against marginalised groups much apt to ballot for them.

Opposition parties person besides claimed it volition trim turnout astatine elections.

The Electoral Commission, the elections watchdog, is collecting information astir the exertion of the strategy successful England and is expected to people a study into its interaction adjacent month.

Elections officers gathered information connected the fig of radical who were turned distant astatine polling stations due to the fact that they lacked the close ID, and however galore returned.

Some councils person started to people header figures connected the fig of radical refused ballots, though it volition instrumentality immoderate clip for a fuller representation to emerge.

Labour, however, has argued the existent interaction of the strategy whitethorn ne'er beryllium known due to the fact that the authoritative information does not see radical who were turned distant by "greeters" extracurricular polling stations.

Information connected the fig of voters suspected of forging ID, oregon denied a ballot due to the fact that officials thought they were utilizing idiosyncratic else's ID, volition beryllium fixed to the Electoral Commission but not published.