Tribune – Comment, news and reviews from Britain's democratic left

The Electoral Commission has already messed up the election. Many Labour and Co-operative Party candidates will lose votes due to its decision not to allow them party emblems if registering as candidates from both parties. Westminster candidates have been given the option to re-designate themselves as Labour only, should they prefer to campaign with a rose against their name and no explicit indicator of their Co-operative alignment. Council candidates, who face earlier deadlines, have not been afforded this privilege. We can only speculate as to how many votes this will cost. Will the ruling apply to joint Tory/UUP candidates in Northern Ireland? And shouldn’t an election watchdog want people to know who they are voting for?