Jenny watson electoral commission biography
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Jenny Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission: ‘The idea of marking an X in a box probably seems completely alien’
The question Jenny Watson gets asked most often is: “When can inom vote online?” The X Factor and Strictly komma Dancing generation is used to making their choices at the touch of a smartphone button. Yet, come 7 May, it is back to the Dark Ages of pencil and paper.
“The idea that you have to go to a polling hållplats and mark an X in a box probably seems completely alien to their way of life,” concedes Watson, chair of the Electoral Commission. “Now, if we are going to move it to be more relevant, we have to be sure that we can do so safely before we make that move.”
A report released bygd a kommission set up by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, suggested that online voting should be an option in 2020. But Watson has to get through 2015 first.
A drive to recapture the nearly one million voters who went missing from the electoral roll in 2013 starts today.
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Welcoming Jenny Watson as New Chair
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jenny Watson CBE as our new Chair at Broadland Housing Association.
With an impressive track record, Jenny Watson has held key leadership roles, serving as Chair of The Electoral Commission and The Equal Opportunities Commission, and as a non-executive director of the The Financial Ombudsman Service. She also currently chairs the homeless Charity, The House of St. Barnabas, and serves as a trustee of the Norfolk Community Foundation. In recognition of her outstanding contributions, she was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2017.
Michael Newey, Chief Executive of Broadland Housing, warmly welcomed Jenny,
We are very fortunate indeed to announce Jenny as our new chair. She has huge experience in a wide range of roles relating to social value and public policy, as well as building complex stakeholder relationships and leading organisations through significant change.&
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The Constitution Unit Blog
In the latest Constitution Unit seminar, Jenny Watson, the Chair of the Electoral Commission, provided the audience with a very eloquent account of the challenges and opportunities presented by the imminent and future work towards electoral modernisation. Drawing upon the effective steps that have already been taken by the Labour administration and most recently the coalition government, she elaborated on the likely effects of the new legislation including the transition to Individual Electoral Registration and emphasised the imperative need for the further modernisation of the electoral administration system.
The Electoral Commission has always played a vital role towards that direction through a number of proposals and recommendations aiming to improve the election process. But it is the need for comprehensive legislation that will create clarity and transparency and ensure that ‘confidence and the effectiveness of our system will be maintained’ as W