Commencement
156.Commencement is dealt with in section 18. With the exception of section 9, Schedule 10 and Part 1 of Schedule 11, the Act will come into force on the date of Royal Assent.
157.Section 9, Schedule 10 and Part 1 of Schedule 12 are referred to as the “alternative vote provisions” and their effect would be to alter the voting system for parliamentary elections to the alternative vote system. The alternative vote provisions will come into force (if at all) in accordance with section 8.
158.Under section 8, if there is a “yes” vote in the referendum (that is, more people vote yes than vote no) then the alternative vote provisions must be brought into force on the same day as the coming into force of an Order in Council giving effect to the Boundary Commissions’ recommendations for altering the parliamentary constituencies made under the revised scheme in Part 2 of the Act.
159.If there is a “no” vote in the referendum, the alternative vote provisions must be repealed.