MW said Doorstep Canvassing was not a legal requirement until this year. Chris Ruane appeared to then accuse him of breaking the law. MW and the Mid-Devon guy both said that they took the decision on the basis of alternatives being as good or better, but MW half side-stepped whether this was lawful or not.

MW said temporary canvassers were all now fully recruited, and were being paid on an hourly basis but he was not pressed to prove this.

MW said his role was to facilitate electors being able to vote even if they ask for the vote on polling day – using “clerical error” procedures to enable it.

[this does not sound to be a very sensible strategy as it is unlikely that local officials will all know how to do this or will be exceptionally busy on the day]

Chris Ruane definitely put MW under pressure at key points. He asked about how they maintain the property database but MW gave a simplistic answer and there wasn’t time to follow it up.

MW was sounding very flustered at times. But time was too tight to give him the real detailed grilling needed.