Then she and Major, without apparently consulting Patten, came up with an idea for allowing local councils to levy a higher poll tax than stipulated by central government, provided they first put it to a local referendum a "poll tax poll". Patten was opposed, believing the necessary legislation would be "massive in its political significance" and difficult to get through Parliament.
One of Mrs Thatcher's private secretaries, Barry Potter, suggested that Patten was feeling "bruised" at being ignored. By the end of June Potter told the prime minister that Patten and Portillo, still arguing for more government funds, were now "isolated". Today Michael Portillo says he and Chris Patten really wanted to find a way effectively to abolish the poll tax: "We wanted to take the guts out of it, take the bits that were hurting out of it… but we recognised for her sensitivity that it would still have to be called the poll tax.
They also believed the problem would take central government money to resolve. As to the lessons to be learnt from the debacle, he draws a parallel between the decision to introduce the poll tax "without thinking it through" and David Cameron's decision to hold a referendum on Europe without thinking through the consequences. But the chances of prime ministers learning that are, I think, slim.
But nothing worked. The practical difficulties and the political pressures were too great and Mrs Thatcher's career was foundering. In November Michael Heseltine, an outspoken critic of the poll tax, triggered a leadership contest from which John Major emerged the winner. He appointed Heseltine as environment secretary, increased VAT to generate extra cash for councils and announced the abolition of the community charge, and its replacement by council tax, in March Poll tax a mistake, says Waldegrave.
The National Archives. Image source, NAtional archives. One of the National Archives' specialists says the poll tax files are a "juggernaut". A major poll tax demonstration in London in March ended in violence.
Environment secretary Chris Patten r was charged with introducing the poll tax. Michael Portillo says he and Chris Patten wanted to "take the guts out" of the poll tax. Image source, PA. Virginia Board of Elections extended this explicit enactment as a matter of judicial interpretation of a more general provision, ruling that the imposition of a poll tax in state elections violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In a two-month period in the spring of , the last four states to still charge a poll tax laws had those laws declared unconstitutional by Federal courts, starting with Texas on February 9. Decisions followed for Alabama on March 3 and Virginia on March Ballotpedia features , encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers.
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What's on your ballot? Jump to: navigation , search. Categories : Terms and definitions Constitutional rights Suffrage. Voter information What's on my ballot? The electoral register in Scotland fell more than 27, in , bucking the previous trend of year-on-year rises.
The following year, it fell a further 34, The electoral roll in England fell almost 85, in , having risen more than , annually for much of the preceding decade. The English electorate peaked at It is thought that more than a million people in Britain failed to register to vote during the poll tax era. But councils were the hardest hit. They had not asked for the new tax, yet it was their main source of self- generated income.
According to figures compiled by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Cipfa , non-payment of poll tax in its first year in England and Wales represented And it was a problem to the end. Reluctance to pay grew even stronger. In the tax's final year, , councils had to send a reminder to an astounding 88 per cent of those billed. As many as 28 per cent were issued summonses, 22 per cent received liability orders and 9 per cent had the bailiffs sent round.
Even then, many still did not pay. The most recent Cipfa figures are for the year and are almost certainly understatements. In addition, however, councils had accepted that a huge further amount would never be collected.
When outstanding legal actions have ended, the same is likely to be said for subsequent years. Councils, unable to absorb shortfalls of such magnitude, responded at the time by bumping up the poll tax to cover for non-payment, a move which itself provoked further non- payment.
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