MPs Debate Whether Candidate Addresses Should Be Public Information

Members of Parliament are debating whether candidates standing for election should have to divulge their entire addresses, or whether such information could be kept private. In May the High Court ruled in a Freedom of Information case that MPs' addresses should be public information so that British citizens could check on MP claims pertaining to expense reimbursement, but the government later managed to exempt certain personal information such as addresses and travel information from publication on the grounds both of national security and possible harassment of MPs. One MP concerned suggested the compromise of publishing only part of the postcode (equivalent of the US zipcode), opining that that information would be enough to reassure voters that the candidate lived in the appropriate area.