Law digests: 7 November 2025

Elections

Moore v Royal Mail Group Ltd and others [2025] EWCA Civ 1378

The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, dismissed an appeal against the Divisional Court’s refusal to dismiss an election petition. What is at issue is whether an election petition presented by the respondent Mr Graham Moore should be dismissed because it failed to give information required by the Election Petition Rules 1960 (the 1960 Rules) and/or was not duly served. The Divisional Court concluded that the trial of the petition should proceed. That decision is challenged by the appellants Ms Sarah Pochin (the candidate declared to have been elected) and Mr Stephen Young (the returning officer). While the court found that a petition should state the date of return to the Clerk of the Crown (answering the first issue affirmatively), it held that Parliament did not intend this omission to invalidate the petition in these circumstances where no prejudice had occurred. The court also held that CPR 6.15(2) empowers courts to retrospectively validate steps taken to serve an election petition within the prescribed five-day period (answering the third issue affirmatively). Consequently,