Snooper's charter to be resurrected within weeks following Conservative election victory

Home Secretary Theresa May will re-introduce Communications Data Bill within weeks

The Communications Data Bill is poised for another resurrection following the Conservative Party's victory in this week's general election.

That was the message of Home Secretary Theresa May, who is expected to retain that position when the new Cabinet is finalised this week. May, speaking as soon as the scale of the Conservative election victory became clear, pledged to re-introduce the much-criticised legislation as a matter of priority.

Talking to the BBC, May restated her aim of extending the security services' powers to intercept communications data in the UK, which the Conservatives had promised to do in their election manifesto.

However, the pledge comes after the draft Communications Data Bill has been proposed and shelved three times before following fierce opposition. The first attempt was in 2008-09, when the Labour government led by Gordon Brown first introduced it - only to back down following concerted opposition from both the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

The second attempt came in 2012-2014, which was defeated by the Conservatives' coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, who withdrew support. The third time came when the measures embodied within the legislation were forced into the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill by a cross-party collection of peers friendly to the security establishment. That was defeated following a public outcry, which forced the peers to withdraw their amendments.

However, with the Conservatives now ruling without the support of any other parties, May believes that she will be able to force the legislation through without opposition.

The Communications Data Bill is based on the EU Data Retention Directive 2006, which was declared null and void by the Court of Justice of the European Union in April 2014.

In January this year, after the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks, Prime Minister David Cameron said that there should be no form of communication that a government should be unable to intercept and read. Cameron also sought to build support in the EU for his much-criticised plan.