House of Commons - publications.parliament.uk · On 12 November 2008 the House of Commons agreed to establish a new committee, to be chaired by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Michael Martin

HC 167 -II Published on 27 May 2009

by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited

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House of Commons

Speaker's Conference (on Parliamentary Representation)

Session 2008–09

Volume II

Written evidence

Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 21 April 2009

Speaker’s Conference (on Parliamentary Representation)

The Conference secretariat will be able to make individual submissions available in large print or Braille on request. The Conference secretariat can be contacted on 020 7219 0654 or [email protected] On 12 November 2008 the House of Commons agreed to establish a new committee, to be chaired by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Michael Martin MP and known as the Speaker's Conference. The Conference has been asked to: "Consider, and make recommendations for rectifying, the disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large". It may also agree to consider other associated matters. The Speaker's Conference has until the end of the Parliament to conduct its inquiries. Current membership Miss Anne Begg MP (Labour, Aberdeen South) (Vice-Chairman) Ms Diane Abbott MP (Labour, Hackney North & Stoke Newington) John Bercow MP (Conservative, Buckingham) Mr David Blunkett MP (Labour, Sheffield, Brightside) Angela Browning MP (Conservative, Tiverton & Honiton) Mr Ronnie Campbell MP (Labour, Blyth Valley) Mrs Ann Cryer MP (Labour, Keighley) Mr Parmjit Dhanda MP (Labour, Gloucester) Andrew George MP (Liberal Democrat, St Ives) Miss Julie Kirkbride MP (Conservative, Bromsgrove) Dr William McCrea MP (Democratic Unionist, South Antrim) David Maclean MP (Conservative, Penrith & The Border) Fiona Mactaggart MP (Labour, Slough) Mr Khalid Mahmood MP (Labour, Birmingham Perry Barr) Anne Main MP (Conservative, St Albans) Jo Swinson MP (Liberal Democrat, East Dunbartonshire) Mrs Betty Williams MP (Labour, Conwy) Publications The Reports and evidence of the Conference are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Conference (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/speakersconference Conference staff The current staff of the Conference are Mrs Elizabeth Hunt (Joint Secretary), Mr Paul Zimmermann (Joint Secretary), Mr Philip Aylett (Adviser), Miss Emma Sawyer (Senior Committee Assistant), Mr Ian Blair (Committee Assistant) and Laura Kibby (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Joint Secretaries, Speaker’s Conference, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 0654. The Conference’s email address is [email protected]

List of written evidence Page

SC

1 Professor Geoffrey Alderman DLitt MA DPhil (Oxon) Ev 1

2 Operation Black Vote Ev 3

3 RADAR Ev 7

4 National Federation of Women’s Institutes Ev 10

6 David Rhodes Ev 14

7 Professor Kevin Jenkins Ev 14

8 Dame Jane Roberts, Chair, Councillors Commission Ev 15

9 TUC Ev 16

10 Epilepsy Action Ev 21

11 LGC Elections Centre, University of Plymouth Ev 21

12 Scope Ev 26

13 UK Youth Parliament Ev 30

14 One World Action Ev 33

15 The Maranatha Community Ev 36

16 Clare Laxton and Lee Webster Ev 40

17 UNISON Ev 41

18 Women in Politics Ev 44

19 The Downing Street Project Ev 46

20 Beyond Numbers Ev 50

21 Black, Asian and Minority (BAME) Women Councillors Taskforce Ev 55

22 Hansard Society Ev 58

23 Women Liberal Democrats Ev 63

24 Paul Kennedy Ev 65

25 Fabian Women’s Network Ev 66

26 Equality and Diversity Forum Ev 69

27 National Council of Women GB Ev 70

28 Women’s National Commission Ev 71

29 Victor Launert, Visitor Services Manager, Houses Of Parliament Ev 75

30 Aileen Walker, Director of Public Information, House of Commons Ev 78

31 Lesbian and Gay Foundation Ev 79

32 Cllr Lynne Smith, Bridget Maguire, Wendy Harrison, Alison Richards,

Isabel Arnold and Celia Walker Ev 84

33 National Alliance of Women’s Organisations Ev 85

34 Association for Citizenship Teaching Ev 88

35 Citizenship Foundation Ev 90

36 Young Foundation Ev 95

37 Parliamentary Education Service Ev 97

38 Association of Women Solicitors Ev 99

39 National Women’s Advisory Group Ev 102

40 Labour Party Disabled Members Group Ev 104

41 FATIMA Women’s Network Ev 107

42 UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Ev 111

43 Fabian Society Ev 116

44 Centre for Women and Democracy Ev 119

45 Equality and Human Rights Commission Ev 127

46 British Youth Council Ev 136

47 John Breach Ev 140

48 National Assembly for Wales Ev 142

49 BAME Labour Ev 146

50 YWCA Ev 147

51 Equality2025 Ev 149

52 Labour Party Ev 151

53 Unite Ev162

54 Unlock Democracy Ev 166

55 Electoral Reform Society Ev 171

56 Cliff Uney Ev 175

57 Prowess National Policy Centre and East Midlands Development Agency Ev 175

58 Equality and Diversity Forum Ev 181

59 Leonard Cheshire Disability Ev 181

60 London Councils Ev 186

61 Minister for Women and Equality Ev 188

62 Julie Morgan MP Ev 196

63 Women’s Local Government Society Ev 197

64 Lesley Abdela Ev 201

65 STV Action Ev 213

66 Belfast City Council Ev 215

67 The Fawcett Society Ev 216

68 Stonewall Ev 219

69 Maria Eagle MP, Government Equalities Office Ev 221

70 Royal College of Psychiatrists Ev 223

71 Scottish National Party Ev 223

72 Lone Parent Foundation Ev 224

73 David Nice Ev 225

74 Lord Rennard MBE, Chief Executive, Liberal Democrats Ev 226

75 Mr John Maples MP, Deputy Chairman (Candidates), Conservative Party Ev 227

76 Ulster Unionist Party Ev 230

77 Dominic McDevitt LLB (Hons), LLM (Merit) Ev 231

78 Rethink Ev 237

79 Campaign for Gender Balance Ev 238

80 Opportunity Now Ev 240

81 Janet Gaymer CBE QC, Commissioner for Public Appointments Ev 242

82 Women2win Ev 246

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Speaker’s Conference: Evidence Ev 1

Written evidence

Written submission from Professor GeoVrey Alderman, DLitt, MA, DPhil (Oxon) (SC–1)

Executive Summary

— The House of Commons is not a body representative of sectional interests. Members of the Houseare elected not to “represent” a particular group in society but to serve the interests of individualelectors and the nation as a whole.

— To argue that there is a “disparity” between the representation of certain groups in UK society atlarge and the presence of members of such groups in the House of Commons is to betray afundamental misunderstanding of the nature of political representation in the Westminster modelof democracy.

— The experience of the Jewish citizens of the UK is that, whilst Jews are (and have since the late 19thcentury) been “over-represented” in the Commons, their interests have been much better served bynon-Jewish MPs than by Jewish ones.

— The creation or imposition of “all-black” or “all-female” short-lists for parliamentary (or localgovernment) seats would be inherently unfair to members of groups so excluded, and would—therefore—be grossly oVensive to the principle of equal opportunities.

Submission

1. I am by background a teacher and researcher in the broad fields of modern British history and politics.I was educated in state schools in Hackney (London) and at the University of Oxford (MA, DPhil) and asan academic have specialised in themes related to the interface between ethnic minorities and the Britishpolitical process, particularly (but not only) in relation to the Jewish communities of the United Kingdom.In 1983 I published a groundbreaking study of The Jewish Community in British Politics (Oxford UniversityPress), and the themes explored in that book were embedded in my history of Modern British Jewry (OxfordUniversity Press, 2nd ed, 1998). In the early 1990s I accepted an invitation from the European ScienceFoundation to co-ordinate a series of studies which the Foundation published in 1993 as Governments,Ethnic Groups and Political Representation. I am often called upon by the media to comment on suchmatters. I am also the author of a standard text on the British electoral system (British Elections: Myth &Reality, published by Messrs Batsford in 1978). I currently hold an endowed chair at the University ofBuckingham, having previously held senior executive positions in the University of London and MiddlesexUniversity. In 2006 the University of Oxford awarded me the higher degree of Doctor of Letters in respectof my published work on the history of the Jews in modern Britain. My full CV and bibliography areavailable on my website: www.geoVreyalderman.com .

2. I understand that the present Speaker’s Conference has been called into being as a result of concernsabout the alleged: “disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled peoplein the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large.” These terms of referenceseem to me to reflect, and betray, a false understanding of the nature of political representation in the UnitedKingdom.

3. The House of Commons is not a body representative of sectional interests or lobbies. Members of theHouse are elected, not to “represent” a particular group in society—say women, Jews, transsexuals or (forthat matter) locomotive drivers and firemen—but to serve the interests of individual electors and the nationas a whole. We might argue about whether the current system of representation is fair, or equitable, in thecontext of the undoubted truth that (for example) the present government can claim the support of only aminority of electors and indeed of voters, and that since 1945 only one government (that elected in 1945)can claim to have had the support, at the polls, of at least 50% of the voting public.1 We might argue—in other words—that the “first-past-the-post” system is inherently unfair and undemocratic, and must bereplaced.

4. But such considerations (and I write as a supporter of proportional representation) are outside theremit of the present Conference. This remit is, as I understand, confined to an alleged “disparity” betweenthe numerical incidence of certain groups in society at large and their numerical incidence in the House ofCommons.

5. There is no disparity. Or rather, whether or not there is a numerical disparity is quite irrelevant to oursystem of political representation. No sexually-defined group, racial, religious or ethnic minority, orphysically disadvantaged interest has any “right” to a certain quota of MPs. What an individual memberof any of these groups has a right to is to elect an MP, and to expect that that MP will further her or his

1 And even in relation to 1945, this conclusion depends on whether the calculation is restricted to only those seats actuallycontested by the victorious Labour party.

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Ev 2 Speaker’s Conference: Evidence

interests in the House of Commons. If an elector is dissatisfied in this regard, there will usually be an easyremedy: not to vote for that MP the next time an election comes around and, meanwhile, to exercise freedomof expression to make this dissatisfaction very public.

6. Those who take a contrary view, and who seek to bring about a state of aVairs in which the social,ethnic, religious or sexual composition of the House of Commons reflects the “representation” of suchgroups in society at large, claim that their arguments have been bolstered by the recent election of Mr BarackObama as the next President of the United States of America. On the morrow of Mr Obama’s victory, MrTrevor Phillips, the Chair of Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, saw fit to denounce the“institutional racism” that he alleged was at work within the Labour Party. This alone, Mr Phillips insisted,stood in the way of black advancement within Labour’s ranks. The electorate would vote for a black PrimeMinister, if only all the political parties were to take “positive action” to ensure black advancement. Whileruling out the idea of all-black shortlists, Mr Phillips declared that the House of Commons should“accurately reflect the make-up of the population”.2

7. But of course Mr Obama is neither black nor white. He is black-and-white. Nonetheless, his successhas been seized upon by black lobbies in this country, who have asked whether a man such as he could everbecome the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

8. Well, of course he could. The first non-white MP was elected as long ago as 1892 (he was a Liberal),and the second (a Conservative) followed three years later.3 Currently, there are a dozen or more “non-white” MPs and, in principle, any one of them could become Prime Minister. But the likelihood of thishappening depends on the willingness of the political parties to promote a non-white MP to the front bench,and on the ruthlessness (for this is what it takes) of such a high-flier to push his or her rivals out of the way.

9. These facts of political life seem to me to have been cast aside by certain black lobbies, especially thosewithin the Labour movement. They are advocating, instead, nothing less than the racialisation of the Britishelectoral system, and its reformation along racial lines.

10. Anyone who embarks on a more-or-less rational consideration of this scenario must rapidly discoverhow brainless and perilous it must be. Just how far would Mr Phillips and his supporters wish to push theconcept of ethnic proportionality? Would there be a south-Indian quota? A Pakistani quota? A Caribbeanquota? Or perhaps a Sikh quota, a Hindu quota and a Muslim quota? And, leaving aside the question ofwho is a Jew, if Mr Phillips had his way there would have to be an upper limit of (roughly) four on the numberof Jews elected to any Parliament. As there are currently 26 identifiable Jews in the Commons, I am leftwondering how this “cap” would be enforced.

11. More seriously, any attempt to reform the selection of parliamentary candidates along ethnic lineswould lead, inevitably, to inter-ethnic rivalries and resentments. At the present time I cannot think ofanything more socially divisive.

12. President-elect Obama may be half-black and half-white but he has made it crystal clear that, oncein oYce, he will be the President of all Americans, not just of the blacks or even of the black-and-whites.Likewise, the House of Commons can be eVective without “accurately” reflecting the make-up of the UKpopulation at all, because MPs, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds and loyalties, represent all theirconstituents.

13. These arguments apply with equal force to the claims of other groups that they are “under-represented” in the House of Commons. They aren’t. Nor—incidentally—is there any evidence to suggestthat the real interests of these groups would be more eVectively addressed if their numerical strength in theCommons did approximate arithmetically to their numerical strength in the UK population. On thecontrary, the evidence of the Jewish experience is compelling here: Anglo-Jewish interests have always beenmuch better served by non-Jewish MPs than by Jewish ones.4

14. I should add that I am firmly opposed to the creation or imposition of “all-black,” “all-white” or “all-female” short-lists for parliamentary (or local government) seats. Such aYrmative action is, no doubt, well-meaning, but is inherently unfair to members of groups so excluded, and is—therefore—grossly oVensive tothe principle of equal opportunities, which I strongly support.

2 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3402792/Trevor-Phillips-Racism-would-stop-Barack-Obama-being-prime-minister-in-the-UK.html [accessed 20 December 2008]; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5110811.ece [accessed 20 December 2008]. Mr Phillips has claimed that there are only 15 “ethnic minority” MPscurrently in the House of Commons. In fact there are—at least—41.

3 D. D. Naoroji [Finsbury Central, 1892–95]; Sir M. M. Bhownagree [Bethnal Green, 1895–1905]4 Because, historically, most Jewish MPs have gone out of their way to demonstrate that their Jewishness has no bearing on

their politics.

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Submission from Operation Black Vote (OBV) (SC–2)

Representation

Q. Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups insociety?

A. Yes.

Q. If so, what are those problems?

A. The unbalanced representation of the House of Commons creates a number of problems for the wellbeing of our democracy. Many BME groups talk about a lack of confidence in our most importantdemocratic institution. Some say: “when do our concerns get addressed”, others elude to the fact that themajority of Black MP’s don’t talk about our issues for fear of being alienated by their own party. In theextreme this lack of voice and confidence translates to help nurture a fertile ground in which Muslimextremists can exploit.

Q. Is there a relationship between these levels of representation and voter attitudes to Parliament?

A. Many people talk about voter apathy in the UK, whilst that may reflect some people’s feelings manywithin the Black community are consciously opting out of the democratic process. Voting and registeringto vote. Many see it a futile exercise that only colludes with the status quo.

According to OBV polls there is a direct correlation between non-participation and under-representation.The number one reason given for not going out and voting by 18–25 year olds BME’s was the lack of blackfaces in high places.

Q. What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomeMembers of Parliament?

A. At a very basic level we have to confront society’s resistance to change. But it’s more than just that.Those in power mainly white able bodied men at times distrust those who doesn’t look like them, worse stillsome often feel a sense of superiority and therefore conscious or unconsciously seek to replicate themselves.

Barriers of Entry to Civic and Political Arenas

Q. Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election? Or, if they do: Why aren’t more ofthem selected?

A. It is a myth to suggest that BME individuals are not coming forward for selection. The fact is despitethe many trails and tribulations that many Black would be candidates face there is not a shortage of themcoming forward. At the heart of this contradiction lies a deep desire that many hold to serve their communityand wider society.

Q. Or, if they are why more of them aren’t elected?

A. In most areas outside of the big cities there still is a question mark as to whether society is ready toaccept a Black candidate. Clearly, candidates have to have a specialness to compensate any negativity.Parties must do more to select BME candidates in winnable seats.

Q. What are the problems and practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection andelection—by members of these underrepresented groups who are looking to become MPs?

A. Sadly there are many problems that individuals find during the process of selection and election. BMEindividuals do not have too much of a problem of passing the entry to become a candidate, the problem ismostly getting selected to fight a winnable seat.



Potential Solutions

Q. What actions could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation?

A. The Government must promote and champion more vigorously race equality, diversity and whyrepresentation is important for the well being of democracy and wider society. It also must state that it hasresisted all-BME short lists to give all the other methods a chance of proving themselves. But if they do notbegin to make a dent in this deficit then that discussion must be revisited.

Q. What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas and by whom, to address similar concerns?

A. There is no modern democracy with the exception of the US and Finland, that hasn’t used aYrmativeaction one way or another—permissive or non permissive—to address the deficit of women. In the case ofthe US they have aYrmative action at the early stages of development ie education, that raises the level ofhigh flyers. In Finland the idea of diversity is so well ingrained that aYrmative action is not needed.

Q. What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others toaddress disparities in representation?

A. We have attached a document (titled OBV: Changing the face of British political parties) which wewould hope all parties would adopt and implement.

Q. How can the success of such actions be measured?

A. Audits followed by targets in all areas at all levels within the political parties.

OBV: Changing the Face of British Political Parties

Introduction

This paper sets out a frame work to implement a comprehensive programme that will ensure mainstreampolitical parties become more inclusive, and more representative. Furthermore, and equally important thattheir policy proposals reflect better the multi-cultural society that is the UK. The papers focus is towardsBritain’s Black and minority ethnic communities (BME), although such a programme could easily beadapted for other marginalised groups, such as women and people with disabilities.

Background

Cultural identity and a sense of belonging have become increasingly important factors for BMEcommunities over the last twenty years. Although the majority of BME individuals were born in the UKand/or have lived here for many years, many struggle to feel that society in general and in particularly thenation’s democratic institutions aVord them a sense of belonging, or an eVective and equitable voice.

The facts bear out that frustration:

— Of 659 MPs only 15 are from BME communities. Only two of them are women.

— The Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly each only have one BME representative, notfrom the main stream parties.

— Despite 1–3 of the electorate coming from a BME community, the Greater London Assembly stillonly has two BME members.

— In the whole of Great Britain there is only Two BME chief executive in a local authority, and onlytwo leaders of the Council.

— In Europe there are 4 BME MEPs

Most senior politicians are acutely aware of the situation and yet year after year nothing changes. As aresult many BME individuals particularly the young feel deeply alienated and cynical that anything can everchange. Their disillusion is often translated in a total rejection of the democratic process:

— 24% of BME’s are not registered to vote, this compares with 6% in the white community.

— More than 53% of Africans in the UK are not registered to vote

— Those that are registered are still less likely to vote that the white electorate

The alienation of so many BME individuals not only undermines the democratic process, it also createsa fertile ground for extreme religious/political groups such as the outlawed Al-Muhajiroun and Hiz butari.



Addressing the BME deficit

It would be diYcult to find a senior politician who does not want our democratic institutions to be morerepresentative. But one is compelled to ask if there is such a desire why then does little or nothing change?Some would argue that lack of real political will is at the heart of the problem. This may partially true butthe fundamental floor lies more in the absence of a systematic plan of action to resolve the deficit.

Operation Black Vote believes that the programme that includes recruitment, retention and promotion ofBME’s within the political party structure will in the short, medium and long term pay dividends.

The motivation for implementing such a programme must be driven in no small measure by party self-interest as much as the moral obligation for representative and inclusive governance. Furthermore, asmembership of all political parties dramatically fall the need to rejuvenate them with new members, newideas, and renewed energy has never been more important.

Implementing the programme

Clearly the programme has to be driven by the Party bosses, from the Leader to the Chair to other seniormembers. But equally important to its success will be the establishment of a dedicated team to administerthe programme in all areas at all levels of the party. Although this has resource implications, it doesn’t haveto be overly expensive; secondly a minimum cost would be easily oVset by an influx of membership fees. Itwould also demonstrate to the potential electorate the seriousness of intent.

How the Project Works

Recruitment: Recruitment of BME members to the party

It is a sad indictment of all the political parties that none know how many BME individuals they have asmembers, staV or elected councillors. It is unacceptable to use the “colour blind” argument when allconcerned anecdotally know that in all the above areas the levels are depressing low. A democratic auditof the membership, staV, and elected members would provide a baseline that would help with increasingthe figures.

Recruit activists from within the party

Recruiting activist, particularly, but not exclusively BME party members to be at the frontline of anyrecruitment drive will serve a dual purpose: with this new responsibility they themselves become moreempowered by the role they have within the party; secondly they increase and widen the membership. It isvery important to stress that this role should not be the exclusive domain for BME members. It is theresponsibility of all members, furthermore, some BME members may not want to, “wear their ethnicity/religion on their sleeve”. The role for white members recruiting could be in the mode of, “I don’t want tospeak for you. We want you to speak for yourselves and/or your community but under our politicalumbrella. That’s why we want you to join our party.

Realistic national and local targets must be made.

Draw up a local recruitment plan

Obtain a list of the BME organisations in the constituency. Organise recruitment meetings. They mightbe entitled, “Modernising the local party”, or “Changing the face of the local party”. You may bring ininvited guest such as Party big hitters or outsiders that may talk-from a non-partisan position about the needto get involved.

Producing materials specific for BME communities

Recruitment drives in the USA by both the Republicans and the Democrats have had great success byspecifically targeting materials towards African Americans, Latin Americans and women.

The overall message should be a simple one: “Your contribution, your dynamism will help modernisethis party”

Prizes and other incentives should be given to local parties that increase their memberships, stories couldbe related the Party websites, local press, meetings and conferences. A member of the month could articulatewhy they joined, what they want to achieve.



Retention

Retention of BME members particularly new ones must be thought about simultaneously as therecruitment plan is being implemented. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant volume of newmembers leave after the first year because they find local party procedure boring and irrelevant. Often moredamage is done if large numbers join and then leave because due thought has not gone into accommodatingnew members.

Some ideas:

— Think about where you have all your meetings. Places where alcohol is served may not beconducive for some faiths.

— Think about party procedure. Sometimes it is long and laborious. For the first few occasions youmay want invite members to social gatherings or interesting debates or talks.

— Allow new members to have their say. Seek their opinion. Anecdotal evidence suggests that whenBME individuals initially join they are warmly welcomed, however, when they raise diYcult issuesparticularly if it’s around race they are quickly seen as troublesome and marginalised. Thereafter,many either leave or remain silent.

— Organising debates and talks with outsider people coming in should stimulate and maintaininterest.

— Getting members involved in organising activities will also help maintain interest.

— Most importantly oVer them specific roles. New members may not want a specific role but togenuinely oVer them a role serves a double purpose: first that the party genuinely cares and issupportive about their new member. Secondly, by given them a role within the local party you addvalue to you team. Roles may include: setting up youth wing, or recruitment advocates for women,BME’s, youths and others. Others may want to be part of active campaigning such as leafleting,manning a stall. Some may want to set up a news letter, blog or website

Promotion

It should be said from the outset, nobody is asking for the promotion of BME members solely becausethey are BME; that neither serves them nor the party. Neither is this about positive discrimination; althoughOBV believes that in the short term it has its place-it is more about positive action.

Fact is that whether by design or fault BME talent has not been adequately recognised or promoted withinthe political party structure. Recognising the deficit the Party, both at a local and national level must seekout BME talent that could serve in many areas: organisers, policy oYcers, public speakers, fund raisers,advisors, party agents, potential councillors, MPs and other elected roles.

To eVectively address this problem we would suggest that the Party have a team of head-hunters locally,regionally and nationally.

Head-hunters would be able to spot both enthusiasm and talent and then help ensure that talent reachesits full potential sooner rather than later.

Training, and support must also be part of the development process, it must not however, be anotherobstacle for promotion. BME individuals have complained that they are told they will not be considered fora winnable seat unless they undertake numerous training programmes.

Those that have been earmarked as potential candidates need both mentors and infrastructure support.A mentor will impart wise words about the labyrinth of party structure and how ones gets through it.

Party support will ensure potential candidates have access to financial funds and are adequately trainedto deal in areas such as the media and public speaking. When the Conservative Patti Boulaye became apotential GLA candidate the lack of party support and media training meant that she quickly became aliability to her party.

Once the party has greater awareness of the BME membership and the talent within it, it is much easierto encourage applications for staYng posts and other areas within the party. Other methods should also beused, such as using the BME press and radio stations when positions become available.

Whether it’s staYng positions, panels or list for potential candidates’ ambitious but reachable targetsmust play a key role. We at OBV recognise that some local parties have a resistance to modernise themselvesand their make up. Here the party must show leadership and if necessary force die-hards to change. Theleadership can also use other methods to ensure candidates come through by placing them high on top uplist. Experience has shown that elected politicians in Scotland, Wales and London will not vote themselvesout of a post, therefore it is only by political leadership can we expect positive change.

As and when the local party mentality begins to adequately change less influence from the central isrequired. Sadly that is some time oV yet.



The role of OBV

The vision of Britain’s BME communities playing a full and positive role in all areas at all levels withinthe UK’s main stream political parties is one which is central to OBV’s work. Therefore, we have pledgedto assist, where we can, any main stream political party that seeks work towards that vision. We will:

— Give an honest appraisal of proposals that seek to engage with BME communities.

— Promote—subject to resources—positive initiatives that form part of the party’s recruitment,retention and promotion programmes.

— Host a number of “get to know you” meetings/receptions-subject to resources.

— Write articles for party magazines or websites about why representation and diversity withinparties is important.

Conclusion

No one pretends that the task to ensure Britain’s political parties are more inclusive and morerepresentative is a simple one. And yet with the political will, leadership and a comprehensive programmethat can be eVectively implemented the task isn’t insurmountable. The three key areas are Recruitment,Retention and Promotion of BME’s within the party.

Having a clear programme with short, medium and long-term targets will without doubt pay dividends.The motivation should be both moral: it is good for democracy, and self-interest: an inclusive Party will havea wider public appeal.

As a non-partisan organisation we at OBV will play our role inspiring and encouraging our communitiesto play a full and positive role within the democratic process.

Submission from RADAR (SC–3)

Summary

— Numbers of disabled MPs are unknown. Numbers of openly disabled MPs are very low comparedto the proportion of disabled people in the population (we would expect 65 disabled MPs on thelowest estimate)

— This presents two significant problems: inadequate attention to the major disability dimensions ofmainstream policy priorities, from child poverty to skills; and a lack of role models to inspire trustin Parliament from disabled people

— RADAR works with actual and potential disabled leaders. There is a significant untapped pool oftalent. Some wish to stand for Parliament. RADAR would be happy to bring those interested instanding for Parliament together with the Speaker’s Conference and/or to be involved inimplementing recommendations—for instance, undertaking targeted outreach and leadershipdevelopment

— There are a number of barriers to disabled people standing for Parliament and being elected. Theseinclude lack of knowledge, practical issues like reasonable adjustments to fulfil the role—and alsofear and confusion about whether to disclose. Fear that disability will be equated withincompetence has a long history in politics and is still endemic.

— People who fear exclusion on several grounds, for instance ethnic minority disabled people, canface multiple barriers

— There are MPs who have been elected who have chosen not to be open about disability—or notuntil after they are elected

— There are barriers in legislation—lack of clear coverage of MPs under the DisabilityDiscrimination Act and an archaic statute that can require MPs sectioned under mental healthlegislation to stand down.

— There are interventions that could be made at diVerent levels to improve levels of representation.These include outreach and leadership development; cultural change within both Parliament andpolitical parties; promotion of positive role models; and legislative change. Government,Parliament, political parties and campaigning organisations all have a role to play.

— We propose a confidential survey and monitoring duties on political parties to identify baselinesand track progress.



Introduction

1. RADAR, founded in 1977, is the UK’s leading pan-disability campaigning network with over900 individual and organisational members. RADAR is a charity run by and for people living with ill-health,injury or disability (IID). Our vision is a just and equal society whose strength is human diVerence. We enableindividuals living with IID to “do life diVerently” through peer support and materials; and we bring togethernetworks of disabled people and policy makers to help make the UK more inclusive for everyone.

2. RADAR’s 3 strategic priorities are independent living, routes out of poverty and improved leadershipopportunities for disabled people. Our ambition is that people living with IID should be able to participatein every aspect of British life—and to influence it. This includes political representation in the House ofCommons. RADAR strongly welcomes the Speaker’s Conference on parliamentary representation and ispleased to have the opportunity to give evidence.

The problems of unbalanced representation

3. Using a Disability Discrimination Act definition of disability (which includes people living with longterm ill-health—eg serious mental health problems or heart disease—as well as physical, sensory andlearning impairments), there are at least 11 million disabled people in Britain, around 20% of the population.A representative House of Commons would therefore include approximately 129 disabled MPs. Even if oneused a more restricted definition, to include only those with the most significant impairments, one wouldexpect 10%—the figure used recently by David Blunkett MP who, in a 2008 letter to The Times, noted thatone should expect to see at least 65 openly disabled MPs in the House of Commons.

4. Numbers of disabled MPs are not firmly known, but disability organisations are not aware of numbersanywhere near 65, let alone 129. Measurement is complicated by the fact that MPs may not always be openabout experiences of disability (see further discussion below); and many impairments are invisible. Disabilityorganisations have expressed great appreciation of those openly disabled MPs who have drawn on theirexperiences in their work as MPs. For example, an event in 2008 paid tribute to Lord Jack Ashley’s(previously Jack Ashley MP’s) longstanding chairing of the All Party Disability Group. When Chris SmithMP decided to be open about his HIV status Sir Bert Massie, then Chair of the Disability RightsCommission, wrote to congratulate him on his decision to be open and act as a role model for others.Disabled people applaud the work of those openly disabled MPs who play a leading role either on disabilityissues (like Anne McGuire MP, who when Minister for Disabled People decided to be open about herdiabetes or (Andrew Turner MP) or on wider agendas.

5. The very small numbers of openly disabled MPs presents two significant problems.

6. Firstly, it is all too easy for a non-representative House of Commons to overlook the disabilitydimension to critical, mainstream policy issues. One third of all British children living in poverty has at leastone disabled parent. One third of all British adults with no qualifications experiences disability.5 Healthinequalities are acute between some groups of disabled people and their non-disabled peers (for example,people with long term mental health problems or learning disabilities are more likely to get some killerdiseases like stroke and heart disease, more likely to get them young, and likely to die of them faster, thanother citizens).6 Achieving targets on child poverty, skills or health inequalities can only succeed if thedisability dimension is addressed. Yet these policy issues tend not to be viewed as “disability issues” by anon-representative House of Commons (with some exceptions). This is a disbenefit not only to disabledpeople but to Britain as a whole: child poverty and skills strategies that address disability successfully arequite simply more likely to be successful in meeting their overall objectives, because of the numbers involved.

7. Secondly, the absence of a critical mass of openly disabled MPs risks entrenching the view that disabledpeople are the passive recipients of public services and public policy—when disabled people can and shouldbe part of the solution and leadership.

Impact of problems on voter attitudes to Parliament

8. We hear from some of our members that they mistrust Parliament in relation to seriously addressingdisability issues, because there are so few openly disabled MPs. We have not quantified this concern but itis raised regularly. We also hear from disabled people from black and minority ethnic communities that theyfeel unrepresented as they see neither disabled MPs taking up BAME issues nor BAME MPs addressingdisability and other social policy issues.

5 Disability Rights Commission 2007 The Disability Agenda.6 Disability Rights Commission 2006 Equal Treatment: Closing the Gap.



What are the reasons why more disabled people do not become MPs?

9. RADAR knows that there is a pool of highly talented disabled people who in many cases are working/operating below the level of their capacity (for example, there is a 10% pay gap between disabled and non-disabled people in employment7). We recently ran a leadership programme attended by 40 disabled people.50% were from BAME communities. 94% rated the programme as excellent and 100% stated that they arenow more likely to achieve their leadership ambitions. They included young Moslem disabled communityleaders, disabled magistrates and councillors and in some cases people whose ambition was to enterParliament. The barriers they recounted to taking up ANY leadership roles included lack of knowledge andencouragement, fear and/or experience of being patronised and under-estimated, anxiety that theirreasonable adjustment requirements (for instance, materials in diVerent formats or need to use a PA) wouldnot be met.

10. Research is less advanced on the barriers that disabled people face to becoming MPs than into theexperiences of women and people from black and ethnic minority communities. It appears that there aremore significant numbers of disabled councillors than MPs. We have heard from a number of disabledpeople who wish to become MPs that the barriers include:

— Lack of knowledge of how to become an MP, how the systems work

— (For some) the impact of social exclusion on the ability to amass the required portfolio ofexperience including policy and parliamentary knowledge; and/or to have the financial resourcesto make time to travel the country and build political experience

— Fear about being “out” and confusion as to whether or not to be open about a hidden impairment.Note: there is extensive evidence that this is a major issue also in the employment sphere, withindividuals fearing either to be open and risk rejection, or to conceal a hidden condition and risklater exposure or challenge for dishonesty.

— MPs not being clearly covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (whereas councillors are)—which means people are unsure whether there is a duty not to discriminate and to make reasonableadjustments where needed

— An archaic statute that says (under s.141 of the Mental Health Act 1983) that an MP who issectioned under the Mental Health Act can be removed from oYce. This was not amended, despiteopportunities to do so, with the passage of the Mental Health Act 2007. Modern good practice,following the DDA, would rather be to oVer time out while the individual is unwell, followed bygradual return and any other adjustments needed to resume full responsibilities. Only if the personis genuinely unable to perform the duties long term could termination of the role be considered

— Anxiety amongst individuals who are (for instance) black, female and disabled, that a politicalparty would be unlikely to select them, especially not for a safe seat

11. Disabled people tell us about the long history of assumptions that disability is equated withincompetence—and the great lengths that disabled politicians have gone to conceal their disability. FranklinD Roosevelt created a massive pretence that he was able to walk—and hid his polio and wheelchair use fromthe public, even to the extent of having two aides support him by the elbows and make it appear that hewas walking. Presidential candidate Dukakis was “discredited” in 1988 by the spread of a story that he hadexperienced mental illness (and he lost). Churchill’s depression was hidden. Until the ex-Norwegian PrimeMinister Mr Bondevik was open about his experience of mental illness whilst in oYce—and was re-electedafter being open—there were no role models of political leaders being open about significant impairment.The message to disabled people has been that a disabled person cannot lead; that being disabled makes youweak, dependent and perhaps unfit for oYce.

12. Research conducted for the All-Party Mental Health Group by Rethink, Mind and Stand to Reasonin 2008 found that 20% of MPs had some personal experience of mental health issues.8 Yet we are not awareof MPs who are open about this issue. Statements from MPs included the following:

— “I’d hate to be suspected of incompetence or my views discounted”

— “MPs are not able to display weakness”

— “With the press we have there would be no chance of being re-elected”

This suggests there is still a significant cultural barrier to being an openly disabled MP—perhapsparticularly where the impairment is more stigmatised, as in the case of a mental health condition or HIV.We are also aware, though, of MPs who were only open about a physical impairment after they were elected(presumably because they were anxious—perhaps with good reason—that they would not be selected and/or elected if they chose to be open).

13. In the light of the above there are a number of inter-linked issues that impact on the low representationof openly disabled MPs. Whilst barriers of knowledge, confidence and practical adjustments may meanrelatively few disabled people seek to stand, there are also barriers of fear/confusion about disclosure, lack

7 Disability Rights Commission 2007 op cit.8 Report of the All Party Mental Health Group. Mental Health in Parliament 2008.



of legal protection, perhaps anxiety on the part of political parties to select openly disabled people forreasons of “referred prejudice” (ie assuming the public will not elect them), and also fear amongst somepeople who ARE selected or elected about being open.

What actions could be taken by Government and Parliament?

14. Government—and Parliament—could use the opportunity of the forthcoming Equalities Bill to makeexplicit that protection from discrimination, and a duty to make reasonable adjustments, applies in relationto MPs.

15. Government could repeal s.141 of the Mental Health Act to remove this symbolicallydiscriminatory statute.

16. Political parties are covered by the DDA. Government could set clear expectations of political partiesfor a diverse legislature and ask the Equality and Human Rights Commission to monitor progress.

17. Parliamentarians could work together to create a mutually supportive culture in which MPs feelconfident to be open about impairment; and in which openness is viewed as a positive step in creating rolemodels. This could be beneficial for the MPs themselves—in the employment sphere, disclosure (whether ofhidden impairment or indeed sexual orientation eg see Stonewall www.stonewall.org.uk) is knownpotentially to improve performance and can reduce anxiety. There are many role models in the employmentsphere who could advice—eg Alistair Campbell has written about his decision to be open from the outsetabout his mental health problems when working for the former Prime Minister. Good practice could also beadopted and implemented to make reasonable adjustments—from materials in diVerent formats to physicalaccess and flexible working (within constraints of the requirements of the role).

18. Government could support outreach and leadership development of under-represented groups,enabling disabled people and others to understand pathways to diVerent leadership opportunities and to setand meet goals including local and national public oYce and political engagement (eg see data on RADARleadership programme above).

What actions could be taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others?

19. Political parties could do more to specify their ambitions to be diverse and representative and be opento scrutiny on their selection of candidates and the allocation of seats. They may also need flexibility tosupport people to overcome financial barriers —or barriers of fatigue—to building political experience

20. Campaigning groups could spread examples of role models, implement outreach and leadershipdevelopment and encourage disabled people to understand the opportunities open to them.

How can success be measured?

21. We propose a strictly confidential survey of MPs’ experiences of disability and long term healthconditions—broken down by broad impairment group—to act as a baseline for future monitoring. We alsopropose that political parties could monitor the disability profile of the prospective candidates, thoseselected and those selected for safer seats. This would provide better data than currently exists on the stagesof the process at which barriers are greatest and would indicate where additional intervention was neededto achieve improved representation.

Submission from the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (SC–4)

NFWI Background

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) is an educational, social, non-party political andnon-sectarian organisation. It was established to ensure that women are able to take an eVective part in theircommunity, to learn together, widen their horizons, improve and develop the quality of their lives and thoseof their communities and together influence local, national and international aVairs. The WI (Women’sInstitute) has an unrivalled reputation as a voice of reason, integrity and intelligence on issues that matterto women and their communities.

The ideals of the WI of truth, justice, tolerance and fellowship are as strong and important now in the21st century as they were at the birth of the WI in 1915. Equality and human rights are issues which havealways been at the forefront of the organisation. In 1943 the NFWI passed the following resolution: “Thatmen and women should receive equal pay for equal work” and in 1975: “The NFWI believes in the principleof equality of opportunity and of equal status for men and women and pledges itself to work to achieve this”.



In addition the NFWI has over 6 resolutions calling for equality with regards to older people and peoplewith disabilities. Many of these mandates have as much relevance today as when they were discussed andcampaigned on by the organisation and its membership.

NFWI has some 200,000 members in 7,500 Women’s Institutes across England, Wales and the Islands.

Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups in society?If so, what are those problems?

Less legitimacy. Without accurate representation of all groups in society, parliament will not reflect thediversity of views in the population and will thus lack legitimacy. More eVective policy is also created if it’sinformed by diverse opinions. Better representation confers legitimacy, promotes ownership, and shouldresult in better decisions and therefore better government.

Loss of faith in the political process—leading to lower voter turnout. Voters are put oV by political discoursebeing run entirely by middle aged, middle class white men. Low voter turnout in recent years reflects this.

Barriers to cultural equality. Equality laws are vital in dismantling the barriers to greater involvement ofwomen in all areas of public life. However, much of the remaining discrimination is cultural. Normalisingthe concept of women holding public oYce alongside men will act to change cultural attitudes towards therole of women.

Policy making not accurately reflecting the needs of the whole of society. An increase in the number ofwomen elected would lead to higher quality of decision-making would reflect the greater diversity ofexperience of those making the decisions. It is arguable that the far greater number of women MPs post1997 contributed to significant break throughs in policy areas such as equal pay and child care.

Is there a relationship between these levels of representation and voter attitudes to Parliament?

More women parliamentarians are also crucial if we are to combat widespread political apathy. The old-fashioned, macho, aggressive way of doing business is simply alienating the electorate. While women,especially young women are put oV by politics because they feel it just does not represent them.

Electoral Commission research has shown that women are far more likely to turn out and vote if they arerepresented by a woman. They are also far more likely to become involved in a political campaign if theyare working with a female candidate.

What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomeMembers of Parliament:

Barriers are both practical and cultural.

Qualitative research conducted in March 2006 by the NFWI Women Making a DiVerence Project withgroups of women in Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Blaenau Gwent Anglesey & Wrexham identified a numberof barriers—or limiting considerations—which were preventing women in Wales taking a more active partin “Public Life”.

1. Lack of confidence was the main reason why women taking part in the research said they would notstand for any position in public life—especially

— to stand up and speak in front of a large group to speak

— in meetings—particularly in front of men.

— if they are currently outside the workforce, for example taking a career break to bring up children—or if they work in a part time low skilled/paid capacity.

2. Many of the women were simply unaware of the opportunities to serve on public bodies—or that thereare targets to fill them. They perceived Boards, Trusts etc., as closed (recruited on the golf course) orpolitically biased. Even if the women were aware of public appointments and realise they may be eligible,they did not generally know where they were advertised or how to apply for them.

3. Women were not always clear about what positions in public life would entail. For many of the womenwho would want to take up a public appointment—a duty which she must add to her regular employment,and often to running a household and looking after children and/or elderly relatives—they felt that the rolemust be attractive to them and worthwhile.

4. The women appeared to be less attracted by the desire to acquire power and influence and more by thedesire to make a tangible diVerence. National level roles seem to be less attractive to women than local roles.This may be because women are more familiar with local issues and so they feel they could “make adiVerence” in these situations.

5. The perceived culture of public bodies as being “old boys networks” were identified by almost all of thegroups of women as being a barrier which was preventing many of them from wanting to become involved inpublic life.



6. Many of the women were already combining their career with child and/or elder care. This was thoughtto be a barrier both in terms of time away conflicting with caring responsibilities and also the costs and/oravailability of child or elder care during these absences.

Women Making a DiVerence has tried to address these barriers by educating and empowering women whomight not otherwise see themselves in public appointment roles—equipping them with the skills andconfidence to apply, and successfully compete on merit against other applicants, for positions in public life—any level; locally, regionally and nationally. More details below.

There may also be some residual sexism within local political parties, when it comes to making upshortlists for selection. This is a cultural barrier that needs to be overcome if parties are not to use quotas.

The type of electoral system has long been regarded as an important factor; many studies havedemonstrated that far more women are commonly elected under proportional party lists than viamajoritarian single-member constituencies (our FPT system).

Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election?

Or, if they do,

1. Why aren’t more of them selected? Or, if they are,

2. Why aren’t more of them elected?

See above for answer to part one.

1. Barriers to selection arise from very closed party selection systems, which often do not activelyencourage and even discriminate against them. An exception was the introduction of all-women short-listsin target seats by the British Labour Party, leading towards the proportion of women at Westminsterdoubling from 1992–97. However, many parties dislike the idea of all women shortlists and many womenthemselves see them as eroding the principle of equity.

Winning the support of the local party means investing a lot of time in local party work, which may be aproblem for women with family responsibilities.

2. Barriers to election can again arise from the lack of time available to many women to devote to theendless campaigning and canvassing required to become a known face to the local electorate. PPCs oftenstart their pre-election campaigning a year before an election—with local visits, press releases and by settingup campaigns to save local services. This requires a considerable time commitment.

There is also a financial angle to campaigning. The pre-election low level campaign period will need a lotof disposable income—while campaigning during a general election is a full time job and requires manycandidates to take sabbaticals or simply resign from their jobs. A financial cushion during that period is lessavailable to women than it is to many men. Employers also need to be sympathetic and flexible on this issue.

What are the problems and practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection andelection—by members of these underrepresented groups who are looking to become MPs?

Please see the above answer.

What actions could be taken by the Government, political parties and interest groups to address disparities inrepresentation?

The NFWI believes that the primary unaddressed barrier lies in women’s feelings of representation onevery level in society. The challenge should be to make women’s voices heard at the most local level as a firststep, to open the possibility to them that positions of oYce are achievable. Mentoring schemes would thenopen the door to elected oYce.

Encouraging community activisim—women as “agents of change”

WI experience over the years has shown that individual women thrive when they are able to contributeto their community in a way that is meaningful to them. WI actions in recent years have centred on theunique role of women as “agendas of change” in their community. This is a unique way of creating changein society and one that believes women are well placed to do as they are primarily responsible for day to daydecisions in their household. It believes that change cannot be imposed from above but should be the resultof the collective behaviour of the grass roots. This example will then spread to the rest of the community.

In recent years, WI members have set up such projects in the areas of food sustainability andenvironmentalism.

With the recently completed Love Food project, 11 WI members acted as group leader to 11 groupsaround the country involving 81 households, which met once a month over four months to discuss keybehaviours that contribute to the amount of food waste produced in the home. The groups successfully cuttheir food waste by half over a four month period and all commented that the group support had been keyto helping them achieve it.



Through their action in eco teams, WI members have shown that individuals and community groups canmake a huge positive impact on the environment and can lead the way towards a more sustainable futurein their everyday lives. The WI’s eco teams were designed for 6–8 households to come together once a monthto discuss their household habits and then make changes enabling them to reduce their impact on ourenvironment.

Another example of a project where WI members are acting as “agents of change” is the Lets Cookscheme. Trained members show young parents from disadvantaged backgrounds the benefits of healthyeating by teaching cooking skills and knowledge of the benefits of healthy eating. The idea is that they wouldthen pass on healthy life skills onto the next generation and break a tradition of relying on convenience overnutrition. The project which will now run until end of March 2010 continues to thrive 539 parents havesuccessfully completed the course.

We believe that the Government needs to do more to harness the potential of voluntary groups—byproviding them with the infrastructure and support to promote behaviour change in their community. It’simportant that the government does not simply delegate areas of essential work to voluntary groups withno financial or other support. Voluntary groups have a role to play but must not replace essential coreservices, which public authorities must still provide.

The Government is often guilty of providing funds and support for voluntary groups to set up pilotprojects and then expecting them to continue afterwards without any support or guidance about how to beself-sustainable.

Opening the door to elected oYce

We believe that the key to this lies in bringing the often closed world of politics closer to women viaeducation and practical mentoring schemes—such as the Women Making a DiVerence project run byNFWI Wales.

We do not support special quotas as they may compromise quality. Equity should not be achieved at theexpense of merit, and the responsiveness of parties will be reflected in their popular vote.

Having more women in elected political posts will provide role models for girls to aspire to and promotea popular perception that women are equal to men.

Women Making a DiVerence—an NFWI Wales project: In an attempt to encourage and support morewomen to get involved in public life, NFWI-Wales in partnership with Women’s Voice and Oxfam UKPoverty Programme established the Women Making a DiVerence Project in 2005.

Women Making a DiVerence training programme delivered through NFWI-Wales’ Project, encourageswomen from hard to reach communities to “get onto the decision making ladder” by taking up key positionswithin their local communities—which will give them the skills, knowledge and confidence to become moreinvolved in public life at a regional and national level. Skills training, mentoring and role shadowing areconsidered key to successfully encouraging more public appointment applications from underrepresentedgroups.

The priority groups for the Women Making a DiVerence programme of training are women who arecurrently underrepresented in public life because of race, disability, language or because they live in sociallydeprived areas. Over 150 women from a wide range of backgrounds have taken part in Engendering Changetraining across Wales. All these women want to make a “diVerence” in their communities—where they arevery often carrying out key volunteering roles but don’t have the confidence to become the “decisionmakers” themselves.

Courses held to date have been a great success—and approx. 70 women have gone on to the second stageof the programme “Women into Public Life” which encourages the women to work with personal mentorswho support them on their journey into public life, as well as taking part in “role shadowing” so that theyhave an understanding of the commitment and expectation of the position in public life that they are aimingto take up.

Evidence to date has shown that many of the women taking part in the programme have been given theconfidence and skills to make a diVerence and have been actively using these within their community andin public life. Employment has also been secured by at least three women following increased confidence.

Government and interest groups could also do more to overcome the negative attitude that many womenhave towards elected oYce by raising awareness about ways to get involved at a younger age. Schools coulddevote learning time to understanding the process and could invite female politicians to speak to students.

Breaking down barriers in political parties involves moving away from a very closed and male-dominatedculture. Aside from the use of all-women shortlists, women looking to be selected for seats need ongoingadvice and support from fellow local party members. This would open up the often hidden local partysystem.



Submission from David Rhodes (SC–6)

A Review of Representation for Women, Ethnic Minorities and Disabled People in Parliament

I was delighted to hear that the Conference is being called and felt I might advocate a few thoughts onequality for the Conference and yourselves to consider.

It seems to me that the House of Commons and indeed the House of Lords, are in fact, nationalrepresentation of each British family’s home and on the basis that each home has equality in the form of twoparents (a man and a woman) a similar fifty-fifty approach might be adopted in both Houses of Parliament.This concept or fifty-fifty policy is explained in more detail in the following points:

1. Equality in the House of Commons: fifty-fifty policy

It would appear that there are at the moment 646 places in the House of Commons. If they were pairedinto 323 double constituencies with two seats to each new double seat, there could then be a male and femaleseat to each double constituency.

This would result in 323 male and 323 female MPs a total of 646 Members of Parliament and equalityachieved.

Each voter would have two votes, one for a male and one for a female candidate.

Ideally, I would advocate, reducing the number of double constituencies to 300, having a round figure of600 MPs to represent the 60,000,000 in Britain ie 300 women and 300 men for approximately 30,000,000 menand 30,000,000 women.

2. Equality in the House of Barons and Baronesses: fifty-fifty policy

Whilst reviewing equality in the House of Commons I would advocate that the House of Lords shouldbe renamed the House of Barons and Baronesses (the renaming would remove the confusion of hereditaryLords and the issue of being Lorded over, in both a political and religious manner). It was after all the Baronswho in 1215 instigated Magna Carta.

A total of 300 seats could be maintained on a fifty-fifty basis of 150 Barons and 150 Baronesses.It is my opinion that the public do not wish to have another layer of voting thrust upon them and so I wouldtherefore advocate a method of selection by an approved cross party group of MPs (we trust MPs to governthe Country so why not trust them to select the upper house representatives).

Selection could be for a five-year period with an option to renew for another five years with a maximumof ten years.

Half the members 150 (75 men and 75 women) could be selected from the area covered by the 300 doubleconstituencies in the Commons ie an area Baron or Baroness to every two double constituencies. The other150 Barons and Baronesses would be selected from all walks of life for their particular expertise ie commerce,military, science, arts, sport, law, industry, politics etc.

3. Equality for the Disabled and Ethnic Minorities

The selection policy advocated for the House of Barons should enable an appropriate representation ofdisabled and ethnic minorities and in the House of Commons political parties should ensure that in the fifty-fifty policy, appropriate percentages are selected for election.

It is my hope that the outcome of the Speaker’s Conference, will be a fifty-fifty equality policy that allpolitical parties can advocate before the next election and that it might then be fully implemented in thefollowing election.

Submission from Professor Kevin Jenkins (SC–7)

As a historian specialising in British politics during the 20th century, I am writing in order to submitevidence to the Speaker’s Conference.

Over the last few years I have conducted research, which I hope will be of interest to the conference inproviding a historical context for the issues under scrutiny, about levels of participation and interest inpolitics. My findings appeared in December 2008 in a paper entitled Two Cheers for Democracy9 on thewebsite of the organisation History & Policy.10 The main points made in the paper can be summarisedas follows:

9 Information provided, not printed.10 www.historyandpolicy.org



— Compared to some other western nation-states, British democracy since the end of the First WorldWar has been stable but not vibrant in character, with low levels of citizen participation.

— In terms of style and context, democratic politics have changed dramatically through franchiseextensions, the growth of the media and the appearance of new forms of political protest, but theproportion of citizens taking an active role in political life—beyond voting at elections—has rarelyrisen above 10%.

— Furthermore, willingness and ability to participate in politics has frequently been determined byfactors relating to class, gender, ethnicity and race.

— Continuity has deep historical roots in the long, drawn-out process of gradual democratisationwhich took place between 1832 and 1928 in a largely peaceful manner. This ensured that democracyas political creed lacked both passionate advocates and hostile critics, unlike other states withdiVerent historical trajectories.

— Contemporary debate about a so-called “crisis” in democracy must be set in historical context withthe recognition that Britain has never had a strong tradition of “active citizenship”. This fact,however, has not damaged the legitimacy of her democratic institutions, which remains secure.

Submission from Dame Jane Roberts, Chair of the Councillors Commission (SC–8)

Summary

— The Councillors Commission’s report, Representing the Future was published in December2007 and it addressed very similar issues as those which the Speaker’s Conference has been askedto consider but with regard to councillors, not MPs.

— Many, but not all, of the issues concerning local representation apply also to representation in theHouse of Commons and hence the Speaker’s Conference may find the findings andrecommendations of the Councillors Commission useful to consider.

— In addition, there are a number of MPs who make the journey to Westminster via election first asa councillor and hence understanding the factors that encourage of deter people, especially thosefrom under-represented groups, from standing locally, is likely to be useful.

— A copy of “Representing the Future” is enclosed with the hard copy of this submission11 and asthis is “material that has already been published elsewhere”, as in the guide for written statementsto Select Committees, this submission will only briefly refer to our findings in response to thequestions asked in the Speaker’s Conference Announcement of Inquiry 15 December 2008. Anelectronic copy of “Representing the Future” can be accessed via the Communities and LocalGovernment web-site.12

Background to the Commission

1. The Councillors Commission, that I chaired, was set up by Ruth Kelly, MP, then Secretary of State forCommunities and Local Government (CLG), in early 2007. It was asked to make recommendationsregarding the incentives and barriers to: encouraging suitably able, qualified and representative people toserve as councillors; their retention and development once elected; and their being able to secure publicinterest and recognition for the work that they do. It was an independent and cross party review.

2. The review was prompted by concerns at CLG that councillors were very unrepresentative of thecommunities that they represented. At the time of our deliberations, only 4.1% of councillors were fromethnic minority backgrounds, only 29.3% were women, and only 13.5% were under 45. Younger councillorswith a disability were few and far between. The latest survey of councillors from 2008 undertaken for theImprovement and Development Agency (IDeA) shows little change. Hence, other than with regard to age,there is a similar picture amongst locally elected members as with MPs.

3. The work of the Commission took us to many diVerent parts of England and Wales, listening tohundreds of people. We received over 200 submissions; we both commissioned research and reviewedexisting research including the evidence internationally. We reported to Hazel Blears, MP, by then Secretaryof State at CLG, in December 2007 with our conclusions and 61 recommendations in Representing theFuture.

4. The Chair of the Commission met with the Chairman of the Conservative Party, the President of theLiberal Democrats and with the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. The long standing concerns of HarrietHarman MP led to her initiating the Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Councillors Task Force, chairedby Baroness Uddin, towards the end of our deliberations.

11 Information provided, not printed.12 www.communities.gov.uk



5. The Government made its response to the Commission’s report in July 2008, accepting most of ourrecommendations. Our first recommendation, that local authorities should be charged with a statutory dutyto promote local democratic engagement, was central to the Communities in Control White Paper.

6. A number of “exemplar” local authorities are to take forward a package of recommendations from theCouncillors Commission and their membership is to be tracked.

7. The considerations of the Councillors Commission took us wider than merely matters of, for example,support and remuneration to elected members. We felt that we could not useful recommendations withoutstepping back to consider wider changes that had taken place concerning local democracy and governancemore generally in recent times. Many of the issues therefore that we considered have a relevance to nationalrepresentation.

Questions Posed in the Speaker’s Conference Announcement of Inquiry

8. There are indeed problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons. Itcompounds a sense that we are governed by a separate and remote political class who look and talk verydiVerently from “ordinary people”, that in turn distances people from an understanding of the politicalprocess and its essential place, and can feed a destructive cynicism in politics. Professor Stephen Coleman,whom we quote in the report, writes compellingly on this issue. The Commission’s report argues on page14 that descriptive representativeness is important both symbolically (and the election of President BarackObama is the most resounding example of this) and substantively whereby diVerent core interests can be feddirectly into the democratic process.

9. The Commission’s report goes into considerable detail about the reasons why more women, morepeople from a BME background, and more disabled people do not consider standing in local elections, arenot selected and are not elected. In summary, there is no one reason but rather a combination of issues(notably a lack of awareness of the democratic process generally and more specifically how to get moreinvolved, the culture of the political parties and local government, lack of confidence, time commitment andthe anxieties about the possible impact on work and family life, attitude of employers, as well as thepracticalities in terms of organisation, timing of meetings, lack of support). There was some evidence thatit may well be more diYcult to get selected than elected and this is obviously a crucial issue for the politicalparties to address. The Conference would do well also to consider the writings of Professor Gerry Stoker,in for example, Why Politics Matters. Making Democracy Work (2006 Palgrave MacMillan) whom I havequoted a great deal when speaking about the Councillors Commission. His CLEAR model is useful forconsidering the constraints and prospects for participation in the democratic process: our own findings verymuch echoed his academic work.

10. Given that there are a range of reasons why relatively few women, people from a BME background,younger people and those who have a disability become councillors, so in turn, there is no one magic bulletthat remedies the problem. I did however come to the view that it was not quite as diYcult to attract a widerange of candidates as is often made out. What was however extraordinarily diYcult was for there to be areal determination and commitment, particularly on the part of those with influence, to bring about change.The focus and drive of local political leadership here is absolutely crucial.

11. The Commission lists 61 recommendations to address the disparities in representation. If a reasonablenumber of such recommendations were implemented, we felt that a significant diVerence could be made. Butthe tendency of those in power to remain in power—and only in the last resort to replace themselves, butthen in their own likeness, should never be underestimated.

Submission from the TUC (SC–9)

Executive Summary

— The TUC welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Speaker’s Conference on theunderrepresentation of women, black and disabled people in the House of Commons. As the voiceof working people in Britain, the TUC believes that political underrepresentation at the veryhighest level is linked to economic and social disadvantage and this submission reflects the workof the trade union movement in tackling disadvantage and underrepresentation.

— The TUC regrets the exclusion of LGBT people from consideration within the scope of the Inquiryand believes that the continuing discrimination experienced by LGBT people is compounded bytheir invisibility. In order to help address the invisibility of lesbian, gay and bisexual citizens, theTUC supported the campaign to include a question on sexual identity in the 2011 census, and isdisappointed that the ONS has rejected this opportunity to establish the true size of thiscommunity.



— The TUC believes that the lack of political power is both a cause and eVect of marginalisation fromsocial and economic power and that the idea of a representative democracy is undermined by thesignificant imbalances under consideration by this Inquiry. This “democracy deficit” should be amatter of concern to all people.

— The disproportionate likelihood of women, black and disabled people to be poor has a significanteVect on their participation in the political process at all levels. Economic independence and highlevels of qualifications are characteristics of those who are currently over-represented in thepolitical process. Women’s disproportionate responsibility for domestic and caring responsibilitiesacts as a further depressant on their political activity.

— There is evidence that women’s political activity rises when women run for oYce and that all groupsof people are likely to be more motivated to engage in the political process when they feel that they,as people, and their concerns, are reflected in those who represent them.

— Falling levels of turnout at General Elections suggest that tackling the underrepresentation ofparticular groups might also provide a means to re-engaging with others disaVected by politics.

— The TUC believes that entrenched inequality and barriers to participation are not easily overcomeand that working to create real change entails not just a stated commitment, but a proactiveapproach, involving transparency, accountability and monitoring of both progress made anddiYculties encountered.

— The trade union movement has a long standing concern with issues of democracy, politicalengagement and underrepresentation from disadvantaged groups. Through biennial “EqualityAudits”, the TUC and its aYliates have engaged in an open, critical and committed approach toraising representation and participation from women, black, disabled and LGBT people.

— The Audit not only tackles the issue of descriptive representation, outlining where disadvantagedgroups are located and what progress yet needs to be made, but also attempts to ensure that theiragenda is also central to the work of their trade union.

— The TUC shares the knowledge and work of its aYliates within this submission and attaches tothis response copies of TUC Equality Audit reports for the consideration of the Speaker’sConference. The long standing work of the trade union movement provides a useful perspectiveon underrepresentation of women, black and disabled people in the House of Commons,highlighting the need for a proactive approach to raising levels of participation.

— The TUC believes that a more representative body and a more representative agenda areinextricably linked and that democratic engagement will be highest where voters believe thatpolitics matters to the lived reality of their lives.

Background

1. The TUC is the voice of working people in Britain and has 58 aYliated unions representing nearlyseven million working people from all walks of life. The TUC is not aYliated to any political party andwelcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Inquiry on the underrepresentation of women, blackand disabled people in the House of Commons. However, the TUC regrets the exclusion of LGBT peoplefrom the considerations of the Speaker’s Conference and believes that this perpetuates theirunderrepresentation in the House of Commons and compounds their invisibility as an underrepresentedgroup in society. In order to help address the invisibility of lesbian, gay and bisexual citizens, the TUCsupported the campaign to include a question on sexual identity in the 2011 census, and is disappointed thatthe ONS has rejected this opportunity to establish the true size of this community.

Underrepresentation and Disadvantage

2. The TUC believes that unbalanced representation in the House of Commons is inextricably linked withthe entrenched inequalities and disadvantage experienced by underrepresented groups. Women, whoconstitute half the population only make up 19.7% of MPs. The number of black MPs would have to risefrom the current 15 (2.3%) to 51 (7.9%) in order to reflect the BME population of the UK. According to the2001 Census, disabled people make up 16% of the population. However, it is diYcult to estimate the levelof underrepresentation of disabled people in the House of Commons, due to lack of available informationand the invisible nature of many impairments.

3. Democratic processes and formal political structures are not immune from the issues of discriminationand restricted opportunities which are experienced by groups in wider society. However, the low levels ofrepresentation within formal political structures and processes are particularly critical because the idea of arepresentative democracy is undermined by significant disparities and imbalances between particulargroups. In the case of women, this aVects half the population of the United Kingdom. Democraticengagement is a key measure of the health of public life and the ability of all groups to have a say in thedecisions that govern their lives. Therefore an unbalanced representation should signal a “democracydeficit” that must be of significant concern. Investigating and acting to resolve this deficit may have addedbenefits in engaging with barriers and obstacles restricting participation and representation shaped by otherfactors not under consideration in this inquiry, such as social class, age and sexual orientation.



4. “Nothing about us without us” has been a key watchword for the disability rights movement,highlighting the way that marginalised groups experience restricted access to the processes which governtheir lives and life chances. The TUC believes that the lack of political power is both a cause and eVect ofmarginalisation from social and economic power and that the consequences of this are seen in many aspectsof civil life.

5. The EHRC’s Sex and Power Survey for 2008 estimated that at the current rate of progress it wouldtake another 200 years to achieve an equal number of women in Parliament. This would take longer toachieve than equality in the senior levels of the civil service, the numbers of senior women in the judiciaryand female directors of FTSE 100 companies which they estimate to take 27, 55 and 73 years respectively.It is not merely a question of a lack of progress towards a more equal representation at the highest levelsof civil society—low pay, poverty and job segregation is the reality of working life for too many women inthe UK.

6. Women and children are significantly more likely to be poor than men. The TUC believes that thepoverty of children is inextricably linked to the poverty of their mothers. An IPPR report on Low Pay in2006 found that 16.1% of men in work were low paid, compared with 29% of women workers. 45.7% of part-time workers, who are disproportionately women, are low paid. There are 1.4 million children in workinghouseholds living in poverty—half of all poor children.

7. Poverty is also a fundamental part of the life experience of black and disabled people too. LeonardCheshire Disability found that disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled people,with 30% of disabled people aged between 25 and 65 living below the poverty line.13 Only half of disabledpeople are in work, compared with over four fifths of the non disabled population in work14 and those whoare in employment are more likely to work in manual and lower occupations, and less likely to work inmanagerial, professional and high-skilled occupations.15 Black people also face a disproportionate risk ofpoverty: Children from BME families are more likely to be poor than children from white families. 50% ofchildren in Asian families are living in poverty, 51% black British children living poverty, 48% of children inChinese families compared to 27% of children in white families.16 Furthermore, the low rate of labourmarket activity by Pakistani and Bangladeshi women is also reflected here: Child Poverty Action Group’sStatistics on Poverty for 2008 found that Pakistani and Bangladeshi children’s risk of poverty was 63%.17

8. The TUC believes that there is an undeniable link between the disadvantage and inequality experiencedby particular groups and their underrepresentation in those institutions and processes which have the powerto shape people’s life chances and opportunities. There is a real danger that an unrepresentative democraticprocess could result in an increasing sense of disenfranchisement and powerlessness amongst some of themost vulnerable groups in society.

Underrepresentation and Voter Engagement n Politics

9. There has been a large body of work investigating gendered patterns of political activity andengagement, though such information is scarcer for black and disabled people. The available evidencesuggests that the relationship between representation and the value placed on political activity as well astrust in political institutions is complex, and easy generalisations about the political attitudes and behaviourof women, black or disabled people cannot be made. A report by the Electoral Commission on Gender andpolitical participation in 2004 did find some distinctions between men and women. Women’s turnout in the2001 election was higher in seats where a woman was elected to Parliament—4 % higher than men’s, andwomen seemed to be less engaged in the election, including volunteering and campaigning, in seats where amale MP was elected. Women were more likely to agree with the statement that: “Government benefitspeople like me” in those constituencies where they were represented by a female MP: 49% of womencompared to 38% of men. In fact, the number of women agreeing to this statement drops to 38% in thoseconstituencies represented by men. That this link between representativeness and satisfaction withParliamentary politics may apply to all groups is suggested by the Electoral Commission’s Fourth Audit ofPolitical Engagement in 2007. It found that a third of the population believed that: “When people like meget involved in politics, they really can change the way the country is run” while one in four people stronglyagree or tend to agree that: “Being active in politics is a waste of time”.18

10. The turn-out rate for the last two General Elections is considerably lower amongst black voters thanwhite voters. According to estimates by the Electoral Commission, white voter turnout was 60% in 2001,rising to 62% in 2005, while black voter turnout remained the same at 47%.19 The belief that “voting wouldmake no diVerence” was cited by 34% of black and Asian voters as their reason for not voting, to an ICM/Operation Black Vote poll in 2001.20 Furthermore, a survey commissioned by the Electoral Commissionand Operation Black Vote in 2002 found that 43% of black people living in Greater London and the West

13 Leonard Cheshire Disability (2008) Disability Review 2008 p11.14 Disability Rights Commission (May 2007) Disability Briefing p5.15 Ibid p6.16 TUC (2008): Ten Years After: Black Workers in Employment 1997–2007 p3.17 Child Poverty Action Group (2008) Statistics on Poverty 2008.18 Electoral Commission (2007) Audit of Political Engagement, p39–40.19 Electoral Commission (2005): Turnout 2005 p18.20 Electoral Commission (2002) Voter Engagement among black and minority ethnic communities p35–36.



Midlands said that a better representation of black people in politics would encourage them to vote. Thiswas followed by the second most important reason, “politicians being in touch with the concerns of blackpeople”, which was cited by 37%.21

11. Leonard Cheshire Disability reported that 68% of polling stations continued to be inaccessible tosome disabled people in the 2005 general election22 and 12 % of respondents to its survey stated that theywere prevented from applying for public oYce by a combination of barriers, of which the most frequentlycited were inaccessible premises and inaccessible transport. Despite this, the same survey found a high levelof self-reported voter turnout, with 77% of respondents saying that they had voted in the last generalelection, and 66% in the last local government elections, both above the rate for the general population.

12. The ultimate barometer of people’s attitudes toward Parliament and representative politicalstructures in the UK could be measured by turn out at General Elections. By this measure, it is therefore ofconcern that turnout at the 2005 General Election was the third lowest since the turn of the 20th century.23

The TUC believes that a more representative body and a more representative agenda are inextricably linkedand that democratic engagement will be highest where voters believe that politics matters to the lived realityof their lives. A more representative Parliament will only be achieved if this challenge is taken on.

Tackling Underrepresentation and Raising Participation

13. The TUC believes that issues of representation are closely linked to participation. In this submissionto the Speaker’s Conference, the TUC wishes to expand the definition of political participation beyondformal processes such as voting or activism for political parties, to more informal political activity. The tradeunion movement is able to oVer a unique perspective to this inquiry as it provides many working people theability to directly influence decisions made about their lives both in the workplace and nationally. Moreover,the trade union movement has long engaged with the issue of representation and participation fromunderrepresented groups, including women, black, disabled and LGBT people. The TUC believes this workhas important parallels to wider political participation and representation and will focus its submission tothe Inquiry on the ongoing eVorts of the trade union movement to better represent its membership.

14. The TUC believes that political underrepresentation is fundamentally linked to the experience ofdisadvantage in the workplace, from diYculty accessing the labour market, unequal pay and lack ofprogression to job segregation. The trade union movement as a whole has committed itself to increasing therepresentation of women, black, disabled and LGBT people, believing that tackling underrepresentationand increasing participation is fundamental in challenging entrenched discrimination within the workplace.As with participation in formal politics, disadvantage compounds and reinforces the barriers that stand inthe way of these groups. Women’s concentration in low paid work and their shouldering of an unequal shareof domestic and caring responsibilities severely restricts their capacity to take on additional political activityoutside the home and in the workplace. The diYculty that black and disabled people face in accessing thelabour market and their overrepresentation in low paid work means that their underrepresentation withintrade union movement is a critical challenge, not just for trade unions but for civil society. Access to goodquality employment would enable an increased participation in the wider political process. The BME groupwhich has the highest turnout in General Elections (those of Indian heritage) is also the group with thehighest level of employment and income.

TUC Equality Audit

15. In 2001, the trade union movement aYrmed the centrality of equality to the trade union agenda byadopting a rule change to their constitutions, committing both the TUC and unions to promote equality inall aspects of their work. The unions agreed to report back to Congress every two years on the work they weredoing to advance to equality. Through the biennial “equality audits” trade unions make publicly availableinformation about their membership, the composition of elected bodies, campaigning priorities, theirnegotiating and bargaining agenda and the composition of their staV. The TUC believes that entrenchedinequality and barriers to participation are not easily overcome and that working to create real changeentails not just a stated commitment, but a proactive approach, involving transparency, accountability andmonitoring of both progress made and diYculties encountered.

16. The submissions made by unions to the TUC Equality Audit in 2003, 2005 and 2007 detail theattempts made by unions to ascertain the concerns and priorities of their underrepresented members and toidentify barriers and obstacles to their participation. It also sets out the work conducted by unions inmeeting these challenges and any progress made. For many unions the challenge included finding out thereal numbers of underrepresented members and where they were located—particularly for black and LGBTmembers. This work has been vital in changing perceptions of who trade union members actually are andshattering long held stereotypes.

21 Richards, L. and Marshall, B. (Electoral Commission, 2003) Political Engagement among black and minority ethniccommunities: what we know, what we need to know p7.

22 Leonard Cheshire Disability (2008) Disability Review 2008 p47–48.23 Electoral Commission (2005) Turnout 2005 p23.



17. Unions have conducted questionnaires and surveys as well as adding targeted events forunderrepresented members within their constitutional framework. The ability of disadvantaged groups toarticulate their own agenda has been identified as crucial in ensuring their voice is heard in a meaningful way.

18. Some unions also have “reserved” seats on their committees to ensure that the voice ofunderrepresented groups is heard on decision making bodies. These reserved seats are most common toensure better representation for women—16% of unions have reserved seats for women on their executiveand 24% have them for delegations to TUC Congress. In their response to the 2007 audit a greater numberof unions had introduced reserved seats on their national executive for black members—20%. A smallnumber of unions had introduced them for disabled, LGBT and young members. Many unions reportedthat minimal proportionality had encouraged greater numbers of women and black members to participate,therefore prompting a wider cultural change within the union beyond just the members elected to reservedseats. Unison reported that: “ proportional representation and fair representation have had a huge impactin shaping and driving the union’s policies and priorities…..this has changed the agenda, structure, andfuture of the union in key areas where equality outcomes are having a positive impact in the union’sachievement and recruitment.” The TGWU said that: “rules on minimum representation have transformedthe face of the T&G and it was essential that this became a rulebook requirement. It is also very importantthat the rules are supported by education—positive action and support for all members on the aims of therules and why they are necessary. Minimum proportionality has not prevented other women and BAEMmembers from being elected.”24

19. It is clear from submissions to the Audits that unions view the task of tackling underrepresentationas involving a fundamental change both to the union’s bargaining and negotiating agenda and to the wayit organises and involves its members. Unions reported on their eVorts to increase the numbers ofunderrepresented groups in their lay structures. Unions had produced targeted training courses for bothunderrepresented groups and equality training for existing oYcers. A growing number of unions are runningnational events for underrepresented groups to enable them to network, hear about specific work beingundertaken by the union and to encourage them to become more active. Unions have also carried out specificprojects—the NUJ had run an “equality for all” project for training equality oYcers. The GMB had carriedout a major two year “Race and Diversity” project to increase participation from black members and theNASUWT had found that their “Disability Champions” course had encouraged greater activity fromdisabled members.25 The trade union movement has also found that new types of union activity such as theUnion Learn agenda and the Equality Reps project had greatly increased the numbers of underrepresentedgroups becoming active within the union.

20. There is considerable evidence that women’s caring responsibilities and unequal share of domesticwork presents a significant obstacle to their participation in traditional political activities. A research reporton Gender and Representation for the Electoral Commission published in 2004 found that marital statusand the presence of children had a noticeable eVect. Married men were significantly more likely to participatethan married women—however, the participation gap closes among those without children living athome.26 This also has an eVect on the ability of women to participate in trade union activities. Trade Unionshave attempted to tackle this issue within the workplace and in public discourse through campaigns forflexible working and family friendly rights. However, they have also attempted to address these as practicalconcerns for their women members. Childcare, accessible meeting times and venues have becomeincreasingly important for trade unions. Accessibility is also fundamental to disabled members. Unionsreported comprehensive work to ensure accessibility to their campaigns and communications materials tomembers with visual and hearing impairments.27 Beyond this, unions are tackling the invisible barriers thatconfront underrepresented members, particularly unthinking and exclusionary habits that may preventwomen, black, disabled and LGBT members from fuller participation.28

The Role of Government and Political Parties

21. The TUC has focused its submission on the unique perspective that the trade union movement canoVer on issues such as democratic engagement, economic and political disadvantage and raisingparticipation and representation by underrepresented groups. It believes that any successful attempt totackle these issues, whether by Government or by political parties, must engage with the wider disadvantageand inequality experienced by women, black, disabled and LGBT people. Any stated commitment toengaging with these groups should involve a proactive approach which is both accountable and makesdemonstrable progress in tackling barriers to participation. Attempts to tackle underrepresentation mustspeak to the aspiration expressed in the statement: “When people like me get involved in politics, they reallycan change the way the country is run”29 if they are to be successful.

24 TUC (2007) TUC Equality Audit 2007 p 24.25 Ibid p18.26 Electoral Commission (2004) Gender and Political participation p8.27 TUC (2007) TUC Equality Audit 2007, p3928 Ibid p40–41.29 Electoral Commission (2007) Audit of Political Engagement, p39–40.



Submission from Epilepsy Action (SC–10)

Speaker’s Conference inquiry to: “consider and make recommendations for rectifying the disparity between therepresentation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and theirrepresentation in the UK population at large”

Epilepsy Action is the UK’s leading member-led epilepsy charity. Our aims are to improve the quality oflife, represent and promote the interests of the 456,000 people living with epilepsy in the UK.

Epilepsy is a tendency to have recurrent seizures. Approximately 58,000 or 1 in 242 children and youngpeople under 18 years of age have epilepsy.30 An estimated 70 per cent of people with epilepsy could beseizure free, however, only 52 per cent of people with epilepsy are currently seizure free. This means that, of40,600 children and young people with epilepsy who could be seizure free, only 30,160 are actually seizurefree. We welcome this draft framework for the care of children and young people with epilepsy.

What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomemembers of Parliament:Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election? Or, if they do,

Stigma and perceived stigma surrounding having epilepsy, as well as general misunderstanding about thecondition, can prevent people with epilepsy from disclosing their epilepsy. This could potentially either putoV potential candidates standing for election or prevent them being selected.


People with active epilepsy need regular meal breaks, which may be diYcult as an MP due to the oftenlong working hours. Some people with epilepsy have seizures only when they are awake, some while asleepand some people have a mixture of both. For those who have sleep seizures, perhaps being able to start laterin the morning would be helpful and some extra time away from work to attend hospital appointments mayalso be needed.

Submission from the LGC Elections Centre, University of Plymouth (SC–11)

Note: We note that the brief given to the Speaker’s Conference directly addresses the question ofrepresentation to the House of Commons. Our view, however, is that a from the perspective of localgovernment would facilitate the committee’s work. Many MPs are recruited from among the ranks of localcouncillors—if the problems aVecting the under-representation of certain social groups are replicated at thelocal government level then local government becomes a part of the problem rather than its solution.

Finding those solutions is not a cost free exercise. Successive surveys of local election candidates clearlydemonstrate amongst this group an opposition to positive discrimination measures. Statutory selectionquotas for women, BAME and younger people are opposed by the majority. Reserved council seats forcurrently under-represented groups are similarly opposed. Candidates are against the principle of term limitsand a statutory retirement age for councillors. These views are felt across the range of candidates; they arenot restricted to male, middle aged and white councillors who perhaps have a self-interest in maintainingthe status quo.

Our evidence is largely restricted to the issue of women’s under-representation because much of ourelectoral data does not record either a candidate’s ethnic origin or disability. The position of BAMEcandidates is, however, addressed in our annual candidate surveys and those findings are reported here. In2008 our survey found 2.6% of candidates were registered as sick or disabled but the rather small numberof cases precludes substantive analysis.

1. Introduction

Despite the eVorts of many that advocate increased representation of women in public life their role inmost modem liberal democracies is below that expected given their numbers in the population. This isparticularly true for women’s place as directly elected representatives. In terms of parliamentary elections,before the breakthrough that took place following the 1997 general election, women were seldom selectedand even more rarely elected to the House of Commons. It was not until the 1983 election that womencandidates comprised more than 10% of the total candidates. It was not until the 1997 election that womencomprised more than 10% of successfully elected candidates.

30 Joint Epilepsy Council, Epilepsy prevalence, incidence and other statistics, August 2005.



To date much academic research has focussed on the issues surrounding women’s under-representationto national elected oYce, both within the UK itself and elsewhere. This research has proved valuable inhelping to define the nature of the problem aVecting women’s recruitment to a career in public oYce and incontributing towards thinking about the ways and means of redressing the imbalances. However, a vital partof the picture has been largely ignored—women’s under-representation in local government. This issurprising given that so many MPs still cite experience of serving on local councils before embarking on acareer in national politics. Local government is and will continue to be an integral part of the question aboutwhy so few women are successful in pursuing a career in politics. Given that, you need to understand whatis happening at the local level before you can correctly assess what is going on at the national level.

It is unsurprising that the place of local government has been neglected. The lack of reliable data aVectingthe outcome of local elections has undermined eVorts to investigate this issue properly. Similarly, there hasbeen no national survey of local election candidates (unlike the intensive research now undertaken for theircounterparts that contest parliamentary elections). Finally, there has been little in-depth examination of theexperiences of women candidates to local elected oYce within the UK, an examination that supplies thedetail missed by both aggregate and individual level data analysis. Recent research by the LGC ElectionsCentre at the University of Plymouth aims to fill some important gaps in our knowledge of the situationaVecting the under-representation of women in local government in Britain.

As such it addresses directly a number of fundamental research questions that have hitherto been largelyneglected:

— What proportion of women have been selected and elected in local elections?— Why, after a period of continual increases in women candidates and councillors, has the rate of

progress apparently halted such that at the time of writing only 30% of local candidates are women?— Why do people volunteer to be candidates for local election and are there important and significant

diVerences between the experiences of men and women?— What are the opinions of present day candidates on the recent attempts to modernise local

government?— And finally, what could be done to redress the current under-representation of women and other

under-represented groups as councillors?

Research that addresses the issue of women’s under-representation in national legislatures has focused ona number of key areas, including selection procedures, the resources required to embark upon a career inpolitics and the diVerent obstacles presented to men and women becoming successful. The first survey oflocal election candidates was undertaken in 2006 and similar surveys were undertaken in 2007 and again in2008. Gradually, a more extensive research base will develop and with it a more sophisticated level ofunderstanding about the background, motivation and experience of candidates contesting local elections.

2. The Evidence from Local Elections

Women in English Local Government, 1973–2003: Getting selected, getting elected

Local election returns in England over a thirty year period containing details of over half a millioncandidates are examined for trends in both the recruitment of women candidates and their relative successin becoming elected.

Local government has always attracted a higher proportion of women candidates than parliamentaryelections in England. This is not unusual for women’s representation; the law of minority attrition applies:as the legislative assembly becomes more important, the proportion of women becomes smaller.

In 1964, 16% of all local election candidates were women, more than three times as many as foughtparliamentary seats at the time. Since then, the proportion of women standing has doubled. The rate ofincrease was especially rapid in the second half of the 1980s.

Determinants of women’s (under) representation in elected oYce

— Systemic factors, including the voting system, district magnitude, the party system, electoralfrequency and diVerent types of local authority

— A second set of factors are party political, comprising organisation, rules and ideology

— The gatekeeping role exercised by party elites

— A further factor is socio-economic circumstance, including the individual’s access to resources

— This “eligibility pool” is critical because fewer women are located in the customary occupationsheld by aspiring elected politicians

— Moreover, women are less likely to be encouraged to stand and less likely to perceive themselvesas qualified to stand

— Resource pressures are also key deterrents to women standing for local election in the UK

— Women councilors leaving local government complain of diYculties in balancing commitments



Electoral System:

The proportion of women in PR-elected legislatures, is roughly twice that for majoritarian systems

— Large district magnitudes, as frequently used in PR systems may encourage parties to select bothmen and women candidates

— Our “first past the post” system at local government level is not restricted to single-memberelectoral districts and as district magnitude rises more opportunities may arise for women

— Political incumbency, eg. the 2005 UK general election, in almost nine out often constituencies atleast one candidate was an incumbent women’s representation

— Voters may dislike women candidates?

Research and methodology questions

— Are there diVerences in trends in the recruitment and election of women among the various typesof local authority, county, district and borough?

— Do diVerences exist in the proportions of women representing political parties in local government?

— Is the variable nature of the electoral cycle relevant, with annual elections oVering more decisionpoints for candidates deliberating about whether to stand or not?

— Are the seats that women contest the most likely to result in victory or defeat?

— Are these candidates invariably competing against men incumbents?

— Some local elections use multimember wards/divisions, is there evidence that local parties takeadvantage of multimember seats, presenting voters with a more gender-balanced ticket?

— Is there “a contagion eVect”, suggesting parties follow one another in selecting women candidates?

— Is there evidence that women fare diVerently from men, both in terms of voter support and thelength of time served as councillors?

— When women retire from the council are parties more likely to select a woman candidate asreplacement?

Women candidates in English local government

— During the seventies the highest proportion of women candidates is in the London boroughs; thelowest proportion in the metropolitan boroughs

— The proportion of women challengers increased during the 1980s and diVerences between thediVerent types of local authority diminish

— The Liberal Democrats, (including formerly Liberals and the SDP/Liberal Alliance) have chosenproportionally more women than either of the two main parties, Conservative and Labouralthough the diVerences are not large

— The proportion of women recently contesting single-member seats at county council elections islower than for other types of authority. The reasons for this are not yet known.

— There is a statistically recognisable tendency for women candidates to cluster together—a so-calledcontagion eVect. A supply-side explanation may be that women locally are aware of other womendeciding to stand and feel it is appropriate that they too should stand

— A demand-led argument might be that local parties observe their rivals’ behaviour and when atleast one selects a woman then eVorts are made also to find a woman candidate.

Women councillors in England local government

— Until 1985, women filled roughly 16% of all seats in local government

— Over the following decade, however, there was an almost uninterrupted rise to 25%

— The London boroughs, originally with the greatest proportion, were later largely matched by boththe shire districts and metropolitan boroughs.

— Although women were few in number, they comprised a larger proportion of the Liberal Party’soverall representation than either Labour or the Conservative parties

— Conservative women councillors have generally formed a greater proportion of their party’s localgovernment membership than have Labour women

— Labour women county councillors (and indeed candidates) are especially scarce

— Electors do not discriminate against women and in some cases we found statistically significantevidence of a positive bias

— In London and districts (those using whole council elections), voters had a statistically significantpreference for women candidates among all three main parties

— Across the metropolitan boroughs there was indiVerence to candidate sex among Conservative andLiberal Democrat voters but Labour voters had a small preference for women



— Furthermore, in multimember wards, ceteris pan bus, women candidates perform well on theirparty slates

— Political parties do appear to be mindful of at least maintaining the proportion of elected women.When a woman councillor retires eVorts are made to find another woman to replace her

3. The Survey Evidence: Local Candidates

The findings from the three national surveys (2006–2008) of local election candidates are summarisedhere. Over the three years the social characteristics of the respondents is broadly similar but notable annualdiVerences are mentioned below.

Who stands for local elections?

The candidates are:

— Overwhelmingly white, middle-aged and well-educated; this applies equally to men and women

— More than 90% describe themselves as being “white”: 93% in 2006, 98% in 2007 and 98% in 2008

— Few candidates are from ethnic minority groups, 7% in 2006, 2% in 2007 and 2% in 2008. (The2006 elections included London boroughs and this accounts for the higher % that year)

— Over two thirds are men

— Over half of the respondents are graduates

— Almost eight in ten describe their current or former, (if retired) occupational status as professionalor managerial

— Nearly two-thirds were currently employed, 38% full time, 11% part time and 16% self- employed

— Over a quarter, 26% are retired in 2006, and this rises to 33% in 2007 and 32% in 2008

— The average age of candidates in 2008 is 54 years. Six in ten of the women respondents are over50 years old

—

Why do they stand?

— Almost two thirds select wishing to support party

— Being asked to stand is chosen by nearly 60% of candidates

— A significantly higher proportion of women than men select being asked to stand

— Wishing to improve the area for residents is the third most important reason for standing in2006 but equal first with the desire to help the party in 2008 Almost a quarter of men say it wasentirely their own decision to stand compared with less than 10% of women in 2006.

— Almost four in 10 men decide themselves to stand but fewer than three in 10 women do so in 2008.

Candidate recruitment

— Most candidates think that political parties have diYculty finding suYcient candidates.

— Recruiting candidates is linked to a fundamental problem with the public image of localgovernment.

— Nine in ten candidates think there is a general lack of public knowledge about local government

— A very high percentage, 87%, think that local authorities should provide more public informationabout the work of councillors.

— Men are more likely than women to back the political parties’ traditional role in candidaterecruitment but most favour parties in the recruitment process

— Women would prefer more intervention from local authorities

— A very high proportion feel that being a councillor is too time-consuming, almost eight in tenwomen agree that it could be a reason for non-involvement.

Why were they selected?

— Reputation more important than previous political experience and community

— involvement.

— Age, gender and employment history are less important.

— Although women are five times more likely than men to think “gender”

— contributes to selection.

— A third of candidates feel that being prepared to stand as a paper candidate is



— the reason for successful selection.—

Modernisation of councils

— In principle, many support increased diversity amongst elected members— More than seven in ten would like to see more younger people selected and elected— A clear majority believe there should be more councillors from ethnic minority backgrounds— More than half said there should be more women— Just over 60% of respondents agree that greater social diversity would improve the public image

of councils— However, a significant higher proportion of women, over 80% of women compared with 58% of

men, think that greater social diversity would improve— the image of local government.

— Less than half respondents agree that greater social diversity would improve voter turnout.

Positive Action for Women?

— Selection from all-women shortlists (AWS) is approved by only 12% Party quotas for women areapproved by 26%

— However, women candidates are four times more likely to support AWS and

— nearly three times more likely to approve of party quotas than men

4. What the Candidates Think

This section contains quotes form the interviews with candidates that contested local elections in the 2006-2008 period.

Some councillors and candidates spoke about the broader problems for candidate recruitment. Onecouncillor from a metropolitan authority thinks that there is a fundamental problem about councillors thatcauses all parties to have trouble attracting younger people, BAME and more women to be candidates.People from these groups do not think of themselves as potential councillors:

“Unfortunately you have got to expect that it will be white old men, that is what people think aboutwhen they think of councillors. They assume that is what the council is. We must get this out oftheir minds and change the way it is”

A male Labour councillor aged 45 thinks that people do not connect with the council unless they see somecouncillors like themselves. The need for a change of culture within councils and parties is a strand ofthought that recurs throughout the interviews and one Conservative London councillor thinks it aVectsmany women:

“Politics is confrontational, women don’t like to take this approach, my wife was a councillor for12 years she loved the ward work but hated committees. Of course, you will find some women wholike the cut and thrust of debate and thrive on it but many find it tedious and a waste of time”

One Conservative district councillor aged 65 thinks the problem is much greater than the shortage ofcandidates for local elections, it encompasses the public attitude to politicians:

“Nationally politicians at all levels are a big turn-oV for most people and this includes councillors.The public perception is that they are in it for money or the ego-trip. The councillors I know areneither, but this idea puts people oV, from the start.

“It doesn’t help that the national government blame local government and vice versa, this hurtsboth sides and worsens public opinion. What drove people on years ago was the status ofcouncillors, I don’t mean personal status. People regarded councillors well, they could see youworked hard for them. It was a regarded position, it used to be “good on them” for doing this…”

“You need to change this so that people will think the status of councillor is worthwhile. We wantpeople to say, I’d like to do that”

Several councillors commented that there is a fundamental belief that the practice of politics isconfrontational and this style of decision making does not appeal to many women.

Additionally the public know very little about the workings of local government and the stereotypicalimage of a councillor is a white middle-aged man, so some women do not think of themselves as suitablecouncillors.

Traditional gender roles and separation of home and public spheres are mentioned by one intervieweewhen talking about the extra barriers that aVect Asian women but gender socialisation is very probably anexplanatory factor for the under-representation of all women

Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, Galina Borisyuk and Mary Shears



Submission from Scope (SC–12)

Summary of Recommendations

In order to increase the representation of disabled people within the House of Commons, Scope proposesfive policy recommendations:

— The development of an “access to public life” fund managed by an independent body such as theElectoral Commission to provide financial support to approved candidates and PPCs who faceadditional financial barriers as a direct result of disability.

— The development of a cross-party policy on reasonable adjustments designed to ensure thatbarriers facing disabled candidates are minimised. This policy, which should be applied both locallyand centrally, should incorporate the flexibility required to treat individuals on a case-by-case basis,avoiding the costs of being overly prescriptive.

— An extensive programme of training and support should be oVered to both potential PPCs andparty staV and oYcers. To support disabled PPCs, a range of key skills should be identified withappropriate training opportunities oVered, also providing the opportunity to develop supportnetworks. An extensive programme of disability equality training should be oVered to party staV,House staV and oYcers.

— A more strategic approach to disability policy should be developed within central partyorganisations, recognising the pragmatic nature of local party politics. Such an approach shouldovercome the disconnection that has developed between the ideology of improved representationpromoted centrally and the pragmatic approach adopted locally, potentially oVering incentives tolocal constituencies who adopt more diverse candidates.

— Having a programme of outreach and awareness raising specifically aimed at disabled people andensuring that disabled people are not excluded at the most basic levels for example by inaccessiblepolling stations and inaccessible communications from political parties and MPs.

Introduction

Scope is a national disability organisation whose aim is that disabled people achieve equality. We have aparticular interest in improving the representation of disabled people in public and political life. Since1992 we have undertaken research, campaigned and facilitated support networks aiming to improvedisabled people’s awareness of political engagement and improve access to opportunities in public life. Weare very concerned at the under-representation of disabled people as MPs and therefore welcome thisopportunity to make this submission to the Speaker’s Conference.

While many disabled people are members of local and national groups that campaign on disabled people’srights, our research has found that there is little crossover between participation in these often highlypoliticised groups of disabled people and participation in mainstream politics. Scope recognises thatbecoming a Member of Parliament is highly competitive and many non-disabled people repeatedly try forselection and election without success, however inflexible processes and assumptions about what MPsshould look like can operate as an additional barrier to disabled people and can exclude people that wouldmake good candidates and MPs.

It is important to address this disparity as there are particular needs, interests and concerns that arise fromdisabled people’s experience that will be inadequately addressed in a political environment that is dominatedby non-disabled people. Consequently, disabled MPs have an important role to play in enriching andinforming political debate, thus helping to ensure that their experiences are adequately addressed bypolicy makers.

This submission focuses on those barriers that are unique to disabled people. The recommendationspresented in this submission are based on primary research conducted by Abigail Lock and Dr PaulMcCarthy on behalf of Scope, in partnership with the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the LiberalDemocratic Party between 2007 and 2008. To preserve the confidential relationship between Scope and thepolitical parties, the recommendations contained in this report are generic.

Providing a House of Commons that is more representative of the UK population is contingent uponremoving barriers within the selection processes used by political parties. As such, the recommendationsprovided in this submission primarily relate to the behaviour of local constituency parties during theselection process. Before outlining our recommendations, a number of general observations explaining theunder-representation of disabled people within Parliament are presented.

Disabled people have an important and valuable contribution to make to the political process but all toooften they are prevented from taking part. Disabled people make up approximately 20% of the populationbut there are only a handful of self-identified disabled politicians within the House of Commons.



General Observations

Having conducted a substantial body of research in relation to the representation of disabled peoplewithin the national political sphere in 2008, Scope is well placed to observe the factors that inhibit disabledpeople from becoming MPs:

— During our research it was observed that the majority of respondents across the political spectrumperceived their party to have a positive image in relation to disability.

— However, while many respondents could name programmes aimed at the advancement of womenand minority ethnic candidates few of these same respondents were able to name policies that theyas individuals or their party had been involved with in relation to the promotion of equality fordisabled people.

— The apparent malaise is reinforced by the perception that the two most significant barrierspreventing disabled people from becoming more actively involved in the political process were a)societal attitudes and b) a reluctance on the part of local constituencies to select disabledcandidates.

— However, our research found that reluctance amongst constituencies to select disabled candidateswas a greater restraint than the electorate’s attitudes. A greater willingness on the part of localconstituencies to select disabled candidates would result in the election of more disabled MPs.

Despite these observations, disabled individuals with experience of the political process, either as MPs orPPCs, did not perceive their impairment or condition to impact on their capacity to undertake the requiredroles. Individuals with less appreciation of the work undertaken by MPs were commonly less certain of theextent to which a disability would undermine the performance of an MP or PPC. This reflects the generallack of knowledge that exists within society as to the precise nature of the role of an MP.

Main Points

Through the research conducted by Scope in conjunction with the three main political parties it waspossible to identify four areas of particular interest to the Conference’s objective of increasing the diversityof the Houses of Commons. The areas of interest are: (1) the financial barriers faced by candidates withconditions or impairments, (2) the extent to which political parties, both locally and centrally, are preparedto undertake reasonable adjustments to facilitate candidates with conditions or impairments, (3) the lack oftraining and support currently oVered both to individuals with impairments or conditions who mightconsider standing as PPCs and in the form of disability awareness training to party staV and oYcials,particularly those responsible for the selection of approved candidates/PPCs. (4) the extent to which adisconnect exists between central and local organisations, with central parties often espousing proactivemeasures that are not adopted by local constituencies.

1. Addressing financial barriers

Financial barriers are a real concern for disabled people standing for selection as parliamentarycandidates. Scope acknowledges that the process of becoming an MP is expensive, with estimates puttingthe cost of becoming a Conservative MP at £42,000.31 However, many disabled people incur extra costsassociated with their impairment which have to be self-funded, making standing as a candidate even moreexpensive. For example a Deaf candidate may have to meet the costs of a British Sign Language Interpreteror a candidate with a mobility impairment may need to use more taxis than a non-disabled candidate. Whencombined with the fact that disabled people often derive from poorer socio-economic backgrounds thantheir non-disabled peers, the financial disadvantage associated with disability is magnified.

To address the financial barriers specifically associated with disability, Scope recommends theestablishment of an “Access to Public Life” fund to support individuals with conditions or impairments whostand as PPCs. A ring-fenced fund managed by an independent body should be developed to supportdisabled candidates with the potential to make good MPs. The success of just one or two disabled candidateswould have a substantial eVect in terms of providing the role models required to encourage higher numbersof disabled candidates. It is important that the existence of such funds is well publicised to ensure maximumtake-up. The existence of a fund to assist disabled PPCs would also overcome an anomaly within the presentfunding system, whereby sitting disabled MPs are able to use money from “Access to Work” to carry outtheir duties whereas PPCs receive no financial support.

Whilst the existence of additional funding available to subsidise costs directly associated with disabilityshould be well publicised to ensure that prospective PPCs are not dissuaded from standing, it is alsonecessary to ensure that the funding levels assigned to individual candidates are not used for political gain.The level of media interest in MPs’ allowances should not be allowed to prevent individual candidates fromapplying for the support they require to maximise their potential. We would therefore recommend that anysuch funds are recorded separately to general allowances.

31 See, http://conservativehome.blogs.com/goldlist/2006/08/the costs of be.html



It was highlighted during Scope’s period of research that an allowance administered by the HouseAuthorities already exists to support disabled MPs. However, interview subjects often had little knowledgeof what was perceived as a highly ad-hoc system of allocating additional funds. There is also virtually noknowledge of the availability of such funding outside of Westminster, potentially dissuading good PPCsfrom standing. A wider knowledge of such support would also undermine the capacity of localconstituencies to questions whether disability would undermine an individual’s capacity to undertake therole of an MP.

2. Reasonable adjustments

The importance of reasonable adjustments in facilitating the development of a parliamentary democracythat is representative of society exists both within Parliament and, more importantly, within theconstituencies that are responsible for selecting PPCs. The Disability Equality Duty32 now covers disabledpeople who are elected as councillors, but there remains no equivalent for disabled MPs or PPCs.Undertaking reasonable adjustments is dependent upon disabled people believing that they will not bediscriminated against if they disclose a condition or impairment. A fear that discrimination will result fromdisclosure of a condition or impairment will undermine the capacity to facilitate physical changes.

A clear and well-advertised policy on providing reasonable adjustments should be provided by all politicalparties during the parliamentary candidate selection process, enabling disabled people to feel confidentabout seeking support. The policy should articulate the kinds of adjustments that might be expected. If thisis clear from the outset, disabled candidates may be more willing to request reasonable adjustments and havethe confidence to be open about their impairment. The policy adopted by parties should reflect therequirements set out in the Disability Discrimination Act and related guidance. Developing this policy willmean considering the needs of disabled people throughout the selection processes and is important ifsystemic change is to be achieved.

Disability equality training should be provided for staV and oYcers at all levels of political parties, whichstresses the importance of enabling candidates to perform to the best of their ability and embeds the viewthat not all candidates are the same, nor do they need to demonstrate their skills in exactly the same way.A concerted eVort to recruit and train more disabled assessors to the assessment boards used by parties willhelp to make assessment days more inclusive. It should be made clear that providing reasonable adjustmentsis not about providing disabled candidates with an unfair advantage, but levelling the playing field betweendisabled and non-disabled applicants so that each applicant can demonstrate their skills and competencies.

3. Training and support

To prospective MPs

To create a more representative House of Commons it is necessary to increase the training and supportprovided to both potential candidates with conditions or impairments and those responsible for operatingselection processes. Key skills for MP’s such as communication, dealing with diYcult constituents andworking with the media should be identified and candidates from under represented groups should be ableto access training in these areas.

A support network similar to that used by particular political parties to facilitate the progress of femaleMPs should also be established for individuals with a condition or impairment. This network should provideadditional training opportunities for members, both in relation to a predetermined range of key skills andon a more ad-hoc basis, as and when the need is identified. Not only should such a network provide memberswith additional skills, but it should also increase the confidence of members by providing mentoringopportunities that allow candidates to share their problems and experiences.

To Party staV and oYcials

A programme of disability equality training should be provided for both the staV employed by politicalparties and the oYcers responsible for the behaviour of local constituencies. Ensuring that localconstituencies are aware of the need to overcome barriers that may discriminate against individuals withconditions or impairments is of particular importance, as it is often these constituencies who select PPCs.The provision of such training should also allow candidates with conditions or impairments to feel moreconfident about disclosing the need for any reasonable adjustments, as such training could be expected topositively impact on the attitude of party oYcials. During the period of field research conducted by Scopein partnership with the three main political parties, the negative attitudes faced by disabled candidates wereidentified as having the most detrimental eVect on the willingness of disabled people to stand for publicoYce.

32 Part of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 places a duty on public authorities to proactively promote disabledpeople’s equality.



The creation of a central support function could also have the benefit of allowing disabled MPs to avoidbecoming pigeon-holed as only concerned with issues relating to disability. As with any MP, disabled MPshave a wide array of interests. However, the small numbers of disabled MPs can mean that they inadvertentlybecome a focus for policy relating to disability.

4. Tackling discrimination and providing role models at a local level

Research conducted by Scope has highlighted a significant disconnect between the policy of “centralparties”33 and the practice applied on the ground by local parties. Whilst “central parties” often had anundoubted commitment to promoting equality, the approach to the selection of candidates locally oftenundermined “central parties”. This is not to imply that local organisations deliberately discriminate againstindividuals with conditions or impairments, (although we have evidence that some do) but is a reflection ofthe conditions under which they operate.

The approach often adopted by local parties can, in many cases, deny disabled individuals equal accessto the selection process. To align the policy developed centrally with the practices adopted locally, anincreasingly strategic approach is required from “central parties”. This approach must be less concernedwith the production of policy papers and more concerned with working alongside local parties to ensure thedevelopment of practices that are consistent with the ideology developed centrally.

The strategic approach required to align central and local levels needs to recognise the nature of localpolitics and, as such, oVer local constituencies incentives to select a more diverse range of candidates.Incentives for local parties who choose candidates from under represented groups could take the form offinancial benefits or increased support from the parties’ leadership, with constituency visits from partyleaders or front bench spokespeople. Additional support and training provided to individual candidatesshould also be seen as a benefit to the constituency. If the central party could demonstrate that particularcandidates would receive improved profiles through greater support and interaction with the party’sleadership and central organisations, as well as having greater access to campaign networks, then this mightimprove the viability of particular candidates.

Sitting MPs also have a responsibility to increase the participation of disabled people at a local level byensuring that disabled people can engage with the political system at the most basic levels. This includesmaking sure all polling stations within their constituencies are accessible to disabled people. On the day ofthe 2005 General Election Scope, campaign volunteers surveyed over 2000 polling stations and found that68% had one or more access barriers which could prevent disabled people from exercising their right to vote.MP’s should also ensure that all of their surgeries are accessible to disabled people that their literature isavailable in alternative formats.

The process of improving the representation of disabled people within Parliament is not only dependantupon the willingness of local constituencies to select disabled PPCs, but also upon the representation ofdisabled individuals within local constituency organisations. The disconnect that exists between the localand national political spheres dictates that individuals considering becoming politically active for the firsttime may not take their inspiration from Westminster. Instead, it is important that disabled people are wellrepresented throughout the political process, requiring greater engagement within local councils but also,and perhaps more importantly, on school boards, local religious committees and within local charities. Theunderstanding of civic processes and the initial capacity to network developed within such localorganisations provides an important foundation for any individual who might later become involved withnational politics. The capacity of disabled people to contribute to the operation of such organisations willalso engender greater confidence in those responsible for selecting which individuals progress to becomePPCs.

Conclusion

In submitting this report to the Speaker’s Conference, Scope welcomes the attention being paid to theunder-representation of disabled people within the House of Commons. Whilst traditional examinations ofthe under-representation of the House of Commons has tended to focus on other marginalised groups, it ishoped that the recommendations contained in this report will in some way place disability alongside raceand gender in the pursuit of greater equality. Through acknowledging and actively addressing the barriersfaced by disabled PPCs it is hoped that the representation of disabled people in Parliament can increase toa point where a disabled MP is no longer the exception. Such an increase in representation should furtherengage the electorate at a time when voter turn-out continues to fall.

33 The central party is constituted by a party’s Parliamentary Party and its central oYces.



Submission from UK Youth Parliament (SC–13)

Contents

1. Background—The UK Youth Parliament is a directly elected, national body. Members of YouthParliament (MYPs) are 50% female, 26% from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups and 7% identifythemselves as having a disability.

2. Evidence—UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) and local authority partners empower and enabletraditionally marginalised groups of young people to stand as representatives. Evidence as to why youngpeople think the UK Youth Parliament has better diversity levels than the House of Commons.

3. Youth activism—Young people are interested in politics/campaigning/activism. 559,855 young peoplevoted in the most recent UK Youth Parliament elections.

4. ”Traditional” politics—A UK Youth Parliament consultation of 5,000 young people does show thatmany young people feel alienated from adult politicians and the traditional understanding of politics. 22%of young people surveyed said that “politicians do not talk about what young people want” and 24% saidthat they “don’t feel they understand politics”.

5. The Youth Democracy Infrastructure—The UK Youth Parliament’s work sits atop and is supportedby the broader youth democracy network across the country, which has its own successes and faces its ownchallenges.

6. MYPs—Future MPs? Survey of MYPs shows 65% would consider standing as an MP in the future.This figure is lower for MYPs who are female, or from a BME background, or who have a disability. Theyconsider a number of issues as being barriers to their becoming an MP in later life.

7. Younger MPs—Members of Youth Parliament think that young people should be better representedin Parliament. 89% think it is important to have more MPs under the age of 30 elected to Parliament.

8. Conclusion—The UK Youth Parliament requests that there is a special session to hear from youngpeople and take their voices into account on this issue.

1. Background

1.1 The UK Youth Parliament is a directly elected, national body made up of 627 Members of YouthParliament (MYPs). They are elected to represent young people throughout the UK on issues that matterto them.

1.2 The UK Youth Parliament is a major partnership project, supported and led by the charity, its LocalAuthority partners, many types of decision maker across the country and young people themselves.

1.3 Elections take place each year and each Local Authority represents a constituency. MYPs are electedon, and work on, issue based campaigns, not party political platforms and lines.

1.4 MYPs are 50% female, 26% from Black and Minority Ethnic groups and 7% identify themselves ashaving a disability.

1.5 MYPs come from and represent many communities. The programme of activity that UKYP andLocal Authority partners support also helps young people to develop themselves and become leaders. Asone MYP put it recently, “I was a rebel before. I was excluded from school a few times and stuV like that.UKYP made me realise I had this talent. I didn’t know I had it before.”

2. Evidence

2.1 The UK Youth Parliament and local authority partners successfully empower and enable youngfemales, young people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and young people with a disabilityto stand as candidates for the UK Youth Parliament and, once elected, go on to represent young people intheir areas.

2.2 To do so, the UK Youth Parliament is dependent on good community development, the commitmentto equality by local workers and money being spent in an area to support marginalised young people. Equalparticipation for marginalised, or hard to reach young people, inevitably requires more resources, bothfinancial and staV support.

2.3 Many formal representative structures (including “adult” local democracy fora) could and shouldlearn more from the creative ways in which young people are supported to be decision makers. Some of theprinciples and ways of working in the youth sector could help to revitalise tired structures elsewhere. ManyDemocratic Services divisions, for example, struggle to attract adults to decision-making and power-sharingmeetings, or to run those meetings in vibrant or engaging ways. At the very same time, in the very same TownHalls or community centres, youth councils or youth fora may be running fantastically engaging sessionswith young people—run by young people, tackling packed agendas in creative ways, and constantlyevaluating and improving practice.



2.4 In a recent survey, Members of Youth Parliament attributed the UK Youth Parliament’s diversitylevels to a number of key factors.

The “openminded” attitudes of young people—“Young people are generally much less judgmentaland more liberal than older people. Perhaps that is a stereotype but in my experience at the UKYouth Parliament the MYPs are very open minded.”

The UK Youth Parliament as a modern organisation—“I think UK Youth Parliament is a new andfresh organisation, the next generation I guess, where there are no barriers between what gender orrace you are or whether you are disabled or not, because its all about the views of young people.”

The UK Youth Parliament as apolitical—“We do not vote based on any sort of historicalaYliation, and also young people recognise that a vote should be mainly issue-based.”

Self selection as candidates ie no selection panels—“[The UK Youth Parliament has betterdiversity] because we are elected by our peers not a selection panel”

Ease of involvement—“For us young people UKYP is not a career, its an extracurricular activity,and it is very easy to get involved but to get into the House of Commons you need money, contactsand a lot of support. I think a lot of people from minorities can’t see themselves getting anywherewith politics so they don’t want to give up their jobs to pursue it. Also UKYP is advertised assomething for everyone and it is approachable and accessible.”

3. Youth activism

3.1 The UK Youth Parliament demonstrates that young people are interested in politics, campaigningand activism. 559,855 young people voted to elect their MYPs in 2008. Leeds LEA had a 61% turnout forthe UK Youth Parliament elections—higher than average adult turnout for recent general and localelections. Many more local authorities had similarly impressive turnouts.

3.2 UK Youth Parliament elections use innovative and exciting ways to raise the profile of democracyand participation in local authorities. A large part of the success of the elections comes about because somany young people are involved in their design and implementation, ably supported by the skills andenthusiasm of their youth workers.

3.3 Many Local Authorities work incredibly hard and creatively to enable hard to reach young peopleto participate. Some examples include adapting ballot papers using symbols and pictures, providing pre-paid envelopes for ballot papers for young people not in education, employment or training, designingpublicity material in diVerent languages and enlisting the support of external agencies to advice on workingwith young people with special needs.

3.4 Local authorities vary in the funds they have available to organise UK Youth Parliament electionsbut each election, whether large or small, enables young people to have their voices heard and demonstratesthat young people are interested in politics.

3.5 Aside from elections, the UK Youth Parliament engages with young people in many other waysthrough the website, campaigns, petitions, and direct action. The website has 150,000 unique visitors eachmonth and over 6,000 forum postings from young people. A recent campaign collected the views of22,000 young people. Over 1,500 positive press placements are generated every year, and we facilitate a widerange of national and regional events aimed at attracting ever more young people to this work.

3.6 What is key to this engagement is that it is youth led and young people are given the support todevelop themselves and work in empowering settings to find their own voice. There are no party lines tofollow. The young people we work with are simply supported to build their confidence and interact withother young people where they live so that they can represent them and their views. Good youth work runsthrough the heart of this process.

4. “Traditional” politics

4.1 A UK Youth Parliament consultation of 5,000 young people in 2008 showed that many young peoplefeel alienated from adult politicians and the traditional understanding of politics. 22% of young peoplesurveyed said that: “politicians do not talk about what young people want” and 24% said that they: “don’tfeel they understand politics”.

4.2 Democratic engagement has a major image problem. The UK Youth Parliament has rich informationon the barriers to broader participation young people themselves encounter as they try to inspire more youngpeople to get involved and make a diVerence.



5. The Youth Democracy Infrastructure

5.1 The work and successes of the UK Youth Parliament sits at the heart of a national infrastructurewhich—in the main—runs through Local Authorities everywhere. The areas with the best support andintegrated strategies tend to be best at attracting the largest numbers and the most diverse groups ofyoung people.

5.2 Where this works best, it unites strategic understanding and support of youth democracy at thehighest levels (including senior staV, elected members and Members of Parliament), proper budgets tosupport activity and good planning cycles to ensure a strategic approach to outreach. All come together tosend out a coherent message that young people are wanted to help address and take forward shared issuesin the community.

However, in many parts of the country, this work is not without its challenges. Local Authorityyouth workers, for example, often share frustrations at the barriers to participation, which caninclude:

Lack of understanding of the importance of youth engagement—or the active blocking of it—fromsenior leaders.

Lack of adequate resources to enable proper activity.

DiYculty in engaging schools in elections, other youth democracy events, etc—even when all theresources are in place.

5.2 Youth democracy projects need greater support to move to the next level. A strategic approach willbe needed to make that happen. Government Departments need to do much more—and work withvoluntary sector partners in doing so—to join up their activity in co-ordinated and strategic ways. Forexample, the following agendas often work in isolation and—both on strategic levels and on the front line—are nowhere near as joined up as they should be:

The Department for Communities and Local Government’s Empowerment agenda.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families’ Youth Leadership agenda.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families’ Pupil Wellbeing agenda (which in partfocuses on supporting young people to engage in local decision-making processes).

The Ministry of Justice’s Citizen Engagement strategy.

There are ways to join up disparate yet linked themes (for example, the cross-cutting Talent andEnterprise Task Force, with whom we have been working to progress the understanding ofleadership as a talent).

5.3. Care must also be taken to ensure an equal platform is being developed across the UK. It is clear,for example, that there is a lack of support for cross-border initiatives (including UK Youth Parliament) tosupport young leaders from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to engage with each other onan equal footing.

6. MYPs—Future MPs?

6.1 According to a recent survey, 65% of MYPs would consider standing as an MP in the future. This isincredibly positive, but there is a real danger that young people who are inspired to get engaged in their teensare then “lost” when they become too old to engage or receive support. Organisations like the UK YouthParliament and others could be supported to develop alumni networks and encourage ongoing engagementwith other structures.

6.2 The percentage of MYPs who would consider standing as an MP in the future falls when filtered bygender, BME background or race.

59% of female MYPs would consider standing as an MP in the future

57% of MYPs from a BME background would consider standing as an MP in the future

42% of female MYPs from a BME background would consider standing as an MP in the future.

18% of MYPs with a disability would consider standing as an MP in the future

6.3 When asked, MYPs said they saw a number of barriers to their becoming, or wishing to become, anMP in later life. “I’m mainly unsure because I don’t think that it would be a place or situation that I wouldfeel comfortable with. I don’t really feel suited to the whole “Parliament scene” if that makes any sense…!It is partly to do with the fact that I’m female, and mixed heritage and I haven’t seen any role model typesin Parliament for me, therefore it has not been a career I have often considered”

Many felt they did not “know enough” about politics to become an MP. “I am not taught enough aboutpolitics at school. I watch the news and read newspapers, however I feel I have barely scratched the surfacewhen it comes to political subjects.”

6.4 Members of Youth Parliament feel a number of measures could be taken to encourage MPs from thediversity groups listed.



A publicity and advertising campaign to encourage traditionally marginalised groups to stand—“[We need] to advertise and promote it as a campaign”.

More high profile MPs/Ministers from the diversity groups listed—“I think we need people in highpositions in the government who are also in these groups, people like the Home Secretary JaqcuiSmith, this way we can show and encourage those who need reassurance that it doesn’t matter whoyou are or what race you are or whether your disabled or not, because as long as you are confidentand have a view and want to become an MP then it is possible.”

Shortlists—“Organisations such as the UK Youth Parliament demonstrate that women areelectable. 20% female MPs simply isn’t acceptable in 2009. If nothing is done to correct this clearlyunjust imbalance, drastic action such as all women shortlists, or a minimum quota on the numberof women in Cabinet will soon be our only options.”

Education—“We need to create more programmes to nurture talented youths from a more diverserange of backgrounds (for instance, by giving them the chance to meet with MPs, visit the Housesof Parliament, work with local councils much in the way UKYP does) could help provide the muchneeded aspiration and proof that it is an attainable goal for them. In the same way, a better, andmost importantly MORE RELEVANT politics education within the PSHE curriculum could beuseful too, in showing HOW politics is for everyone.”

Some MYPs simply felt that change would come about in time—“I feel it will naturally happenwith our more open-minded generation growing up” and did not feel shortlists were key tosuccess—“[We need to] promote participation in politics more to society as a whole. Positivediscrimination would not be something to go for.”

7. Younger MPs

7.1 87% of the MYPs surveyed said they felt it was important there were more MPs elected under the ageof 30. “I think it is very important to have young MPs, I want to be a young MP, we are the next generationand it would make politics more fresh and vibrant, it’ll give young people actual role models, not just oldpeople in smart suits to look up to.” “Young people make up a very large percentage of the UK’s populationand this needs to be reflected by having young MPs in Westminster.”

8. Conclusion

8.1 The UK Youth Parliament requests a special session during the Speaker’s Conference to take youngpeople’s voices, experiences and creative suggestions into account on this issue.

“It is important to have widespread range of gender, age, ability and views in order to best representsociety, and to come to the right decision.”

Submission by One World Action (SC–14)

Summary

— One World Action, an international non-governmental organisation working for gender equalityand democratic governance in Africa, Asia and Latin America, welcomes the consideration by theSpeaker’s Conference of the disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities anddisabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large.In particular, One World Action believes that women’s political rights and the rights of minoritiesare vital to both justice and democracy and to securing and retaining all other rights.

— Despite this, in the UK Parliament, only 19.5% of parliamentarians are women, putting the UKin 59th place among other parliaments in the world in terms of the promotion of women members.This is lower than Rwanda, Afghanistan, China and Honduras and certainly much lower thansome European countries. The UK is falling behind and thus is weakening its credibility as aleading promoter of women’s rights and gender equality internationally.

— It took a long time for women to get the vote. One World Action believes that without positiveaction, it will take centuries more to gain gender balance in political institutions. One WorldAction’s More Women, More Power Campaign is campaigning for radical measures to ensure thatwomen occupy 50 per cent or more of seats in parliaments and elected bodies worldwide.

— One World Action calls on the government to take steps to rectify the imbalance in women’spolitical representation and to take immediate action to implement Article 7 of CEDAW throughmeasures such as legislative action on quotas and/or a gender parity principle, all-women shortlistsand constituency twinning.



— One World Action also urges political parties worldwide to adopt radical measures to enablewomen to participate fully in political decision-making, including quotas, all-women shortlists andconstituency twinning.

I. Problems caused by the unbalanced gender representation in the House of Commons

1. One World Action sees women’s political rights as vital to securing and retaining all other rights. Whilewe see the family, community, workplace, civil society and social movements as important political spaces,we believe that it is a matter of justice and democracy that women should be fairly represented in formalpolitical decision-making at local, national, regional and international levels.

2. There is evidence that women’s greater representation in political bodies makes a big diVerence forwomen and wider society. The presence of women in greater numbers ensures diVerent perspectives,solutions and approaches in decision-making. It means that issues around gender equality and equity areacknowledged and addressed within international and national policy debates—for example on theeconomy, trade, climate change, foreign policy and defence. It also means that issues such as marriage anddivorce, equality under the law, violence against women, reproductive rights and health, rape, publicservices, caring, equal pay, parental leave, pensions and others critical to the welfare of women, men andchildren are prioritised.

II. The problems and practical diYculties encountered by women who are looking to become MPs?

3. The barriers to women’s political participation in the UK and worldwide are numerous, pervasive andwell-known: women are expected to conform to stereotypes, their contributions are not valued, they haveto fulfil multiple roles, they lack the confidence, resources or access to claim positions of power and they areconfronted with the patriarchal bias of political parties, structures, systems and procedures. Across theworld, gender-based violence is one of the key factors preventing and limiting women’s participation inpolitical processes and in holding government to account.

4. Yet—despite these barriers—some oppose positive action for equality on the grounds that it goesagainst the principle of meritocracy. This is a flawed argument with a built-in bias—justified in terms ofmen’s superiority rather than the outcome of centuries of discrimination against women. It took a long timefor women to get the vote. Without positive action, it will take centuries more to gain gender balance inpolitical institutions.

III. What actions could be taken by the Government to address gender disparities in representation?

5. Laws and international agreements to promote women’s political participation are in place.

6. In 1995, government representatives the world over went to the United Nations Fourth WorldConference on Women in Beijing. They agreed a Declaration and Platform for Action. The Platform callson all governments to review electoral systems, reform them if needed, and encourage political parties tointegrate women in elective and non-elective positions “in the same proportion and at the same levels asmen”. Adopting a Gender Parity principle would mean getting in equal or as near as equal as possiblenumbers of women and men in all bodies and committees

7. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was signed on18 December 1979 and has been ratified by almost all countries worldwide. Article 7 says that all States whoratify the Convention “shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in thepolitical and public life of the country.” One World Action urges the government to take immediate actionto implement Article 7 of CEDAW through measures such as legislative action on quotas, all-womenshortlists or constituency twinning.

IV. What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties to address gender disparities inrepresentation?

8. One World Action’s More Women More Power Campaign is calling for women to occupy 50 per centor more of seats in parliaments and elected bodies worldwide. We are campaigning for radical measures toenable women to participate fully in political decision-making. We believe that pushing for women’s greaterrepresentation—at home and abroad—will help end centuries of discrimination and will contribute towardsmore robust democracies and equitable development worldwide. Positive action aims to rectify systemicinequalities in a bold and comprehensive manner. Slow, incremental changes are no longer suYcient.

9. One World Action calls on political parties to adopt all-women shortlists as an eVective and quick wayto reach equality in representation. Candidates must be selected from a list made up of women only.

10. One World Action urges political parties to adopt quotas aimed at political parties (and/orgovernance structures) as a form of positive action to correct the inequalities which systematically excludewomen from elected political positions.



11. One World Action would like to see the use of constituency twinning by political parties, which pairsconstituencies with a woman and a man selected in the twinned areas, noting that to achieve significantresults, twinning has to be widespread.

V. What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom, to address similar concerns?

12. Rwanda’s Constitution is committed to the principle of 30% of all decision-making posts at nationaland 20% at sub-national level to be allocated to women. Rwanda now has 55% of women in its nationalparliament, putting the country at number 1 in the international ranking and surpassing the commitmentin its Constitution to ensuring equal rights between women and men.

13. The African Union (AU) has adopted a 30% target which will be raised to gender parity in all areasof decision-making by 2020. They aim to reach the targets through aYrmative action, reform to electoralsystems, criteria for the selection of women candidates and for recruitment for appointments, andawareness raising.

14. After the Marcos dictatorship fell in the Philippines in 1986, the Institute for Popular Democracy(IPD) sought to maximise and broaden the newly opened up democratic local and national political spaceby strengthening the capacity of people’s organisations and social groups to participate in various spheresof governance. One World Action supports IPD’s work in coordinating the Citizen Participation in LocalGovernance (CPLG) in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Cambodia, enhancing citizens’ capabilities toengage in local governance.

15. In the Philippines, a Party List Law was passed in 1995 making it compulsory to include women onpolitical party lists. Twenty per cent of the 250 seats in the Lower House are allocated for women andmarginalised groups.

16. Sustained pressure by women’s organisations and women in political parties in Bolivia was successfulin achieving an Electoral Code which mandated all parties to have at least 30% women on their national lists.However, parties have been slow to implement this and political violence against women in commonplace.

17. In El Salvador and with support from One World Action, a Braille machine was purchased forprinting Braille voting slips so that blind & partially sighted people—and particularly blind women—do nothave to depend on others to vote for them and so they could vote in secret. Alongside the purchase,200 electoral oYcials are being trained in the use of Braille slips and in the rights of blind and partially sightedpeople; 50 police men and women are being trained on how to assist blind and partially sighted people inthe voting stations; 50 young people who elected to do social service by helping at election periods are beingtrained on how to assist blind and partially sighted people in the voting stations; and 100 blind and partiallysighted people are being trained in using the Braille voting slips and in replicating their training with othersin their local groups and/or organisations.

18. In Zambia and Malawi, One World Action is working in partnership with two women’s lobby groupson a project called Amai Tengani Mbali Mu Demokalase, “Women for Democracy”. The aim of the projectis to promote women’s equal and inclusive participation and representation in decision-making. Workingwith some of the poorest and most marginalised women and girls the project focuses on achieving four keyoutcomes: better civic and rights education for women and girls; a 30% increase of women in leadershippositions; greater voice for women in decisions about basic services (eg. education, health, land and justice);and stronger and more eVective women’s lobbies, particularly at local government and community level. Toachieve this, the project has developed a range of activities, some of which include; providing advice andtraining for local women leaders/aspiring candidates; promoting greater access to information for electedwomen MPs and councillors through a student internship scheme and women’s support desk; providinggender training for National Executive Committee members of all political parties; and establishing forumsand other spaces where African women political leaders and activists can exchange and share information,experience and knowledge.

19. In Honduras, the Centro de Estudios de la Mujer (CEM-H) and the Parliamentary Women’sCommittee in the National Assembly have developed a form which women MPs complete to record howwell they are acting on the grassroots women’s agenda. Women MPs and CEM-H are monitoring thenational budget targets and benefits to women’s rights programmes, in particular the $16 million fundsallocated to the government women’s oYce.

20. India amended its constitution with eVect from 1994 to reserve one-third of seats in local self-governing bodies (panchayats and municipalities) for women. The result was spectacular, with thousandsof women being elected. The on-going challenge is to support these women so that they can be eVective andstay in oYce.

21. The Equality Law, passed in Spain in 2007 introduced the “principle of balanced presence” andrequired political party electoral lists to have a minimum of 40% and a maximum of 60% of women or menas candidates in general, regional, European and local elections. The impact was dramatic: women are now36.3% of the Spanish parliament and hold nine ministerial posts (eight are held by men).



22. Some parts of the UK have likewise made progress. Women are 34.1% of the Scottish Parliament and46.7% of the Welsh Assembly. This was achieved through some political parties adopting all-womenshortlists and constituency twinning.

23. We urge the UK to learn from and follow quickly the example of these countries.

Submission from The Maranatha Community (SC–15)

Background

The Maranatha Community is a nationwide movement and network of Christians in all denominations.Comprising thousands of active members of churches of all traditions, it is committed to healing, unity andrenewal of faith. Formed 28 years ago, its members have been very deeply involved in care and relief work,and it has also taken the initiative in broad areas of national concern both in Parliament and throughoutthe country.

Summary

— The convening of the Speaker’s Conference is based on the premise that various groups of peopleshould be represented in the House of Commons by a number of MPs in proportion to thosegroups’ presence in the UK population.

— We do not consider that the present “disconnection” between many of the electorate andParliament is attributable to particular groups being insuYciently represented. Rather, we believeit is attributable to what is widely perceived as a lack of integrity of Government and of politiciansas a group, and to loss of confidence in the Civil Service.

— We consider that:

— Any person appointed to a public position or task should be the best suited of those available,subject as necessary to citizenship and residence

— The determination of suitability should take account of motivation and personal or groupobjectives.

— We consider that the biasing or restriction of selection lists would limit the ability of voters to selectas their representatives those whose suitability, in their view, surpassed that of other candidates.

— We consider that people fit to be elected as MPs should, by definition, be able to represent theconcerns of minority groups within their constituencies. We do not, therefore, consider that thenon-proportionate presence among MPs of particular groups causes, per Se, any problems in thegovernmental process. Moreover, the acceptance of “group” candidates would almost certainlyfavour skilled and well funded campaigning groups at the expense of quiet “suVering” groups andthose less able to campaign eVectively.

— We consider that introducing proportionate presence in Parliament for specific groups would betherefore be fraught with danger, and could easily lead to eVective disenfranchisement of the “silentmajority” of the UK population.

— Overall, we therefore consider that the premise upon which the Speaker’s Conference is based isfundamentally flawed, misconceived and inappropriate, and threatens the very concept ofParliamentary democracy itself.

1. Situation

1.1 The convening of the Speaker’s Conference is based on the premise that various groups of peopleshould be represented in the House of Commons by numbers of MPs in proportion to those groups’ presencein the UK population.

1.1.1 This implies that MPs cannot properly represent members of groups to which they themselves donot belong.

1.1.2 It further implies that all groups of the population are equally well able to represent themselves.

1.1.3 Moreover, its implementation would depend upon choosing which groups should beproportionately represented in the House of Commons and which should not. It would also depend uponthe accurate measurement of the proportion of the population belonging to the privileged groups.



2. Representation and Voters’ Attitudes

2.1 There is now a dangerously low level of “connection” between a large proportion of the electorate andpoliticians. Elected representatives themselves, whether MPs, MEPs or local councillors, are increasinglyacknowledging that there is a deep and widening gulf between them and the general public.

2.2 The active membership of constituency parties has generally diminished, to the extent that in manycases it may not now be representative of the numbers favouring particular parties’ attitudes and policies.Party membership is generally small in comparison with, for example, the thousands of church members inmost constituencies.

2.3 Altogether, it is beyond question that there is widespread disillusionment with politicians and thepolitical process. This was powerfully illustrated by the low turnout at the last General Election, leading tothe Government being elected by barely more than a fifth of the electorate. Inevitably this has led to thepassing of legislation which is widely unpopular and which, in some instances, may be opposed by themajority of the electorate.

2.4 In recent years there have been many indicators that the gap between people and politicians isincreasingly becoming actual alienation. For example, the proliferation of powerful quangos has done muchharm to the democratic process. In addition to this there is widespread unease about the inhibition of free,democratic voting procedures through the heavy imposition of the party whip system.

2.5 Moreover, denying the people the opportunity to express themselves, whether the issue is the LisbonTreaty or Parliamentary approval of a third runway at Heathrow, gives an oppressive tone to government.In addition, failure to uphold sound principles and moral standards in Parliament has contributed to thegrowth of a generation or more of young people who are confused about what is right or wrong or true orfalse. Many of these young people have no strong and reliable framework upon which to build their lives,no clear appreciation of the demands and boundaries of responsible citizenship, and no sense of why theyshould have anything to do with our processes of government or wish to do so.

2.6. We do not consider that this disillusionment, disconnection and alienation, extending as it does notonly to the young or to people with radical points of view, but also to many of the thoughtful and moderatemajority of our people, stems primarily or even significantly from the non-proportional presence inParliament of diVerent groups. We consider that it results primarily from a loss of trust and confidence inMPs and the parliamentary process, attributable to:

2.6.1. The perceived lack of integrity of many politicians.

2.6.2. The perceived arrogance, unwillingness to listen, or lack of genuine interest in the voter’s problems,of many politicians.

2.6.3. The perceived willingness of those in power to use a Parliamentary majority to push throughmeasures for which they have no mandate and/or which do not have public support.

2.6.4. The perceived unwillingness of many MPs to accept reasonable and proper levels of accountabilityto the Nation.

2.6.5. A loss of confidence in the Civil Service to act dispassionately in the public interest under thedirection of the Monarch in Parliament, consequent upon the recent considerable politicization of theService.

2.7. Since the main roots of the widespread sense of helplessness, distrust, or de facto disenfranchisementdo not lie in the non-proportional presence of particular groups among MPs, these problems will not beameliorated by measures to bias representation towards members of those groups. Indeed, if voters who arealready disenchanted with Parliament began to perceive that elections were being “fixed” in this way, theirattitudes to politicians would only become even more negative. Their trust in Parliament and theirwillingness to become involved in the national or local government process, even by turning out to vote,would be further diminished rather than improved.

2.8. The true route to restoring healthy engagement between people and Parliament is to enable men andwomen to be elected as MPs who are people of integrity, genuinely empathise with their constituents’ issues,and are willing to do something about those issues and communicate with their people.

3. Principles

3.1. We take as a first principle that the person elected or otherwise appointed to any post or task in theservice of our Nation should be the one best suited to it of those available.

3.2. We consider that this principle should normally be applied regardless of ethnic origin, colour, gender,sexual orientation, religious belief, wealth, social background or, subject to practicalities, disability.



4. We aYrm that in some cases this principle should be qualified in that the person must be a British citizenwith the right of residence in the United Kingdom (or who is resident in the UK)

4.1. We further aYrm that in addition to intellectual or physical ability, knowledge, experience, etc, “bestsuited” must necessarily take account of motivation and the suitability of personal or group objectives.An extreme example illustrates the point: it would not be appropriate to appoint as Chief of the DefenceStaV a person, however able and otherwise suited, whose first loyalty was to a foreign power or who hadbecome a pacifist.Correspondingly, no person should be appointed to a public position who might reasonably be expected totry to exploit public oYce to further an individual or group objective not openly declared as Governmentpolicy prior to a General Election, or contrary to the public interest.

5. Special considerations applicable to Members of Parliament

5.1. The fundamental purpose of having Members of Parliament is that they should represent theirconstituents. The “best suited” principle therefore calls for voters to have a choice of candidates who areeach skilled to represent them, so that they can select the one whose suitability as a representative, in theirview, surpasses that of the others.

5.2. This immediately rules out skewed representation brought about by the inappropriate biasing orrestriction of selection lists before potential candidates are put to the voters concerned.

5.3. Furthermore, it is not necessary for a candidate to have first-hand experience of everything theconstituents do, or share everything that they aspire to, in order to make a good representative. Does an MPfor a mining area need to have been a miner, or an MP for Crewe to have worked on the railways?

5.4. We recognise that voters commonly give a high priority to party membership in choosing whom toelect, meaning simply that they put party aYliation at the head of the list of representational attributesthey seek.

5.5. This predominance of party over other factors in present-day politics is in our view a regrettablecharacteristic, preventing, as it does, many people who would make excellent MPs from standing asindependents with any hope of success. It alone may often prevent the person who is the best suited torepresent a constituency from being elected. (And where party politics rule, of course, the valuable concernsand potential contributions of voters for losing parties in any constituency are almost certain to be neglectedor under-represented if they vary from the policy of the winning party.)

5.6. To go beyond those inevitabilities of the present system and introduce, whether by party policy orelectoral law, a process that restricted the selection of party candidates to members of particular groupswould further increase the likelihood of shutting out potentially admirable MPs.

5.7. There is widespread recognition that the present financial crisis engulfing our Nation is notattributable to financial causes alone, nor even primarily to those causes, but has been brought about by anunderlying spiritual barrenness and moral malaise. In these circumstances, it is increasingly important forMPs to put national wellbeing above party and group interest. Selecting candidates to stand for Parliamentspecifically to represent minority interests would run directly contrary to the ethos that is required to bringour Nation back from its present position of great social and structural danger.

6. Proportionality and Parliament

6.1. We take it as a matter of definition that people fit to be elected as MPs should be able to represent,when it is in the constituency or national interest, the concerns of minority groups within theirconstituencies. We do not, therefore, regard the non-proportionate representation of minority groups ascausing, per se, any problems in the governmental process. Given the first statement above, we consider theterm “proportionate presence” more suitable than “proportionate representation” when referring tonumbers of MPs from any group.We prefer the term “non-proportionate” to “unbalanced” because the latter implies that something isnecessarily wrong.

6.2. On the other hand, we foresee substantial problems arising if interest groups were able to claim aright to a proportionate presence in Parliament. For example:

6.2.1. Who would determine which groups should qualify for proportionate presence and which shouldnot? How could the impartiality of these arbitrators be ensured?

6.2.2. Which categories of groups should be included and which excluded? Where should the boundariesbe drawn, and why should they be drawn there? Should dentists, Muslims, the elderly, anti-vivisectionistsand the pro-hunting lobby qualify equally for proportionate presence? If not, why not?

6.2.3. How would groups be defined and their membership determined? Some interest groups regularlyrepresent themselves as speaking for a much larger number of the population than they do. Ifproportionality were accepted, who would determine the proportions to represent?



6.2.4. Who would ensure that interest groups have objectives in line with the moral health and other bestinterests of the Nation?

6.2.5. How would skilled and well funded campaigning groups be prevented from obtaining adisproportionate Parliamentary presence compared with quiet “suVering” groups and those unskilled incampaigning? The likelihood is that the latter, probably including some of the most vulnerable and alreadydisadvantaged people in our society, would be further disadvantaged and proportionately disenfranchised.

7. Benefits and Disadvantages

7.1. As soon as questions like those above are asked, it becomes evident that introducing proportionatepresence in Parliament for specific groups would be fraught with danger.

7.2. Who, for example, would speak for the “silent majority” of ethnic English, Scots, Welsh and Irishcitizens of our countries who hold to the characteristic values which, in the past, were defining anddistinguishing characteristics of our Nation, and which remain the source of some of our greatest strengths?

7.3. Further, the concept of proportionality presupposes that all groups are equally able to speak forthemselves and to handle constituency tasks, and that outsiders could not or would not adequately representthem. A moment’s consideration shows this proposition to be flawed: children, for example, are not able tospeak for themselves as a group or to handle constituency tasks—it devolves upon adults to seek and protecttheir best interests in Parliament.

7.4. Similarly, the concept assumes that members of all groups are equally available to stand forParliament. This is not so. For example, men and women have diVerent roles in life, especially in relationto parenthood. The feeding and nurturing roles of mothers call for their presence with young children in amanner diVerent from the role-modelling and relationship-building presence of fathers. This, quite apartfrom any other factor, aVects the availability of women for election.

7.5. Again, those who care for elderly and disabled members of their families are almost certainly far fromproportionately present among MPs. While we would not wish for a moment to suggest that carers shouldnot become MPs if they felt able to do so, in many instances a carer’s relationship with the person they carefor uniquely equips them for their caring role. Undoubtedly, a present or former carer speaking inParliament from experience will carry more weight than most MPs without that experience. But neverthelesswe consider that most carers would readily entrust their Parliamentary representation to MPs who do theirjobs properly.

8. Why do more women, people from ethnic minority groups and disabled people not become MPs?

8.1. Some disabilities may make it diYcult for an otherwise well suited person to fulfil the responsibilitiesof an MP. Appropriate specialist help or the provision of specific aids at Westminster might make it possibleto reduce these limitations and enable more disabled people to stand for Parliament if they chose. This wouldobviously be desirable.

8.2. More generally, however, we believe this question is best answered by turning it round: why do somepeople want more women, members of ethnic minority groups and disabled people to become MPs?

8.3. We believe that this concern can arise for two main reasons:

8.3.1. Some may be taken in by the apparently natural proposition that everyone is best represented bysomeone of their own kind. As we have shown, this is a false premise.

8.3.2. Others may be acting from doctrinaire motives not necessarily associated with the best interests ofthe Nation.

9. Conclusions

9.1. There is clearly a most urgent need to bring new life to the decaying democratic process in the UnitedKingdom. However, we do not believe it is the responsibility or the prerogative of either Parliament orGovernment to impose its will, and perhaps its prejudices, upon the electorate by selecting or restricting whomay be their representatives.

9.2. For the reasons given above, we do not share the view implicit in the terms of the Speaker’sConference that the disparity in the presence of various groups in the House of Commons needs to be“rectified” in every instance. We consider that in many respects it may be perfectly acceptable, and, indeed,in certain areas, highly desirable.

9.3. The process of proportionate presence, if it were introduced, would be open to much potentialmischief and misuse.

9.4. We are very much more concerned that attempts to bias the presence of groups in Parliament in thisway could readily lead to the eVective disenfranchisement of either:

9.4.1. The natural populace of these islands, or



9.4.2. The ungrouped majority who hold mainstream opinions.

9.5. There would be much more to be said in favour of, for example, promoting means of ensuring theelection of more independent candidates as MPs, to serve in the same beneficial ways as the cross-benchersin the House of Lords.

9.6. Skewing the selection of Parliamentary candidates intrinsically runs contrary to the principle ofseeking to ensure that the best suited candidate is elected to serve each constituency.

9.7. Indeed, the way the proposals have been advocated in some quarters suggests that they are in truthno more than tool to introduce a privileged level of presence in Parliament for one or more militantactivist groups.

9.8 We believe, therefore, that the move to secure proportionate presence among MPs of members ofselected groups is misconceived and inappropriate. Indeed, we consider that it threatens the very concept ofParliamentary democracy itself.

Submission from Clare Laxton and Lee Webster (SC–16)

Clare is a 24 year old Politics graduate, self proclaimed radical feminist and women’s campaigner. She hasworked in the charity sector for the last year and a half for a disability charity and now a sexual health charity.She writes feminist articles and is interested in issues such as abortion and disabled women’s issues.

Lee is a 30 year old campaigner on disability rights, women’s issues and social justice. She has a Masters inGender and International Development, and a particular interest in women’s representation in politics insouthern Africa. Her expertise lies in grassroots capacity building and supporting people to campaign on theissues that matter to them.

Clare are Lee are currently setting up a new social enterprise, that aims to support the voices of young womento be heard by those in power.

Summary:

— We believe that the lack of women in Parliament, and politics, means that not only are women’sinterests not represented in Parliament but that legislation that is debated and passed on women’sissues such as abortion can be lacking in legitimacy. The low number of female MPs also createsa lack of role models for young political women and can lead to low expectations of femaleachievement in our society.

— We support positive action to level the playing field for women is a short term but importantsolution to the lack of women in Parliament.

— However, we believe that if the Speaker’s Conference and Parliament itself wants to be totallyrepresentative then it needs to totally reform in terms of times of sitting and the chamber itself.

1. Currently less than 20% of MPs in the UK are women. This not only compares poorly to many othercountries in the world but also to the devolved Welsh Assembly (which has 50% women AMs) and ScottishParliament (which has nearly 40% MSPs).

2. Both a cause and an eVect of this statistic is the low number of women in leadership positions acrossall the main political parties. Taking a quick look at the Cabinet and the Shadow Cabinets altogether thereare ten women in the seventy five cabinet positions—that is 13% of Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet positionsthat are taken up by women. Is it any wonder that women are put oV from entering politics?

3. The lack of women in Parliament not only means that Parliament is no where near representative ofthe population but also that the main business of the house is discussed wholly with a male bias. Debates,legislation and Acts passed by Parliament have a lack of legitimacy because they are not passed by arepresentative group. An example of this could be debates on abortion legislation—decisions that primarilyaVects women and their right to make choices about their body made by men. This is not an empoweringor accountable system of political decision making.

4. We believe that the lack of women in Parliament also means that there is a lack of role models for youngpolitical women to aspire to.

“What sort of role models do we have? If we don’t see women in positions of power all we’ve gotto look at is footballer’s wives,”—female student, age 20.

We believe that the gender discrimination that remains in Parliament, and the political arena in general,means that female MPs are often subject to judgments about their clothes, hair and make up which lead toassumptions about their capabilities as politicians. Whereas male MPs, though they can also be subject tocomments about their ties or hair, do not have their capabilities judged by their appearance.

5. We believe that positive action to level the playing field for women is a short term but importantsolution to the lack of women in Parliament. All women short lists and quotas enable our politicalinstitutions to become more representative. Rwanda, the current world leader in representation of women,



has a quota system for women politicians and in the last elections became the first parliament to have morethan half of it’s members women. Several other countries in Africa, such as Mozambique, Angola and SouthAfrica, have led the way in this field. We would direct you towards the Institute for Democracy and ElectoralAssistance for more information and resources, including case studies of good practice from around theworld (www.idea.int).

6. Although we agree with positive action, if Parliament really wants to be more representative of societythen it needs to totally reform. As an institution, the Houses of Parliament were created for old, upper-class,land-owning, white men as a place to wile away their retirement. It was established as an elite institution,not as a representative institution. The House itself is geared up for face to face combat not intelligentdebate. Current late night divisions and debates don’t take into account caring responsibilities that peoplemight have, and parliamentary surroundings and work style as been described as generally inaccessible bymany women MPs.

7. We welcome the Speaker’s Conference as a real step forward in commitment to a more representativestyle of government. We strongly believe that the whole country should be energized and empowered to takepart in the debate. It is essential to talk to people at grassroots level to really understand the barriers facingwomen, disabled people and people from ethnic minorities from entering politics and standing for election.

8. Furthermore, we would like to comment that as a consultation the Speaker’s Conference call forevidence is in itself an example of a parliament removed from the people of the UK. It is a pity that a greatopportunity to be empowering and representative has been lost. A three month consultation period is goodpractice, not five weeks over Christmas and New Year. Furthermore, the consultation has not beenadvertised on the Parliament website but through other organisations like the Electoral Reform System. Theconsultation further marginalises women from the political processes and means that Parliament and theSpeaker’s Conference won’t get to hear the opinions of grassroots women.

9. We urge you to reach out to people at all levels of society and involve them in the debate—and thesolution.

Submission from UNISON (SC–17)

UNISON is the UK’s largest public service union with more than 1.3 million members. Our members arepeople working in the public services, for private contractors providing public services and in the essentialutilities. They include frontline staV and managers, working full or part time in local authorities, the NHS,the police service, colleges and schools, the electricity, gas and water industries, transport and the voluntarysector. Over 70% of our members are women; many are low paid or work part time. We organise more blackworkers than any other organisation and have actively contributed to key debates on tackling racism andpromoting community cohesion.

The UNISON rulebook includes provision for fair representation of the whole of our membership,including fair representation of men and women, also taking into account age and low pay, the balancebetween full time and parttime workers, manual and non-manual workers, diVerent occupations, skills, race, sexual orientation,disability and gender identity.

We welcome the opportunity to contribute to this Speaker’s conference, but regret the exclusion ofLesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people from the inquiry’s terms of reference. UNISONbelieves that the fair representation of LGBT people is also important. We recognise the problem of the lackof oYcial information about the percentage of them in the population. UNISON supports the campaign toinclude a question to monitor sexual orientation in the census, if it was possible for confidentiality to bemaintained. We also regret that the issue of young voter participation is not included in the terms ofreference, especially in the context of the ongoing consultation by the Youth Citizenship Commission onvoting age and their remit to look at young people’s engagement.

Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups in society?

Yes.

UNISON believes that our political structures inevitably reflect wider citizenship discrepancies. In society,and in the workplace, we still see the maintenance of relative hierarchies and systemic discrimination. Forinstance women, LGBT, disabled and Black people are still under-represented in the upper echelons of theworkplace and in our civil institutions. The same is true in terms of class and socio-economic disadvantage.We welcome the opportunity to address some of the related issues which the Government recently signalledin its proposed White Paper. The under-representation of certain groups in the House of Commonsreinforces the divides within society.



If so, what are those problems?

UNISON believes that democratic structures need to reflect the identities of the people they represent ifthey are to be eVective and to be perceived as legitimate. Currently there is a lack of confidence in democraticstructures and a sense of alienation from the political process, demonstrated by the low turnout in elections.The experiences and knowledge from our diVerent groups of members contributes within our organisationto a more rounded and inclusive policy making process.


Yes. UNISON has self organised groups representing under represented people—women, disabledmembers, LGBT members and Black members. These groups consistently tell us that a more representativedemocracy would lead to a greater sense of engagement and trust in democratic decision making.

We would also highlight the negative eVect the media can have on people’s perceptions of politicians andthe potential knock on eVect of this discouraging people from getting involved in politics.

However the recent experience in the US Presidential election suggests that it is possible to reverse the lackof participation by certain groups.

It is important to also recognise that equality groups are not the only issue in terms of representation inParliament. It is vital that we recognise the role of class in representation. It is important that people fromacross society can see people they identify with in Parliament. Trade unions are the main route throughwhich working class people receive the support and mentoring that is necessary to become a Member ofParliament.

What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomeMembers of Parliament:Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election?Or, if they do,

— Why aren’t more of them selected? Or, if they are,

— Why aren’t more of them elected?

The reasons why more people from under represented groups do not stand for elected oYce are complexand rooted in systemic long term discrimination in broader society.

Although the under representation of women, Black people and disabled people, as well as LGBT people,is important, it is impossible to understand the barriers if it is not recognised that the underlying economic,class based inequality is the reason behind many of the barriers. Disabled people, Black people and womenare all more likely to be poor, and live with structural discrimination which links to economic status. Furtherserious attention has to be given to the under-representation in, and alienation from the political processes,of younger voters.

In 2005 UNISON published the findings of a research project called Transformations, which exploredfactors and issues that motivate women to take on positions in union structures. Many of the findings ofthat report were also relevant to participation in other areas of public life.

One of the findings of the report was that women are likely to become active in their union through socialnetworks and friendships. There is also evidence that those with an existing history of family involvementare more likely to engage with the political processes. This can have the eVect of maintaining the status quo.This supports widespread evidence that “like recruits like” and that women and people from ethnic minoritybackgrounds are more likely to get involved in an organisation such as a political party if there are peoplethat they identify with who are already involved. There is widespread evidence of this both within tradeunions and within local politics. In a situation where the majority of MPs are male and the majority of peoplein positions and professions that often lead to standing for Parliament are white and male, people who arecurrently under represented are less likely to receive the informal mentoring or have the role models thatencourage them to stand and which helps build success.

UNISON would highlight the need for comprehensive and positive citizenship education in schools andcolleges, and the potential this can oVer to encourage early civil engagement.

It is not unreasonable to assume that some of the culture of the House of Commons, which is old fashionedand perceived as aggressive, may make some members of groups who have been historically excluded fromthe institution feel that it is not a place for them. There is a common perception that national politicsmaintains a long-hours culture and is not family-friendly.

Despite these issues the main political parties will have people from under represented groups who wantto become MPs, should they receive the support to do so. As a result of positive action, mentoring and othermeasures undertaken by the Labour Party the 2005 parliamentary intake was more representative thanParliament as a whole, but the pace of change is slow.



More can still be done to make sure that members of under represented groups are selected to stand forParliament. Research from the Fawcett Society has demonstrated that sex discrimination plays a major rolein selection processes. A number of leading Black politicians, along with UNISON, are calling for all Blackshortlists as a solution to similar issues faced by black people in selections. This could in part challenge thecurrent situation whereby those potential candidates with “foreign” names do not even make the earlyselection stages.

There is no convincing evidence that, once selected, members of any under-represented group are lesslikely to get elected.


One practical barrier is financial—fighting a selection contest within a major political party is timeconsuming and expensive, and being a candidate is also expensive, stressful and time consuming. Womenespecially may have family commitments that mean they choose not to take this on, and anyone withoutgood financial backing would be less likely to take the risk of spending money with no certainty of gettingelected. This has a greater impact on those from underrepresented groups because many of them, especiallydisabled people, women and people from ethnic minorities, are more likely to be poor.

Another barrier is prejudice, especially based in unconscious assumptions about what an MP ought to belike. The Fawcett Society research has examples of how this occurs on the basis of gender . There is no doubtthat prejudice and discrimination is also a barrier for disabled people, LGBT and Black people.

Disabled people, depending on their disability, may face physical barriers to selections—meetings held ininaccessible rooms, the diYculties in visiting party members to ask for their support. If disabled people haveservices provided to them to support them in their work or home life they may find it diYcult to get extraservice provision—for example extra PA hours—to enable them to participate in political activities.

Young people are likely to face specific barriers. Frequently young people are discriminated against.Members who are selecting candidates may have ideas about experience an MP should have that are notreal occupational requirements and which exclude people, especially young people or those who haveresponsibilities that mean they have not had the time to put into developing CV’s that appeal to members.

What actions could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation?

The Government could:

— Modernise the House of Commons, presenting a face to the world that includes the use of plainEnglish and that minimises macho “yah boo” politics. This could include less emphasis onprocedure in parliamentary debate, and a better website which makes it easier to see where a Billis in its passage through parliament and what further stages and opportunities to influence itremain before it becomes law;

— Increase transparency around what MPs actually do and what skills are needed for the role, so thatpeople can make informed decisions about whether it is right for them;

— Review and take positive measures to improve access to parliament by under-represented groups;

— Continue the debate around family friendly hours, ensure caring support is available;

— Ensure and promote accessibility arrangements;

— Increase opportunities for mentoring by MPs and provision of training to demystify howpolitics works;

— Raise awareness of the potential support available;

— Encourage greater diversity within selection processes.

It is important to recognise that, whilst measures such as mentoring and individual financial support canbe important, cultural change in political parties and public life is needed to make a structural diVerence,which is more important than giving individual help to a few to get them through the system. To this endgood quality citizenship education in all schools is vital. It might also be useful to ask the media to co-operatein building a more eVective democracy, as the brightest and best from all groups might be put oV public oYceby a media that focuses on appearances, personalities and personal attacks.

What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others to addressdisparities in representation?

The Labour Party’s use of All Women Shortlists has been vital in increasing the number of women inParliament, but it must be seen in the context of a range of other positive action measures that ensure thatwomen must be oYce holders and representatives at every level within the party. Positive action or othermeasures aimed solely at the parliamentary level will not work if diversity is not built at every level ofpolitical parties and public life.



It is yet to be seen whether the use of the A List in the Conservative Party, or other positive action measuresundertaken by the other parties during the current parliamentary term have an impact.

The financial barriers faced by candidates could be addressed by political parties. Organisations such asEmily’s List already provide some financial support to women going through selection processes.Encouragement from central parties for these initiatives could make a diVerence to people coming throughselection processes, or fighting to win seats.

In regards to younger voters, UNISON has supported and campaigned for the voting age to be reducedto 16.

What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom, to address similar concerns?AndHow can the success of such actions be measured?

It is clear from the success of Rwanda and the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly in achievingstrong gender representation that proportional representation makes it easier to achieve fairerrepresentation, as more than one person can be selected to represent a given area, giving the parties theopportunity to use a range of measures to achieve gender balance. However there are drawbacks to the useof proportional representation. There has been some success in local government where the Labour Partyhas adopted “one in three” rules.

In Scandinavian countries many political parties have chosen to use gender quotas, resulting in asignificant number of women being elected, although the adoption of quotas came after a significant numberof women had already been elected. It could be argued that the emphasis on gender equality throughoutpolicy made quotas less important, as structural discrimination was being dealt with in a number of ways.

Success can be measured by the number of people from under represented groups standing for and beingelected to Parliament. It is important to recognise that it would be easy for a political party to artificiallyinflate its proportionality figures by standing member of underrepresented groups in seats that that partywas unlikely to win—it is important to look at retirement seats, and examine who is selected by a party whenan existing MP stands down, and actual results.

In summary UNISON welcomes this important debate. It is clear that there is no single solution to theproblem of discrimination and under representation—it is an issue which requires ongoing discussion andcommitment.

Submission from Women in Politics (SC–18)

Dinti Batstone

Political experience: Councillor 2002–06; Liberal Democrat European Parliament candidate, 2004 and2009.

Professional experience: City lawyer, businesswoman, INSEAD MBA, now freelance with 2 pre-schoolchildren.

This submission is made in a personal capacity, based on research into the issue of women in politics, includingconversations with candidates and parliamentarians from all major political parties.

Summary

— A more family-friendly way of doing politics is essential not only to attract, but also to retain,female candidates.

— If politics and family are seen as irreconcilable, many women will choose family over politics.

— Experiences lower down the political ladder can turn women oV, so this issue must be addressedat all levels of politics.

— Politics must wake up to the fact that the loss of female talent costs it dear. Flexible working is apowerful tool for retaining talented women in their transition through maternity.

— It is a curious paradox that while politicians lead the way in legislating family-friendly workingpractices (extended maternity/paternity leave, parental leave, the right to request flexible working),they do not adopt these practices in their own workplace. Politics is extremely family-unfriendly.

— If Government is serious about boosting female parliamentary representation, flexible family-friendly political working is not an optional extra- it is an essential prerequisite.



— Government can help kickstart culture change within political parties by extending parental andflexible working rights to elected representatives. This would send a strong signal that it is not onlypossible, but also desirable, to combine politics with family life.

Submission

1. Politics is widely perceived to be incompatible with family life, former Cabinet Minister Alan Milburnrecently said that: “one of the tragedies of modern politics is that it is bloody hard to do if you have kids”(The Times, 17 January 2009). The advent of 24 hour news media, e-mail and Blackberries means thatpoliticians are expected to be constantly available to their constituents, party colleagues and media.

2. While this aVects all parent-politicians, the impact on women is amplified by other factors. Womenhave a shorter fertility window and delaying child-bearing is risky. Pregnancy and breastfeeding may bediYcult to reconcile with the electoral cycle. Time oV around maternity can result in women becoming theprimary child-carer, limiting time for politics. All of this means that while family-friendly workingpotentially benefits both men and women, in practice it disproportionately helps women.

3. According to the Equalities Commission, women with young children are the most discriminatedagainst group in the workplace34—more so than ethnic minorities and the disabled. The same may be trueof politics. Women parliamentarians are predominantly “pre”, “post” or “non” child-bearing.

4. Female candidate attrition begins lower down the political ladder, when female councillors andparliamentary candidates struggle to juggle family, work and politics. Exhausted and demoralised, manychoose to withdraw from politics until their children are older. Some never come back.

5. Because she is not technically an “employee”, an elected representative who becomes pregnant in oYceis in a far worse position than she would be in any other job (even if being an elected representative is herjob). With no legal maternity rights, she is subject to the whim of “discretionary” provision by her politicalgroup. Some colleagues are supportive, others are not. Without the protection of statutory rights whichapply to all other employees, women in politics are uniquely vulnerable to discriminatory behaviour. Femalecandidates of child-bearing age are routinely subjected to questions that would be illegal in a job interview.

6. Public policy debates make much of work-life balance and flexible working, yet it seems that goodintentions apply only to other people, not to politicians themselves. A business (whose raison d’etre is tomake money for shareholders) is required to make expensive provision to accommodate working parentswhile Parliament (whose raison d’etre is to represent people, including working parents) is under no suchobligation. If good parenting is essential for the collective well-being of society, parliamentarians should beleading the way, not lagging behind.

7. The problem of female attrition around child-bearing is not new and not unique to politics. Businessesand professional firms face similar issues. Enlightened businesses accept that taking maternity leave doesn’tmake women less eVective once they return to work. They also understand that flexible working is a powerfultool in retaining female talent in the transition through maternity. The business cost of losing a professionalwoman is estimated at three to five times her salary; it’s harder to put a figure on losing political talent, butskills, experience and training are all wasted when women withdraw from politics.

8. Politics has an image problem, with politicians being seen as remote, unrepresentative and out of touchwith issues that matter to ordinary families. Women with young children, by contrast, are often wellnetworked into their local communities and at the coal face of using public services such as the NHS andeducation. They can connect politics with “real life”.

9. The three main political parties are now all led by men with very young children. But where are thewomen? Ruth Kelly, arguably the most high profile young mother in politics, is stepping down for familyreasons—this does not send an encouraging message to would-be female parliamentarians wanting tobalance politics with family life.

10. All parties chase the votes of “school gate mums”, but convert very few of those mums into candidatesand elected representatives. Failing to modify expectations about the way the job of a parliamentarian canbe done implies that mothers of young children cannot eVectively be represented by one of their own. Justthink of the outrage that would be generated by similar attitudes towards ethnic minorities or the disabled.

11. Disenfranchising women with young children perpetuates a vicious circle: women don’t go intopolitics because it is family unfriendly, and politics is family unfriendly because not enough women withyoung children go into it.

12. Parliament must now put its house in order on parental leave and flexible working. Politicians mustaccept that parents of young children do not have as much free time as people without family responsibilities.

13. While the availability and cost of childcare is part of the problem (particularly at the candidate stagewhen significant expenses may be incurred), more fundamentally, a responsible parent needs to spend timewith her/his family and simply cannot match the availability of someone without family responsibilities.Wraparound childcare is not a panacea.

34 Equalities Commission, February 2007.



14. ”Presenteeism” undermines working mothers in politics as much as it does in business. Emphasisneeds to be on quality work/ time rather than constant availability and long hours. This requires trust thata parliamentarian will do what it takes to get the job done, albeit in a flexible way. Emphasis needs to be onoutcomes, not inputs.

15. The best way to combat defeatism about the prospect of women successfully combining family andpolitics is to change long-held views about how the job of a parliamentarian can be done.

16. While the top jobs in politics will always require an exceptional level of commitment, it should beperfectly possible for an ordinary backbench parliamentarian to do a good job without sacrificing familylife. There needs to be greater appreciation of the value of non-political experience, and more eVort to recruitcandidates from a wider pool of well-rounded, multi-dimensional people.

17. Practical recommendations:

— Extend parental and flexible working legislation to apply to elected representatives. Women whobecome pregnant while in oYce should have the same statutory maternity rights as any employee,and men should have the same paternity rights (if parliamentarians can receive pensions, why notmaternity/ paternity leave?). Set up a “working group” with parliamentarians from all parties tomake recommendations. Gain cross-party agreement that parliamentarians who take statutoryparental leave will not be criticised for doing so. Consider arrangements for maternity/ paternitycover and advise political parties on best practice.

— Consider the feasibility of piloting job share and other flexible working arrangements for electedrepresentatives. Engage experts who advise businesses/ professional firms on retaining talentedwomen in their transition through maternity (maternity coaches, job-share advisors, etc). Look atsuccessful examples of job shares among senior business people, professionals and civil servants tounderstand how they could work for parliamentarians.

— Match the childcare voucher schemes and creche provision oVered by many employers.

— Attenuate, rather than accentuate the family vs. politics dilemma. Appreciate the perspective thatparents of young children bring, even if it means they are less available. Recognise the importanceof working parents participating in politics.

— Facilitate flexible family-friendly working practices at every level of politics.

— Encourage parliamentarians who successfully balance politics with family life to act as role models.

Submission by The Downing Street Project (SC–19)

Bulleted Points

1. Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups insociety? If so, what are those problems?

— a limited number of views are represented

— the culture of the House is not a reflection of society—it has its own history and culture which isdistinct from that of the current social mix that is Britain. It lacks the fragmentation—and hencethe dynamism—that is characteristic of our diverse communities today.

— Members have a very narrow range of experience to draw from when addressing social and culturalissues. Even if they consult widely, they will not have a wide and deep enough pool of intelligencefrom which to create appropriate frameworks of inquiry

— in the case of gender imbalance, the House is more masculine in culture than feminine. This hasthe knock-on eVect of giving the House and hence our politics a more “hard power” than “softpower orientation”. This not only has a significant bearing on how our government responds toconflict, but also how it behaves in business and public services. For more on this visitwww.thedowningstreetproject.com

2. Is there a relationship between these levels of representation and voter attitudes to Parliament?

— Yes, as above. Essentially, looking at a Parliament which has a narrow base, causes alienation forthe voters

— there is the unspoken establishment of a norm for people in power, which automatically confersreflective power on those that look and sound like them in society

— all the above restrict the collective imagination as to what is relevant to politics and what is not iepolitics is about those things that those people discuss and other issues are not “political” issues,they are “special interests” or personal



3. What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomemembers of Parliament:

— simply expressed, they do not fit in. Parliament is part of the: “proud and ancient history of thiscountry”, it is steeped in visual and behavioural conventions which most people do not identifywith and could not take on.

— in Britain, leadership is still overwhelmingly white and male, except in the home. Women andpeople of ethnic minorities dribble in and quickly adopt the normative behaviour and even dressas quickly as they can so as not to disrupt the flow. Without aYrmative action of some kind, thisis likely to remain the same for the foreseeable future

4. Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election?

— because people from these groups represent a departure from the norm, they experience a lot ofdiscrimination from a public that is fearful of change

— however, just as there is external discrimination, there is also internal discrimination. Women andpeople from ethnic minorities count themselves out of the running for oYce

— this self censoring can arise from the conviction that they won’t succeed but it can also be becausethey don’t desire a life of alienation

— for women, the overwhelmingly masculine culture of politics can be simply distasteful. The overemphasis on competition, the excessive drinking, the inbalance between a work culture and afamily culture, the playground mentality—the yah-boo culture—in the House, the automaticinvocation of the military option in conflict, the constant aggressive debating in preference to usefuldialogue, the cliquey or disconnected behaviour of groups and factions, the lack of holistic thinking

— much of the worst of parliamentary behaviour is fanned up and reflected in the media coverageof politics

— women who grew up with feminism often deny that there is a masculine/feminine divide as itinvokes the idea of a stronger and weaker sex. This can lead to women taking on masculinebehaviour to prove that they can compete eVectively. It is often the established women inparliament that put oV newcomers as they create an expectation of how women should develop inpolitics. This might be avoided if there was a substantial influx of women at the same time, whowere given the opportunity to work together for extended periods

5. What are the problems and practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection andelection—by members of these underrepresented groups who are looking to become MPs?

— family/care unfriendly hours

— the cost of running for oYce

— the lack of civil society groups that can oVer training in advocacy or parliamentary procedure

6. What actions could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation?

— begin to explore balanced or representative leadership by establishing committees and groupswhich reflect the population. This will give newcomers to parliament an environment within whichto develop

7. What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others to addressdisparities in representation?

— oVer training, not just in procedure and policy, but self development training to help people identifytheir obstacles and overcome them. See www.thedowningstreetproject.com

— oVer mixed forums for discussion of politics at every level

— develop integral development programmes which integrate the personal capacity of individuals—within their cultural context—with the practice, culture and structure of politics as we find it todaywww.newintegrity.org

— oVer media training to established members to help them identify the governing narratives inpolitics. For many politicians, these are blind spots

8. What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom, to address similar concerns?

— New Integrity trained Scottish social workers for two years to help them to identify and challengetheir perceived “unpopularity”. Until then, social workers had reached the point where most ofthem would not admit to their profession in public. There are similarities with women and peopleof minority ethnic origins who find it hard to see themselves as members of the political elite. Notonly because of the way they are collectively represented in our culture and its media but also inthe way they have always seen themselves and the cultural norms they have adopted, oftenunconsciously.



Fuller Explanation


10. Broadly speaking, the limited representation of diVerent groups in society in the House of Commonsreflects a deeper problem that exists in UK society, which is the unspeakable fact that anyone who is not awhite male is considered “lesser than”.

11. This fact results in white males constituting the majority of MPs and one clear impact is that a limitednumber of views are represented in the house. The white men are viewing the world from their uniqueperspective. This is a useful perspective but not the only perspective and we must not assume that from thatvantage point they can see, nor represent, everything that is relevant to all our citizens.

12. The culture of the House is not a reflection of society—it has its own history and culture which isdistinct from that of the current social mix that is Britain. It lacks the fragmentation—and hence thedynamism—that is characteristic of our diverse communities today. This is a problem, not because ofunfairness or lack of balance but because we miss out on the input from the rich nature of the cultures thatmake up this country. The problems and challenges that the government faces today are not being solvedby the best resource available, the totality of the perspectives of the diverse British public.

13. This means that members have a very narrow range of experience to draw from when addressingsocial and cultural issues. Even if they consult widely, they will not have a wide and deep enough pool ofintelligence from which to create appropriate frameworks of inquiry.

14. In the case of gender imbalance, the House is more masculine in culture than feminine. This has theknock-on eVect of giving the House and hence our politics a more “hard power” than “soft powerorientation”. This not only has a significant bearing on how our government responds to conflict, but alsohow it behaves in business and public services. The feminine perspective is sorely missed.

15. Research has shown that female politicians champion the things that are important to women, eghealth care, education and conflict resolution. These issues are in fact important to us all, the presentgeneration and the future ones. We need to make room for this perspective so that we can integrate thesevalues into our policies and our approaches to the challenges we face such as climate change, the agingpopulation and the changing nature of work.

For more on this visit www.thedowningstreetproject.com


16. Yes, of course. Essentially, looking at a parliament which has a narrow base, causes alienation for thevoters. People are aware, consciously or not, of the unspeakable: “anyone that is not white male is lesserthan” and they know that their views are not understood, the MP’s have not walked in their shoes, have notexperienced what they have experienced. So, how can they have faith and trust in the institution thatparliament is when it perpetuates this shallow representation?

17. There is the unspoken establishment of a norm for people in power, which automatically confersreflective power on those that look and sound like them in society. This norm is held not only by white menbut by everyone, we are all caught in its grip.

18. All the above restrict the collective imagination as to what is relevant to politics and what is not iepolitics is about those things that those people discuss and other issues are not “political” issues, they are“special interests” or personal issues. They are trivialised.

What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomeMembers of Parliament?

19. Simply expressed, they do not fit in. Parliament is part of the: “proud and ancient history of thiscountry”, it is steeped in visual and behavioral conventions which most people do not identify with andcould not take on. It is broadly speaking a game for white men.

20. It’s not only in parliament that this is the case. In Britain at large, leadership is still overwhelminglywhite and male, except in the home. Women and people of ethnic minorities dribble in and quickly adoptthe normative behaviour and even dress code, as quickly as they can so as not to disrupt the flow. WithoutaYrmative action of some kind, this is likely to remain the same for the foreseeable future. In fact, if wecontinue to increase the numbers of female MPs at the rate we have been, it will take another 200 years tosee a gender balance that reflects the country.




21. Because people from these groups represent a departure from the norm, they experience a lot ofdiscrimination from a public that is fearful of change and does not see them as valid candidates forleadership. However, just as there is external discrimination, there is also internal discrimination. Womenand people from ethnic minorities count themselves out of the running for oYce because they haveinternalised the: “only white men and really leaders” belief.

22. This self censoring can arise from the conviction that they won’t succeed but it can also be becausethey don’t desire a life of alienation. For women, the overwhelmingly masculine culture of politics can besimply distasteful. The over emphasis on competition, the excessive drinking, the imbalance between a workculture and a family culture, the playground mentality—the yah-boo culture in the House, the automaticinvocation of the military option in conflict, the constant aggressive debating in preference to usefuldialogue, the cliquey or disconnected behaviour of groups and factions, the lack of holistic thinking allcontribute to a political life being almost unpalatable for a woman.

23. Much of the worst of parliamentary behaviour is fanned up and reflected in the media coverage ofpolitics. Female MPs get much more coverage for what they wear than what they say. This is shockinglyjuvenile, yet totally accepted in our culture. Perhaps women are waiting for politics to grow up.

24. Also, women who grew up with feminism often deny that there is a masculine/feminine divide, as itinvokes the idea of a stronger and weaker sex. This can lead to women taking on masculine behaviour toprove that they can compete eVectively. It is often the established women in parliament that put oVnewcomers as they create an expectation of how women should develop in politics. This might be avoidedif there was a substantial influx of women at the same time, who were given the opportunity to work togetherfor extended periods in a more feminine way.

What are the problems and practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection andelection –by members of these underrepresented groups who are looking to become MPs?

25. Like any serious job, running for oYce requires candidates to be available 24/7. This is fine if you havea wife at home to look after the family and take care of domestic responsibilities. Most women do not havethis support and our culture does not yet fully allow husbands to assume this role with dignity and strength.

26. Also, it is estimated that running for oYce costs in excess of £30,000. There are few people who canrealistically aVord to fund this popularity game.

27. There is a lack of civil society groups that can oVer training in advocacy or parliamentary procedureso the marginalised group we are taking about here do not even know where to start.


28. The Government can begin to explore balanced or representative leadership by establishingcommittees and groups which reflect the population. This will give newcomers to parliament an environmentwithin which to develop.

29. They could also fund training and development programmes such as those provided by The DowningStreet Project, which seek to educate and empower women and men, to work to create a legislative bodythat is the richer for the range of skills and viewpoints it has available to it.

30. Changes could be made to the hours that Parliament sits, there could be better childcare facilities,programmes designed to show the life of an MP and generally, there could be work done to ensure thatwomen are respected for what they say, not just what they look like.


31. Groups could oVer training, not just in procedure and policy, but self development training to helppeople identify their obstacles and overcome them. See www.thedowningstreetproject.com

32. They could oVer mixed forums for discussion of politics at every level, from the neighbourhood levelto the national. The concept of “political” could be explored to allow more people to consider themselvesas actively politically already.

33. They could develop integral development programmes which combine the personal capacity ofindividuals—within their cultural context—with the practice, culture and structure of politics as we find ittoday see www.newintegrity.org

34. They could oVer media training to established members to help them identify the governing narrativesin politics. For many politicians, these are blind spots.



What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom, to address similar concerns?

35. New Integrity trained Scottish social workers for two years to help them to identify and challengetheir perceived “unpopularity”. Until then, social workers had reached the point where most of them wouldnot admit to their profession in public. There are similarities with women and people of minority ethnicorigins who find it hard to see themselves as members of the political elite. Not only because of the way theyare collectively represented in our culture and its media but also in the way they have always seen themselvesand the cultural norms they have adopted, often unconsciously

36. The White House Project in the US has been very successful in running campaigns to encouragewomen to run for oYce. The Downing Street Project aims to replicate this success.

Submission from Beyond Numbers (SC–20)

Synopsis

This short paper examines the issue of the representation of women at Westminster and briefly, in ourtown halls.

— Its considers what the diVerences are in terms of how men and women “do” politics and how ourpolitical culture and system still bends towards satisfying the way men engage politically.

— The move towards positive action by one political party has resulted in some changes to thepolitical culture, policy direction and engagement of women. However unless this is adopted by allparties at all levels in the political system it will never produce parity.

— Furthermore greater participation and representation is hindered by occupational, status andfinancial barriers—an issue most pertinent to some black and ethnic minority groups.

— Fundamental changes have to take place for women at work to be able to produce the role modelsand raise the aspirations of women from all walks of life.

1. The UK faces a serious problem of lack of interest in the political system from the electorate. If politicslooks old, white and male, it can seem irrelevant and dull to many people, and lead to lower participationrates and a reduction in democracy. And this is particularly true for women who look to those who can bestreflect and represent their lives. This is born out by research by Laura Richards undertaken as part of theElectoral Commissions Gender and Political Participation project (2004) on political engagement.35 Thisresearch shows that whilst women are over half the population they are less likely than men to becomepolitically engaged or active although they are more likely to be involved in single issues

2. This has been further supported by turn out in general elections. Up until 1997 fewer women then menvoted in a general election. This reversed in 1997 when 80.1% of women reportedly voted against 76.9% ofmen. By 2001 the diVerence was insignificant. However what is now increasingly noticeable is the low turnout amongst BME women.

3. There are some other important and distinctive features based on gender that should be acknowledged.Women are more sceptical of politics and politicians—they are more dissatisfied with political leaders andless likely to believe that the government is delivering improvements in public services.36 Women and mencontinue to prioritise issues diVerently with women in particular placing high levels of priority on publicservices like education and healthcare. In addition, when asked, women place a higher priority than men onissues such as equal pay.37

4. Women consistently take longer to form a definite opinion of party leaders and when they do take aview, tend to be more negative. Although it is too early to reach a definitive conclusion, since Brown becamePM satisfaction levels among women and men have been similar and if anything women have been slightlymore positive about Brown.38

5. In a nutshell women “do” their politics diVerently but for too long politics has been packaged only tocapture and woo men. As Katherine Rake, Director of the Fawcett Society said: “Politicians are right to beconcerned about women’s votes, but they need to be worrying about the long-term trends rather than thevery latest poll. Women’s dissatisfaction with politics and politicians has grown to crisis levels and politicianswanting to win women’s support should be adopting a radical change in style and substance. Photocalls withMums at the schoolgates and a few warm words about women’s rights aren’t going to cut the mustard.”39

35 Gender and political participation—Electoral Commisison 2004.36 For example, 34% of women (compared to 47% of men) think that the government’s policies will improve Britain’s economy

while 49% of women (compared to 42% of men) think the NHS will get worse or much worse. Source: Ipsos MORI quarterlyDelivery Index aggregate data (quarters 3 & 4 of 2006 and 1 & 2 of 2007).

37 Polling conducted by Ipsos MORI between 26 and 28 October 2007 for Fawcett and UNISON showed that 72% of womenand 66% men said they were more likely to listen to a politician if they thought they were committed to ensuring equal payfor women and 59% of women and 58% of men said they would be more likely to vote for them.

38 The above October Political Monitor poll shows 40% of women (35% of men) declaring themselves satisfied with Brown asPrime Minister.

39 See Women’s Votes: Myth and Reality Fawcett Society 7 November 2007.



6. So has the presence of women as representatives increased women participation? The short answer hasto be yes. In seats where women were elected in 2001 women’s turnout was 4% higher than men’s. Womenare far more likely to agree that: “government benefits people like me” in constituencies where there is afemale MP (49% compared to 34%). In other words having more women elected representatives actuallyencourages greater participation rates amongst women more generally.

7. The Electoral Commission research demonstrates that the convenience of voting also plays animportant part in boosting turn-out. Women’s reported turnout in all-postal pilot areas in May 2003 was13% higher than men’s. The report recommends that postal and convenience voting should be more widelyavailable, to maximise the participation of women and those with parenting and caring responsibilities.

8. Further research throws up evidence that demonstrates how electing more women has changed theagenda.40 Labour’s women MPs, half of whom were selected on AWS (All Women Shortlists) has enabledthe party to be seen as modern and progressive. Furthermore, with the emergence of modern gender gapsin voting—where women have turned away from their historic support of the Conservative Party—Labour’srecord women MPs are likely to be part of the explanation for Labour’s support amongst women in the lastthree elections . There is also conclusive, albeit circumstantial evidence that the presence of greater numbersof women in the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) has led to the greater integration of women’s concernswith the government’s agenda : for example, childcare, domestic violence, and extended maternity and paidparental leave .This too is likely to have led to more women, especially younger women, voting Labour.

9. In the newly devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales the relatively high number of women has hada discernable impact on shaping their policy agendas. In both bodies, women parliamentarians havechampioned issues such as childcare, the social economy and equal pay. An increase in the number of womenelected should lead not only to a more diverse policy agenda but also lead to a higher quality of decision-making.

10. But despite positive action measures the level of representation for women still falls short of anacceptable level. If we continue at this pace it will take a few hundred years to reach parity. And if we can’tget it right for women—who make up 51% of the population—then how can we start to get it right for otherswho also feel under-represented and marginalised.

11. One of the biggest and most institutionalised barriers still has to do with money. Money equals power.Despite the fact that almost half of the British workforce is now women on average a women who worksfull time earn 17% less than men. In the thirty years since the introduction of the Equal Pay Act there havebeen many advances for women in work and society as a whole but equal pay is still a long way oV.

12. This is re-inforced by gender segregation of jobs. Women workers tend to be concentrated into anarrow range of low paid occupations. Many work part time where the gender pay gap is stuck at nearly40%. An Equal Opportunities Commission investigation “Free to Choose”41 found that occupationalsegregation remained as entrenched as ever. The investigation focused on five sectors, includingconstruction, where there are currently skills shortages and an imbalance in the concentration of women andmen. Jobs which are classified as women’s work command lower wages than men’s work even when theyrequire similar qualification levels, leading to inequalities in pay and income. The Just Pay Task ForceReport identified occupational segregation as one of the three key causes of the gender pay gap. Add to thisthe tendancy for broken employment patterns and part-time working and the result is womens lower lifetimeearnings.

13. Until women are equal players in all parts of society it will be hard to see how they can fullyrepresented because they are coming from behind in the game that has to be played to get elected. Nevermore so is this apparent than at Boardroom level. Just a mere 12% of FTSE 100 directorships are held bywomen. There are interesting repercussions from this woeful gender imbalance. Last weeks Observer posedthe interesting question: “If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters, run by women instead of men,would the credit crunch have happened? As the report goes on to mention: “Both feminist and mainstreameconomists have pointed out that the credit crunch is quite literally a man-made disaster, a monster createdin the testosterone-drenched environment of Wall Street and the City. There is a growing body of opinionthat, if there had been more female decision-makers, the agony could have been avoided.42

14. So what can the government do? Well first of all the government needs to think long and hard aboutsome of the messages it sends out. Trying to get more women into positions of power and influence in publiclife and yet at the same presiding over deregulation of the sex industry—notably lap dancing clubs—was atbest stupid. At worst it has done huge disservice to women by undermining gender equality and adding tothe abuse and discrimination that women face.

40 This is what happens when you don’t listen’36—All Women Shortlists at the 2005 General Election by David Cutts andEdward Fieldhouse, University of Manchester and Sarah Childs, University of Bristol

41 Equal Opportunities Commission—“Free to Choose”—March 2005.42 http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/18/women-credit-crunch-ruth-sunderland.



15. Let’s be brave as well. In 2003, Norway passed a law requiring 40% of directors to be women byJanuary 2008, and they have now exceeded that target—at 44.2%, Norway has the highest level of womenboard members in the world. Initially, there was considerable resistance to the new law, but once companiesknew that they would be put out of business if they didn’t comply, they set out to find women to fill thequota.43 Why not legislate for this—now seems absolutely the right time.

16. Gender proofing for certain government initiatives is also much needed especially with fundedprojects that aid and assist communities. Interestingly in Ireland there are Gender Impact AssessmentGuidelines to assist in the implementation of the National Development Plan.

17. In terms of encouraging more women into public life there is a continuing theme of the need to findand use ambassadors and role models for women, especially in socially and economically deprived areas orareas where there are large numbers of ethnic and minority groups. Women need to have role models toaspire to that they can relate to. Rachida Dati did women a huge disservice by coming back to work fivedays after the birth of her child. Women need role models that reflect their lives not raise the bar for maleexpectations.

18. At South Yorkshire Women’s Development Trust we have been delivering Women Into Public Lifecourses for seven years and capacity building programmes for BME Women’s groups for the last two years.Like all small voluntary and community organisations we face continual funding crises and bureaucratichurdles that act as a disincentive to delivery. We need to put money into programmes that are aimedspecifically at supporting women into public life. And we need more formal and accessible support andmentoring groups for women—especially for those who are starting out in business or work from home.

19. While a critical mass of women is necessary to ensure women’s representation, the quality of therepresentation is just as important. Training is crucial to avoid the trap of electing “token women”. In otherwords there has to be a system in place that identifies and supports women through the process—possiblyfor as long as two years with appropriate support and mentoring.

20. The selection process for becoming a councillor or an MP needs to be revisited. Parliamentaryselections are lengthy, expensive and not all always scrupulously clean. We would not expect captains ofindustry to go through such a long process and there must be better, more transparent ways of selectingcandidates. Indeed the way they are currently constructed favours those who have money and flexible workpatterns. Indeed there is anecdotal evidence of some selections costing candidates upwards of £10,000. Soif you have caring responsibility and no money you have little chance of becoming an MP.

21. The selection process for local elections is often a lottery with no money put aside for political partiesto do what is most needed—to nurture and support aspiring candidates. What tends to happen is thatselections are done at the last minute and in crisis mode with many branches ignoring positive action orsimply being unable to comply with positive action because there are no women coming forward ascandidates.

22. All Women Short Lists and positive action measures have many critics, sometimes from womenthemselves. They are blunt sticks to beat a deep-rooted and persistent problem of gender inequality. But atthe moment they have been seen to work. They will only work, though if applied across the board in equalmeasures for ALL political parties and in all areas of public life. And greater representation at Westminsterwill only really work if we have alongside this measures to ensure more women in the Boardroom and insenior positions in the workplace.

GENDER AND POLITICS IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE: JULY 2007

Gender of South Yorkshire Councillors

4437

4455

1926

18

29

0

20

40

60

80

100

Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham Sheffield

Women

Men

43 For further information look at the Centre for Women and Democracy website www.cfwd.org.uk. Director Nan Sloane hasdone some excellent work on women and representation both here and abroad.



Gender of South Yorkshire Councillors by %

70%59%

71% 66%

30%41%

29%34%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%


Women

Men

Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham SheYeld

Men 70% 59% 71% 66%Women 30% 41% 29% 34%

Total in SouthBarnsley Doncaster Rotherham SheYeld Yorkshire

Men 44 37 44 55 180Women 19 26 18 29 92Total 63 63 62 84 272

Women Councillors by Authority and Party

0

5

10

15

20

Barnsley 13 1 5 0 0

Doncaster 14 2 4 6 0

Rotherham 16 0 1 1 0

Sheffield 17 11 0 0 1

Labour Lib Dem Independent Conservative Green

Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham SheYeld Total

Labour 13 14 16 17 60Lib Dem 1 2 0 11 14Independent 5 4 1 0 10Conservative 0 6 1 0 7Green 0 0 0 1 1Total 19 26 18 29 92



OVERALL PICTURE IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE

Women Cllrs Total number of Cllrs % women

Labour 60 156 38.46Lib Dem 14 53 26.42Independent 10 39 25.64Conservative 7 22 31.82Green 1 2 50.00Total 92 272

Members of Parliament in South Yorkshire by gender

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5


Men

Women

What do the figures show?

Doncaster comes out ahead both for women Councillors (41%) and women Members of Parliament, (twoout of three).

Rotherham is the worst with only 29% of women on the council and all three Members of Parliamentare male.

Political Parties

Labour has the highest percentage of women Councillors 38% in South Yorkshire. It is diYcult to includethe Independents in the statistics as they represent community groups or stand as individuals without anyreal party structure to influence selection.

Ethnic Minorities

The position of women from ethnic minorities in all four South Yorkshire areas is appalling. It is not themost exact science but going on names alone there are no women from a South Asian background despitemaking up 2.6% of the population in South Yorkshire.

Overall—Local Government

It is diYcult to make a thorough assessment of the state of women in political life in South Yorkshirewithout the following information.

How many female candidates and female candidates from minority ethnic backgrounds were selected tofight seats considered “safe”?

It can certainly be considered “good experience” for candidates to stand in unwinnable seats, however, ifwomen are repeatedly selected for these seats without progressing to a winnable seat it can interpreted as away of meeting party quota’s without depriving the “boys”, of almost guaranteed positions in publicrepresentation..



Parliamentary Seats

There are currently 11 male and four female Members of Parliament in South Yorkshire.

At the 2005 General Election there were seventy seven candidates from all parties, in South Yorkshire.61 men, and 16 women.

Of the big three parties:

Labour: stood 11 men and four women. The four women were in winnable seats and all won. 10 men won,all in supposedly safe Labour seats. One woman retired and was replaced by a winning female (SheYeldHillsborough), One male retired and was replaced by a winning male (Doncaster North).

Conservatives: 10 men and five women.

Lib Dems: 13 men and two women. Won one seat—Male.

Of the other parties standing 27 male and five female candidates were fielded.

Submission from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women Councillors Taskforce (SC–21)

Valuing Talent

Why targeting local councillors will increase the numbers of under-represented groups in the House ofCommons

What is the Taskforce?

1. The cross party Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women Councillors Taskforce worksacross the political parties to find ways to make local councils more representative of the communities theyspeak for. It brings together members from a wide range of backgrounds from every region in England andfrom Scotland and Wales.

2. The Taskforce is led by Baroness Uddin of Bethnal Green. Its remit is to foster change throughpractical action. This will typically include mentoring and training new councillors and developing networksthrough which they can share best practice. Key to this is learning from local successes where they exist andworking closely to bind in the political parties, as they will inevitably be the main vehicles for improvedprocesses and outcomes.

3. The Taskforce was oYcially launched on 19 May 2008 and is holding a series of events around thecountry to attract and engage women.

4. A full list of the membership is attached at Annex 1.

Key Facts

5. In terms of representation of women and, specifically, those from ethnic minorities local authorities arecurrently faring a little better than Parliament.

6. The key figures are as follows:44

In 2008

— 19.4% of MPs are women

— 30.8 % of councillors are women

— 5.6% of the population of England are ethnic minority women

— 0.3% of MPs are ethnic minority women

— 0.8% of councillors in England are ethnic minority women

7. According to research by the House of Commons Library, MPs do not come from socially diversebackgrounds—they are over-whelmingly represented by the professions, business and other white collaroccupations. There is no doubt that there needs to be a greater mix of MPs to ensure parliament can betterreflect society at large.

44 Government Equalities OYce Factsheet—Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women in Political and Public Life in the UK—November 2008.



A pool of talent—why local councillors make good MPs

8. This evidence does not seek to say that Councils have it right and Parliament has it wrong. Thenumbers of women, black and ethnic minorities and disabled people represented in our local authorities arefar too low. For example, to create a more representative picture amongst councillors, the number of BAMEwomen councillors would need to increase five-fold—from just around 149 to nearer a thousand.

9. But those women from ethnic minorities who have broken through the extensive barriers at local levelto become eVective representatives are prime candidates to take the next step and become nationalrepresentatives. They will already have the many of the qualities needed to become an MP as well asexperience of the cut and thrust of politics and the confidence to be an eVective advocate for the people theyrepresent.

10. Feedback from the early outreach events has identified that councillors have developed key skills suchas leadership, working in partnership, communications and understanding of political systems.

11. Each of these skills translates directly into the job description of an MP. In fact, it can be argued thatthose Councillors with executive responsibilities are acting like Ministers in that they need to be strategic,take management decisions and have budgetary control.

12. In addition to these identified skills, councillors carry out extensive casework and hold regularsurgeries for the public. In fact, MPs often ask councillors to cover or sit in on their surgeries. They also hostor attend local forums and have to be answerable for their own actions, those of their Council and theirParty.

13. In addition, they will have been through the tough challenge that is selection to become a Councillor,and, although political selection for parliamentary candidates can be very challenging, this previousselection process will prepare them for what is to come.

14. Finally, local councillors are already interested in and committed to the ethos of public service. Theyare certainly not driven by remuneration and are much closer to the voters than many MPs have ever been.

15. Research by the Fawcett Society and Government Equalities OYce (Routes to Power) shows that, forethnic minority women, there is a real desire to make a diVerence to people’s lives through influence andaccess to resources. This manifests itself in their greater involvement in organisations at local level wherethey feel they can make a real impact. The Taskforce has already made contact with very many ethnicminority women who want to make a diVerence to society and have a say in how we are governed. Someare councillors but others are not. There is a wealth of significantly talented women at grassroots level whosecontribution needs to be harnessed.

16. The challenge is to tap, and give confidence to, this pool of talent and persuade these eVectiveoperators that the next step for them is the House of Commons.

Learning from local government

17. Some local authorities are working hard to try and improve the numbers of all under-representedgroups. Some of this work is equally applicable at parliamentary level and so will be of interest to theSpeaker’s Conference.

18. The following is a brief summary: more extensive detail can be found in the final report of theindependent Councillors Commission 2007.

19. Research carried out for the Councillors Commission (Chaired by Dame Jane Roberts) on theincentives for, and barriers to, becoming councillors faced by under-represented groups identified thefollowing as some of the reasons that these groups chose not to become councillors:

— confrontational politics

— assumptions/stereotyping

— the clubby atmosphere of political parties and local councils

— not being asked

20. Some of the suggestions for addressing these issues are:

— outreach to potential councillors through forums, media campaigns etc

— working in collaboration with Operation Black Vote

— shadowing schemes

— informal networks

— ensuring people are asked

All of these ideas would work at national level.



21. Additionally, while it is not the purpose of the Speaker’s Conference to identify how to make localgovernment more representative of society at large, we would argue that there would be a direct impact onthe diversity levels of parliamentary representatives if improvements were made locally. The greater thenumber of ethnic minority women councillors, the greater the possibility of encouraging more women tostep up to parliament.

Conclusion

22. There exists a pool of talent amongst our councillors that, with some concerted national eVort, canbe drawn upon to build the numbers of ethnic minority women in the House of Commons. This is not thesole answer to the issue faced by the Speaker’s Conference but it is a contribution to what will inevitably bea wide ranging report and recommendations. The Taskforce is committed to building the numbers of ethnicminority women represented in our local authorities and believes that not only will this improve our localinstitutions but it has the potential to help bring about change at national level.

23. Early indications from the work of the Taskforce work reveals that political parties have a lot moreto do. The fact that so many women are expressing a desire to be involved by attending the outreach eventsshows there is no shortage of talent available to the parties but these women are still not being asked, selectedand elected. Motivation amongst this group of women will have multiplied in recent days as they witnessthe momentous events across the Atlantic and that motivation needs to be harnessed.

24. The members of the Taskforce themselves are examples of success and can act as powerful advocatesto other women. They are already champions for their communities and for ethnic minority women as awhole.

25. The Taskforce will continue to feed in relevant information as it is received from the local events weare holding, as they will inevitably look at the issue of why the under-representation exists in the first place.

Recommendations

26. These recommendations are specific to ethnic minority woman as that is the remit of the Taskforce.However, they will easily translate to other under-represented groups. The key will be to bind in allpolitical parties:

— commission research into, and collect data on, the diversity of local council candidates includingstatistics on the numbers of under-represented groups who actually get elected;

— carry out analysis of the link between councillors and MPs and map the most eVective route;

— each political party to identify and draw up a database of ethnic minority women councillors andcandidates and use the database to:

— raise awareness and understanding of the role of MPs, explain the skills involved andencourage women to step forward;

— set up networks, organise seminars, training etc; and

— oVer shadowing opportunities.

— use the Taskforce members as role models to champion greater engagement of BAME women innational politics.

Annex 1Membership of the Taskforce

Baroness Uddin ChairCllr Lurline Champagnie: London: Harrow, ConsCllr Maya de Souza: London: Camden, GreenCllr Meral Ece OBE: London: Islington, Lib DemCllr Anwara Ali: London: Tower Hamlets, LabCllr Lorna Campbell: London: Lambeth, LabCllr Sherma Batson MBE: Stevenage, LabCllr Humaira Javed: South East: Windsor and Maidenhead, Lib DemCarol Francis: Former Cllr South West: Gloucester, LabCllr Mimi Harker: South East: Chiltern District, ConsCllr Manjula Sood: East Midlands: Leicester City, LabCllr Salma Yaqoob: West Midlands: Sparkbrook, Birmingham City, RespectCllr Svetlana Rodgers: Yorkshire & Humberside, Lib DemCllr Mia Jones: North West: Chester City, Lib DemThea Khamis: Former Cllr North East: DerwentsideYvonne Jardine: Former Cllr Wales: Swansea, LabNeelam Bakshi: Former Cllr Scotland



Submission from the Hansard Society (SC–22)

Summary of Recommendations

1. In order to make the Westminster Parliament more representative in the future:

Political parties should:

— take measures to substantially increase the number of women, BME and disabled MPs. Theseshould involve measures not only in relation to selection procedures but also winnability

— publicly endorse the objective of increasing the number of women, BME and disabled MPs, andpublish their strategies setting out how they intend to achieve this objective

— remain free to choose their own means of implementation, which will range from encouragementand guidance to more formal procedures which would result in the election of equal numbers ofmen and women and increased numbers of BME and disabled MPs

— ensure that selection processes are non-discriminatory, taking account of existing advice onpromoting equality, providing training for party selection committees and party members whereappropriate

— encourage women, BME and disabled citizens from a diversity of socio-economic and ethnicbackgrounds to seek political oYce, employing party staV with a specific brief to talent spot andmentor potential candidates

— act to eliminate any sexual and racial discrimination and harassment in their parties, and provideleadership in this area in relation to recruitment to party positions and staV appointments. Partiesmay wish to consider internal race and gender quotas for such positions

— monitor selection procedures using people with appropriate experience of equality issues (egequality monitors) and report on the outcome of their selection processes after each election.

The Government should:

— while recognising the independence of parties, endorse a permanent place for permissive legislationon the selection of women candidates. It should, along with all parties, actively support theextension of the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act that permits the use of equalityguarantees and which is due to expire in 2015. We note that many wish to go further and introduceprescriptive legislation, a move recommended in the Women at the Top 2005 report45

— provide grants via the Electoral Commission to parties to fund both the employment of a memberof staV in each region specifically tasked with talent spotting and mentoring potential candidatesand the creation, operation and monitoring of equality selection procedures

— fund research on equal representation. After the general election a detailed study of the eYcacy ofthe parties’ diVerent approaches to improving representation will be required. Additionally, anunder-researched area is the question of resources that are available to aspirant women and BMEcandidates in all parties when seeking selection and election. For example, a known genderresource imbalance exists with women facing a significant pay gap, more likely to be working inthe low paid sectors of the economy, and more likely to be bearing domestic and caringresponsibilities than aspirant male candidates. What impact does the availability of resources, bothtime and money, have and how can it be addressed? One possibility would be to establish a national“Emily’s List” style funding body, perhaps administered by the Electoral Commission, to supportfemale, BME and disabled candidates.

The Westminster Parliament should:

— commission a research study of the lessons to be learnt from Scotland and Wales with regard tothe representation of women, exploring how the political parties and the new political institutionsachieved a significantly higher level of representation than the House of Commons, what reformshave been instituted and how important these have been in improving female representation levels,and what factors account for the recent decline in the number of women elected in the devolvedlegislatures at the last elections

— undertake an audit to explore the degree to which female and BME MPs and staV have experiencedharassment of some kind

— deploy gender and BME sensitivity training to all staV employed by Parliament and by MPs.

45 S. Childs, J. Lovenduski & R. Campbell, (2005), Women at the Top 2005: Changing Numbers, Changing Politics? (London:Hansard Society), p.99.



Women at the Top

2. The Hansard Society undertakes research to stimulate reform of political institutions and theparliamentary process and has particularly focused on women in politics and political engagement morebroadly in recent years.

3. In 1990 the Hansard Society established the Women at the Top Commission to, “identify barriers tothe appointment of women to senior occupational positions, and to other positions of power and influence,and to make recommendations as to how these barriers could be overcome”.46

4. 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the original Women at the Top report. Since publication, we haverevisited the issues raised within the report every five years, reviewing the progress that has been made inbreaking the so called “glass ceiling” in both the public and private sectors.

5. The last update was an independently commissioned report, Women at the Top 2005: ChangingNumbers Changing Politics? which focused in particular on developments in the political sphere. It is thefindings of this report to which we wish to draw the attention of the Speaker’s Conference. Published afterthe 2005 general election, little has changed in the years since, and accordingly its findings form the bulk ofour recommendations with regard to the representation of women in the House of Commons.

BME and Disabled Representation

6. Achieving improved representation of BME and disabled citizens is as important as securing equalrepresentation for women.

7. However, these issues are not areas where the Hansard Society has conducted substantial research. Wehave not conducted research into disabled representation and therefore this submission does not specificallyaddress this aspect of the Conference’s work. Nor have we conducted detailed research into BMErepresentation issues. However, the views of BME respondents do form part of our annual Audit of PoliticalEngagement and where appropriate we have drawn on this Audit evidence to illustrate issues in relation toBME representation.

Unbalanced Representation in the House of Commons

8. Women make up half of the UK electorate and yet at the 2005 general election only 19% of the MPselected were women. Only 23% of the total number of candidates fielded by the three main parties werewomen (432 out of 1,451) of which only 125 were elected to the House of Commons. Looking at thecandidates fielded by all parties at the general election, women comprised 20.3% of the total number, or720 female candidates compared to 2,834 male candidates. Fairness and justice demands that theserepresentational inequalities be addressed.

9. Political decisions made at Westminster shape our lives in every aspect of the public and private sphere.It is therefore vital that women’s views, opinions and aspirations play a full role in our political andlegislative debate. A Parliament that better represents the full range of the people it serves will be enrichedby such diversity and will help to change society’s attitude towards women as role models in positions ofpower and influence.

10. An increase in the number of women in the House of Commons will not itself guarantee delivery oflegislative and policy priorities for women. Female MPs will still, for example, be subject to the sameparliamentary procedural mechanisms that face men such as collective commitment to their party’smanifesto and adherence to the whipping system, all of which influence the direction of the political agenda.

11. However, concern about parliamentary under-representation arises not solely from anxiety thatissues aVecting women are not prioritised—though this may be true—but rather that the under-representation of women in Parliament inhibits the quality and vision of decision making, limiting as it doesthe full range and scope of influences and perspectives that are brought to bear in legislative debate and onthe policy making process.

12. For too long, debate about increasing the number of women MPs has been caught up in a widerdebate about the merits of the women who get to Parliament through some form of positive discrimination.This debate needs to be disentangled if progress is to be made. In the final analysis, it is the democratic rightof women—comprising half of the electorate—to be fairly represented in Parliament, regardless of whetheror not they will make a diVerence when they get there. The right of women to be in Parliament existsseparately from any debate about the intellectual and behavioural merits of individual women asparliamentarians.

13. In recent years the House of Lords has become increasingly more representative and now has a higherproportion of women members, and women in leadership positions, than does the House of Commons. TheHouse of Lords today has 148 women members, four out of the last five Leaders of the House have beenwomen, the Convenor of Crossbench peers and the Opposition Chief Whip are women and 41% of

46 Hansard Society Commission (1990), The Report of the Hansard Society Commission on Women at the Top (London: HansardSociety), p.xiii.



appointments made by the House of Lords Appointments Commission since 2004 have been women.Similarly, there are now 28 BME peers and seven BME (21%) appointments were made by the House ofLords Appointments Commission between 2004 and 2008.

14. In the 2005 general election, BME candidates represented only 5.1% of Labour’s candidates and only6.2% of the Conservative Party’s candidates. In total only 15 BME MPs were elected by the two parties, andnone by the Liberal Democrats. As with female representation, it is imperative that the House of Commonsrepresents the people it serves and therefore that BME representation more broadly reflects the ethnic make-up of British society.

The Relationship Between Levels of Representation and Voter Attitudes to Parliament

15. Recent Hansard Society research demonstrates that there is a link between levels of representationand voter attitudes to Parliament. Only 18% of a sample group of citizens questioned in 2008 believe that:“Parliament broadly reflects the make-up of British society” and only 19% believe that: “Parliament isworking for me”.47 These findings are of profound concern for a democratic system.

16. Hansard Society research has also consistently found a marked contrast in the professed knowledge,likely participation and interest levels of men and women with regard to politics and Parliament. Since 2004,our annual Audit of Political Engagement has found that on average, over half of men (54%) have said theyknow a great deal or a fair amount about politics. Only 35% of women have said the same.48 On averagea majority of women—65%—say they know not very much or nothing at all about politics, compared toonly 45% of men. While 54% of men say that they know either “a fair amount” or “a great deal” about theHouse of Commons, just 31% of women say the same.49 The Audit has found that over half of men (54%)say they feel they know about the role of MPs, compared to 39% of women.50 The Parliament and the Publicreport showed that while 42% of men agreed with the statement, “I feel I have a good understanding ofParliament”, only 24% of women felt the same.51

17. However, perception of knowledge is not the same as actual knowledge. Our research suggests thatfeeling knowledgeable about politics and the political system does not always equate with holding actualpolitical knowledge. Men tend to overestimate their actual political knowledge, while women are moreinclined to underestimate their knowledge.52 For example, while the percentage of men reporting a greatdeal or a fair amount of knowledge about politics is nearly 20 points higher than that of women, theproportion that can name their MP is only six points higher (47% versus 41%).53 Men are also more likelyto say that they are interested in Parliament (55% of men compared to 50% of women), but more womenthan men say they would like to know more about Parliament (49% of women compared to 44% of men).54

18. These research findings would suggest that women tend to be less bullish in their attitude toParliament and politics, less likely to assume knowledge and more likely to be open to new information andopportunities for engagement.

19. Last year’s Audit of Political Engagement showed that BME respondents are far less likely (27%) thanwhite respondents (53%) to say that they are interested in politics.55 The BME community is also far lesslikely than many other groups to be political activists—only 1% of BME respondents classified themselvesas political activists compared to 13% of white respondents.56

20. In an interesting parallel, the number of BME respondents who believe that they can make adiVerence in society matches the Audit’s average of 31% for all groups, and they are far less likely to say thatthey cannot change things (28% for BMEs compared to 42% overall).57 These findings are reflected in otherresearch. For example, the Citizenship Survey found that BMEs are more likely than white people to feelthey can influence decisions at both the national and local levels. This survey found that although only 19%of white people felt they could influence decisions aVecting the country, the corresponding figure for BMErespondents is 33%. This diVerence was also found in relation to people’s perceptions of local decisionswhere only 27% of white people felt they could exercise influence but 37% of BMEs felt the same.58

47 S. Kalitowski (2008), Parliament and the Public: Knowledge, Interests and Perceptions (London: Hansard Society), p.11.48 Hansard Society Briefing Paper (2008), No Politics Please….We’re Women: Gender and Political Engagement (London:

Hansard Society), p.1.49 Ibid., p.1.50 Ibid., p.2.51 S. Kalitowski, op cit., p.5.52 Hansard Society Briefing Paper, op cit., p.2.53 Hansard Society Briefing Paper, op cit., p.2.54 Hansard Society Briefing Paper, op cit., p.3.55 Hansard Society (2008), Audit of Political Engagement 5 (London: Hansard Society), p.14.56 Ibid., p.20.57 Ibid., p.38.58 Department for Communities and Local Government Race, Cohesion and Faith Research Unit and National Centre for

Social Research (October 2008), Citizenship Survey, 2007, 6th edition (Colchester: UK Data Archive).



Selection and Election of Women

21. The most significant problem facing women is not that they cannot get selected as candidates—though selection in many instances remains diYcult—but rather that, compared to men, they struggledisproportionately to be selected in winnable seats.

22. The selection of women candidates has generally improved in each of the main parties in the last fourgeneral elections. In 1992 for example, the Conservative Party selected only 63 women candidates but in2005 it fielded 118. In 1992 Labour fielded 138 female candidates, with 166 selected to run in 2005. TheLiberal Democrats in contrast have remained broadly static in the number of female candidates selected: in1992 women were chosen in 143 seats and in 2005 in 142 seats with some regression in 2001 when only135 women were selected. In total the three main parties fielded 432 female candidates between them at the2005 general election but in no single party did they form more than 30% of all selections.

23. The selection processes of each party at the last general election are set out in detail in the Women atthe Top 2005 report, and to which we refer Members for further information (see Section 1 of the report).59

24. As selection procedures in all the main parties are now well advanced for the next general election,one area of research work that is needed is a detailed up-to-date study of the resources that are available toaspirant women, BME and disabled candidates in all parties when seeking selection and election and theimpact that the availability of such resources (both time and money) has on representation, particularlygiven the known gender and class resource imbalance that exists in society.

25. Women, for example, face a significant pay gap, are more likely to be working in the low paid sectorsof the economy, and are far more likely to be bearing domestic and caring responsibilities than aspirant malecandidates. What impact are these factors having on the current political recruitment cycle, not just on thenumbers of women who are seeking selection as parliamentary candidates but also on the range ofbackgrounds from which these women emerge? While the selection and election of more women isimportant, if the parliamentary process is truly to be enriched it would be best served by a Parliament inwhich the new women MPs are drawn from a range of diverse backgrounds, reflecting the full gamut ofwomen’s experiences in the UK today.

Equality Guarantees: Quotas

26. The key distinguishing feature of the selection processes at the last three general elections is that onlythe Labour Party introduced equality guarantees—in 1997 and 2005—and only Labour delivered asignificant increase in female representation in its parliamentary ranks at these elections.

27. Equality guarantees—a form of quota—create an artificial demand to ensure that women candidatesfight a fair share of winnable seats. Winnability was defined by Labour in the run-up to the 1997 election asall those seats where a sitting Labour MP was standing down or where the seat could be won by the Partyon a swing of 6% or less. In advance of the 2005 general election the Labour Party introduced All WomenShortlists (AWS) to replace retiring male MPs initially on a voluntary basis but with its National ExecutiveCommittee empowered to impose AWS where necessary in order to ensure that at least 50% of all vacantseats were filled with female candidates.

28. At the same time, the Labour Party in seeking to increase the number of BME candidates and MPsdetermined that seats considered winnable by a BME candidate (ie where the constituency had a significantBME population) would not necessarily be classified for an AWS selection.

29. DiVerent initiatives have been used by parties at diVerent times but only the most robust form—equality guarantees—has delivered eVective change. The Conservative Party chose not to pursue quotasthrough AWS, believing them to be unfair in principle. Since the 2005 general election, the party leadershiphas established an “A List” of candidates with a view to selecting them in the most winnable seats. Thesuccess of this strategy will be predicated on whether or not women are equally distributed throughout thelist. It remains to be seen whether this will prove as eVective an approach as quotas has been for Labour andafter the general election a detailed research study of the eVectiveness or otherwise of the parties’ diVerentapproaches to improving representation will be required.

30. It is worth noting that three women MPs have died since the 2005 general election (GwynethDunwoody (Labour), Rachel Squire (Labour) and Patsy Calton (Lib Dem). All three have been replaced inby-elections by male candidates (2 Conservative and 1 Lib Dem). Similarly, no woman has been elected ina by-election in this Parliament where the seat was previously occupied by a man and there was only oneinstance of a woman winning a by-election in the last Parliament (Sarah Teather for the Lib Dems). Thisis important given that we know that the parties are able to exercise more central control over by-electionselections.

31. Unless the strategies adopted by all three main political parties to improve female representation areequally robust and have a high likelihood of success, then the number of women MPs will likely decreaseat the next general election—particularly if the only party adopting the one proven model (ie quotas) is

59 S. Childs, J. Lovenduski & R. Campbell, op cit., p.18-47.



struggling in popularity and is unlikely or unable to expand its base. That is why the Women at the Top2005 report recommended that the Government consider prescriptive rather than permissive legislation inthis field.

32. Quotas are not a perfect solution but they do deliver change quickly. For example, Labour used AWSin 1997 and 2005 and at each election the number of its candidates and MPs increased whereas in 2001, whenthey were not used, the number of female Labour MPs declined.

33. There is resistance to the use of quotas in all parties, and there is debate about the extent to whichtheir introduction is fair. However, quotas are a means to an end—to address unequal representation in theHouse of Commons as quickly and eVectively as possible—and they are no less fair than the current situationin which fewer than one in five MPs are women.

34. There has also been criticism that quotas lead to the creation of second class female MPs who get toWestminster by virtue of positive discrimination rather than on their own merits in equal competition withmen. However, as the Women at the Top 2005 report demonstrates, the reality of political selection processesis that many women are simply not competing on an equal footing with men—the selection process can bestacked against women, thereby enshrining unfairness and inequality.

35. Nor is there evidence to bear out the claim that All Women Shortlists have resulted in the creation ofa second class tier of MPs. Of the 26 Labour women MPs newly elected in 2005, 23 were selected by AllWomen Shortlists but most people, including their constituents, would be hard pressed to know which. Oncethe newly elected woman MP arrives at the House of Commons any residual concerns about the method oftheir selection is expunged by the authority and legitimacy that winning a popular mandate in a generalelection confers on them.

36. Quotas are permitted under the auspices of the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act. Thatlegislation is due to expire in 2015. All parties and the Government should be encouraged to give an earlycommitment to extend the timeframe of the Act.

Other Measures to aid Selection and Election of Women and BME Candidates

37. Talent spotting and mentoring of potential candidates by political parties is crucial if the number ofcandidates is to be increased and broadened. One way to do this, in order to avoid an over-concentrationon London/South-East candidates who prosper by virtue of their personal contacts with party staV and MPsmight be to provide national funding to all parties, via the Electoral Commission, to enable them to employa member of staV in each region tasked specifically and solely with broadening their party’s representation.

38. Additionally, consideration might be given to establishing a national “Emily’s List” style fund onwhich some potential candidates from all parties could draw to enable women, BME and disabled citizensto cover the expenses associated with seeking elected oYce.

39. The political parties should seek at all times to ensure that selection processes are non-discriminatorythrough, for example, the employment of equality promotion measures—for example, gender and BlackMinority Ethnic (BME) sensitivity training for party selection committees and party members.

40. In advance of the 2005 general election the Labour Party utilised selection monitors to examine theselection processes in relation to equal opportunities and their work was supported by a Race EqualityForum. This approach should be examined to determine whether it can be a model for future development.All parties should seek to monitor their selection procedures using equality trained monitors and produceevaluation reports at the conclusion of their selection processes to assess the outcomes and progress that hasbeen made and to learn lessons for the future. Given the diVerent selection procedures being operated by allthree main parties for the next general election this will be a crucial piece of research.

41. The experience of women and BME people at Westminster would be enhanced by changes in theorganisational culture of the House of Commons and Parliament generally. The Hansard Society has heardanecdotal evidence of problems in relation to human resources and some form of research—for example anaudit—is needed to explore this issue and determine its true extent.

42. Additionally, in accordance with professional human resource practices, gender and BME sensitivitytraining could be deployed by Parliament to its own staV and to the staV of MPs following the generalelection.

Lessons from Beyond Westminster

43. As of November 2008 the Westminster Parliament ranked 60th in the Inter Parliamentary Union(IPU) League table of female representation. Countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Uganda andAngola as well as Iraq and Afghanistan all have higher levels of female parliamentary representation thanthe UK.60

60 Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in National Parliaments, www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm (as at 21 January 2009).



44. International comparisons and case studies are set out in detail in Section 3 of the Women at the Top2005 report which we refer Members for further information.61

45. The parliamentary characteristics, broader political environment and cultural background of manyof the nations ranked above the UK in the IPU league table are not comparable to the UK system. Yet evenin Western Europe and Anglo-American democracies with similar socio-cultural patterns there aredramatically diVerent levels of representation. Research conducted for Women at the Top 2005demonstrated dramatically diVerent percentages of women in Parliament from 11.55% in Italy to 45% inSweden.62

46. The research concluded that the best established finding linking these international comparatorstogether is that women fare best in proportional electoral systems, though the existence of a PR system doesnot guarantee a higher presence of women.63

47. The report concluded that women often benefit from proportional representation party list systemsbecause: when using a list parties are more likely to oVer socially balanced slates of candidates to theelectorate; there tend to be more vacancies because the eVect of incumbency is not so relevant as with thefirst past the post election model; and because a list oVers more opportunities to include women withoutexcluding men then parties are more likely to opt for equality guarantees.

48. Fast track measures to improve women’s representation have now been used across the globe andmore than 90 countries have adopted quotas or other similar equality guarantee measures.

49. But perhaps the most immediately useful comparisons can be drawn from the UK where the ScottishParliament and the National Assembly for Wales have both outdone Westminster in female representation.In the 2003 election in Scotland, 43 female MSPs were elected (38.4%) for the four main parties, and in Wales30 female AMs were elected. At the last election in 2007 however, there was some regression with only42 women (33.3%) elected to the Scottish Parliament from the four main parties and 27 women (45.8%)elected to the National Assembly for Wales from the four main parties.

50. In Scotland, the key features of women’s participation are family friendly working hours; recognitionof Scottish school holidays; a cross-party Parliamentary Group on Women serviced by the EqualOpportunities Commission; access, consultation and participation have been enshrined as key principles ofthe Parliament; there is an Equal Opportunities Committee in Parliament; an Equality Unit has beenestablished; equal opportunity has been made a key principle of the Parliament and a stated priority of theScottish administration, both of whom are committed to mainstreaming the issue; and memorandaaccompanying executive bills must include an equal opportunities impact statement thus ensuring that equalopportunities is considered across all areas of the Scottish Government’s work.

51. The National Assembly for Wales has followed a similar pattern, and has also established an EqualOpportunity Committee in the Assembly and an Equality Policy Unit within the government. It has placeda statutory equality duty requiring that the Assembly and its sponsored public bodies have “due regard” toequality opportunities in all their functions.

52. The combination of party selection procedures, coupled with the move away from a first past the postelectoral system and the range of initiatives outlined above, all helped secure a strong role for women in thedevolved legislatures. However, the recent election resulted in a step back. How and why this has happenedand what lessons we can learn from it is an area ripe for urgent study.

Submission from the Women Liberal Democrats (SC–23)

Summary

— The Women Liberal Democrats support the case for more women in parliament and in all politicalactivities.

— Women have diVerent and additional experiences that would enhance the debates and work ofthe house

— Little media coverage is given to women in politics despite evidence that the public vote for womenwhen they do stand

— Women still often have prime responsibility for caring and there is evidence that carers are under-represented at the councillor level as well as in parliament

— Bias against women still exists and the lack of role models and poor media coverage does not help

— Approval and selection procedures in all parties need to ensure that a fair weighting is given to thediVerent roles of an MP and do not favour an adversarial style

61 S. Childs, J. Lovenduski & R. Campbell, op cit. p.75–93.62 Ibid., p.78.63 Ibid., p.81.



— Mentoring, training and development are important tools in addressing the gap and should beavailable widely to women thinking of entering politics, at low or no cost

— The barrier of caring responsibilities and their costs needs addressing at the entry level to encouragemore women to get involved

— We encourage the committee to look at new methods to increase women’s representation includingPR and job-share possibilities.

The Representation of Women in the House of Commons

1. While the Women Liberal Democrats’ main concern is to make the case for more women in parliament,many of the points made will also apply to other groups in society that are currently under-represented inthe House of Commons. Women Liberal Democrats began in 1887 as the Women’s Liberal Federation. Weare a membership organisation open to all Party members, both women and men. Our Constitution pledgesus to eliminate all inequality based upon gender.

Problems Caused by the Unbalanced Representation in the House of Commons

2. The under-representation of women means that the House misses much relevant experience,knowledge and interest that would improve debate and detailed scrutiny of legislation. The increasedrepresentation of women would also mean that issues that particularly aVect them would have a higherprofile in parliament.

3. Women have most experience of caring in society, are often low-paid, have low pensions, suVer fromparticular forms of violence and have often led peace movements and other campaigns. For example theissue of the recognition of rape as a warcrime has not been addressed until recently. Currently issues suchas the licensing of lap-dancing clubs and the right of abused women, who have no regularised right to remainin the UK, to places in refuges is being addressed by our organisation.

4. The media—particularly television—portrays the House of Commons as a male dominatedenvironment. Women are invisible on many important occasions, for example Newsnight rarely has awoman MP interviewed. This gives an impression that women do not have the knowledge or expertise tocontribute to debate that directly aVects their lives and this means that often only a male perspective isreflected. Women MPs are often members of select committees taking an important role, although littlecoverage is given to their contribution and achievements.

5. There is evidence that voters are attracted to women candidates. In recent elections for councils wherevoters have had a choice of voting for several candidates, more votes have been cast for women than men.

6. There is evidence that various groups of women, for example the Pakistani community, prefer to havecontact with a woman than a man. The CAB has recognised this need in some areas and appointed a womanadvisor. This is very applicable to the case work and surgeries run by MPs.

Reasons for Women Not Becoming Members of Parliament

7. There are various reasons that women do not put themselves forward for election to parliament. Theseinclude the lack of role models and media portrayal as stated in paragraph 4, alongside the adversarialnature of our parliament, in particular Prime Minister’s Question Time.

8. In total only nine of the 63 Liberal Democrat MPs are women. Our four youngest MPs are women,none of whom have children. The remaining five are over 50 and no longer have direct responsibility forchild-care. We do not have any women MPs with current child-care responsibilities. We believe that moreneeds to be done to enable those with child-care responsibilities to be elected to Parliament. Even at theCouncil level, the National Census of local authority councillors for 2008 showed that 74% of Councillorsdo not have caring responsibilities. Although fathers now spend more time caring for children, women stillhave most responsibility for caring both for children and other dependents. The cost of child-care canmitigate against women who do not have suYcient financial resources in the household.

9. The Liberal Democrats have reviewed internal selection procedures to aim to ensure that women aretreated fairly in approval procedures. However there are examples where women who have been approveddo not get selected by a constituency.

10. Barriers can arise during the selection procedures at the local level. These need to be addressed toensure that women are not discriminated against unfairly through personal bias amongst voting membersand that the methods do not favour an adversarial style that may not be appropriate for women.



What can be done to increase disparities in representation?

11. The Liberal Democrats Campaign for Gender Balance provides excellent support to encouragewomen to stand for parliament and includes a mentoring scheme that particularly helps them through theapproval and selection process.

12. Party approval and selection procedures should give appropriate weighting to the diVerent roles ofan MP. Much of a back-bencher’s work is case work for constituents, small meetings and committee work.The ability to deal with a large audience and speak confidently is also an attribute needed. Weight shouldnot be given to an adversarial style. Women may have missed out on development opportunities avaiablein a business career and should have the opportunity to attend low-cost or free training to redress the gap.

13. It is possible that some of the members of our party and others are biased against selecting women.We have personal experience of members questioning the issue of child-care when considering a womancandidate. Overcoming this bias is a challenge for society—and increases the need for role models to showwomen as MPs as well as mothers and carers.

14. Currently the electoral system means that the electorate do not have a wide enough choice.Proportional representation using a party list system can result in increased numbers of women and parties .The speakers conference should look at other voting systems used in Europe and Scotland to consult morewidely. A PR multi-member constituency would invariably give all residents a choice between consulting amale or female MP.

15. One approach that is used in some countries is temporary quotas to increase the number of womenelected. Seventeen countries now have temporary quotas and their women parliamentarians are now 30 to47 per cent of the total. In Denmark where this system has been used, the number of women elected is nowhigh enough for the quotas to have been removed. Some research into methods of positive action such asthis may be helpful and would inform our view on whether to support this approach.

16. Addressing the issue of the cost of child-care and other dependent care is important to ensure thatthis barrier to entering politics at any level is removed. Although this may not be such a barrier once elected,due to allowances and salary, it is a barrier for women entering politics at all levels. The conference shouldconsider how this may be addressed where parties do not have the funds locally to pay caring allowances.A strong representation of women in local councils will, we believe, help in giving many more women anopportunity to be involved in politics and consider moving on to a parliamentary career.

17. The culture of the Commons is in itself a barrier to women and needs to be less adverserial—compulsory training of existing MPs in diversity and culture change would be helpful

18. In business there is now a much wider range of flexible and part-time working than in the past. Wesupport the investigation of more flexibility in the way that MPs work, for example job-sharing. We are ofthe view that the Speaker’s Conference should undertake research into the feasibility of this.

Submission from Paul Kennedy (SC–24)

Summary

— The so-called “first-past-the-post” system is the main reason that various disadvantaged groupsare under-represented in the House of Commons.

— In particular, the system creates and relies on “winner-takes-all” contests, which make it diYcultfor members of disadvantaged groups to obtain selection as candidates.

— We need a new electoral system which gives more choice and power to ordinary voters, not partymachines.

Submission

1. I claim no special academic or other qualifications to comment on this subject, other than that as amember of the public I am free to express my views.

2. In my view, the main reason that the House of Commons is so unrepresentative of variousdisadvantaged groups in the population at large is the so-called “first-past-the-post” system.

3. This system is inherently unrepresentative. The majority of MPs come from a single party with onlyminority support. In the current House of Commons the ruling party has a large majority even though itscandidates received just 35% of votes at the last general election.

4. The system also turns individual seats into “winner-takes-all” contests, with three main kinds ofcandidate:

4.1 Sitters. Most MPs represent safe seats, and in eVect are chosen by party members rather than thewider electorate. There is no electoral imperative to choose any kind of candidate, but there is intenseinternal competition for safe seats from ambitious would-be MPs which can disadvantage members of



minority groups. Local parties typically choose someone whom they regard as “one-of-us”, or else someonewho will bring them a bit of prestige. They are self-confident and resent external interference, so that nationalparties risk a rebellion if a minority candidate is imposed.

4.2 No-hopers. There are few obstacles to being one of these other than the risk of losing your deposit,and the futility of a hopeless campaign. Although they make-up the largest group of candidates—and someambitious candidates cut their teeth as no-hopers, and independent candidates or those from third partiessometimes manage to become realistic challengers if they manage to get into second place—no-hopers donot directly influence the composition of the House of Commons.

4.3 Champions. In marginal seats where elections can be won or lost on a small swing, parties feel theyneed carefully selected champions with wide electoral appeal. The parties pour resources into theirchampions, and do not want to take risks by choosing candidates who are not prepared to dedicatethemselves almost full-time to the campaign, or unusual candidates who will not attract wide support in theconstituency. Successful champions aim to build up a personal following so that they can become sitters.

5. A large proportion of the population feels disenfranchised by the “first-past-the-post” system, and thiswill typically include minority groups. Except in seats with so many members of a minority group that theybecome a majority, members of a minority group will find it diYcult to become either “sitters” or“champions”. The larger the disenfranchised minority the bigger the sense of alienation; the position canbecome explosive, as for example in Northern Ireland before the troubles.

6. Women are not a minority, and often have greater electoral appeal than men, so are prized aschampions. However, they are disadvantaged in various ways and need to be exceptionally determined inorder to be chosen as either a sitter or a champion.

7. What is not needed is more restrictions on voter choice, such as party list systems which give evengreater influence to party machines. Instead we need a system that gives more power to ordinary voters, suchas the ability to choose between alternative candidates from the same party, and to prioritise betweencandidates from minority parties and independents who might otherwise be eliminated as no-hopers. Weneed a system which eliminates exclusive “winner-takes-all” contests, so that both national and local partiesare more willing to trust voters to decide which of their own members should represent them in the Houseof Commons.

8. That system is the electoral system adopted in Northern Ireland (as well as the Republic), namely singletransferable vote with multi-member constituencies. Perhaps the best illustration of the success of thissystem in promoting the election of women and minority groups is the election of Anna Lo in Belfast South.

9. Unfortunately, the “first-past-the-post” system is diYcult to change, because it entrenches power in thehands of groups who are unwilling to give it up, such as the majority of MPs themselves, the two biggestparties, both at local and national level, and their financial backers. As long as this system persists, there isa danger that the distortions which give these groups disproportionate power will be exploited throughcorrupt practices, and intolerance and erosion of liberties for both disenfranchised groups and the rest ofsociety.

Submission from the Fabian Women’s Network (SC–25)

Overall Comments

1. There needs to be a coherent strategy to encourage wider participation in the political process. Forexample the national curriculum should include more on politics and the political process. The White PaperNew Opportunities—Fair chances for the future could have a stronger focus on the issues of diversity.

2. MPs and others who work in Parliament need to be more representative of the population at large.This would change the atmosphere within the building and its approach to work.

3. We need some real research into how women have got into parliament; one member’s own roughobservation is that women who succeeded had the right (male) connections. A comparison with the maleexperience would probably be useful.

4. We need to look at where potential women recruits are, what they are doing; are they trying to getselected/elected and failing or doing other things. What influences their attitudes to participation in politicallife? Is the constituency the best route for development; are there alternatives. Working class women whocame into politics either through the unions or through local government often as a result of a specific cause/fight don’t seem find their way into the political process. What is the modern equivalent?

5. DiVerent types of electoral systems determine the level of participation. Those which useproportionality such as the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament produce more balanced representationin terms of gender and ethnicity.

6. Constituency structures could be reviewed. Two constituencies could be merged and the new mergedconstituency could have two MPs—one man and one woman. It is recognised that this only explicitlyaddresses gender. It would result in 50% representation.



7. Each MP could have a small number of “community advisors” in their constituency—who could bea public appointment. They could be obliged to meet with them at least twice a year, and respond to theirqueries. The appointments could meet diverse criteria, and would increase awareness and accountability ofthe work of MPs in the constituency.

8. More family friendly hours that take in to account child rearing responsibilities of both mothers andfathers. Or better facilities to support women who might more recently have become mothers to stayinvolved.

General Comments on the brief

9. The Speaker’s Conference brief should include analysis of social class/economic background

10. It should address diversity in public life at all levels, where the issues driving engagement anddisengagement may be similar.

“The brief of the Speaker’s Conference is quite narrow in focus. You only get diversity in public life,when the cultural climate is encouraged by all possible means at every level—from school governoror primary care trust, to local authorities, to public bodies and appointments, to Parliament whichincludes Commons and Lords.”—Member, FWN.

11. If and when procedures and mechanisms are put into place, there should be accountability and a clearprocess for monitoring outcomes. This may be political parties, or other bodies.

Theme 1—Education

12. The Government’s New Opportunities White Paper putting education at the core of the strategy forchange. It calls for a challenging and relevant curriculum. Education at school should be not just in termsof the relevancy to the economy, in training for work, but in building the knowledge needed to participatein society, developing the interest and the reasons to take part. Is there more we can learn from the Scottishtraditions, and consider what are the toolkits for public life. For example debating skills.

Other Education Related Issues

13. Better communication and dissemination of the work in Parliament

The internet should be utilised in order to provide information and access to the political process. At themoment the Parliamentary website is full of information. But how do we make it easier to access for theordinary citizen? Can the issues being debated be explained more simply? Can there be more creative use ofvideos and other technology? The call from the Speaker’s Conference for evidence could be more widelypublicised. Schools could use this as a debating topic.

14. Training about Parliamentary processes—Better, more extensive utilisation of resources available now

Parliament already produces booklets to accompany a series of courses, on Parliament, these could beused. The courses are at present open to staV members only. These courses are popular—and often oversubscribed. Can distilled modules be available more widely? Even by distance learning? Perhaps have a minidiploma in Parliamentary Studies available to anyone to register for?

15. Extend the knowledge of the House of Commons

Versions of the above courses could be run in community venues, to get younger and older peopleinvolved, and more diverse communities.

16. Experiencing debate in an educational setting (like mock magistrates courts)

When organisations are funded to bring educational events to young people it is fully attended andenjoyed. The Unlock Democracy event “People and Politics Day” was a resounding success, and broughtabout some enlightening feedback which should spur the development of many more of them.

17. Bringing MPs’ work to a wider audience

There could some good practice guidance for MPs on activities they should undertake in a year to bringtheir work to a wider audience. Many do visit schools etc in their constituencies but this may not be doneconsistently. Meetings (in schools, communities) could be followed up by a greater numbers of visits toParliament, and even a “walking tour” of Whitehall to explain where Government departments are housed.



“Where should we look for potential women candidates. Is the constituency the best route fordevelopment? Often the constituency oYce can be very masculine, with a strong attack mentality. Itcan, not consciously be unfriendly, with the few members knowing each other. All parties could holdopen evenings, and again if the constituency oYce had a more information relevant to the House ofCommons and democracy, it would come across as more relevant to peoples lives. I am struck by thelack of information when you pass an oYce of any party, how little there is to let the public know whatthe MP is doing.”—Member, FWN.

18. Advertising Democracy

The Government often runs campaigns giving a specific message on what to do or what not to do (egComplete tax return on time, Don’t drink and drive.) Could the Government run one on developingparticipation explaining what the public can get involved in.

19. Traditional or Modern

Most would value much about the traditions and interest in our Parliamentary system, but is the balancein how we behave and what we emphasise right to generate interest in Parliament amongst citizens—thatgoes beyond superficial interest as a tourist and into a deeper interest about how the big questions of publicdebate today are being addressed?

“Public tours of Parliament only emphasise the Traditional. Start at the Royal end walking throughto the Commons chamber, and Westminster Hall where the king was accused. Good historical stuV,but no mention of committee work, constituency business the work of scrutiny committees.”—Member, FWN.

20. The “Hereditary Principle”

We now have extensive access to information on politics via the web but how does this get accessed andby whom? The White Paper New Opportunities acknowledges the strong influence of informal support.Those whose parents have experience of politics, like further education, are more likely to move into politicalwork. This leads to the MP pool having less experience of wider society, contributing again to the lack ofdiversity in the House of Commons.

“I question whether the House of Commons would actually welcome a more diverse arrange ofpeople—when Prescott entered Parliament some MPs shouted for a drink, a reference to his previousjob as a waiter. Although I do not think this would be classed as appropriate now, is extremely diYcultto see how a person with a working class accent could be taken seriously. Parliamentary estate andthe people within it give a feeling that is one of male middle class domain. The question the Speaker’sConference addresses of diversity is an interesting excise, but where is the incentive to change. It isthis that needs strongly addressing if you really want to rectify the: “disparity between therepresentation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and thererepresentation in the UK population at large.” It will mean that those in positions of power not passingit on to their associates, but I am of the opinion that “like interviews like and like, likes itself”—Member, FWN.

21. Media coverage

Who covers politics? Who gets passes to Parliament to do so—and is this done in a way that meets modernconsumer media needs?

“As politics in general seems to operate from the primary source of defend, deflect, attack; people andmost poignantly women are often put oV by this particularly masculine energy associated with politicstoday. Isn’t it time that this changed in itself? I think this on a daily basis at work. I had a veryinteresting conversation once, with one Lesley Abdela, a UN advisor on Gender in Post ConflictResolution Situations in war torn states. She informed me that she was the first ever political editorfor Cosmopolitan magazine many years ago. She asked for a House of Commons pass to give womena better portal to the political world and was refused. This completely baZed me in this day and age.She too was baZed as she asked over and over for a period of years. She never received one, eventhough, thousands of women were likely to buy and engage in a good quality monthly magazine, ratherthan to pick up a newspaper with aggressive headlines.”—Member, FWN.

What positive experience counters the negative view of politics that emanates from most media channels?(Is there any good practice or advice that can be adopted from the Media Standards Trust?)

“If a little girl lives in a house with Daily Mail or Sun readers—do you think that she will grow uplooking at the front page being inspired by the front page or the headlines of war or conspiracy?”



“Why can politics not be given a better representation? The ‘one’ it currently has is actually oV puttingfor many women I know and many children want nothing to do with it. It is seen as .‘Bad News’.”—Member, FWN.

Theme 2—MPs, Parliamentary staff and electoral systems

22. When trying to deliver more diversity in the House of Commons, why not take into account not justthe diversity with regards to MPs but others who work in Parliament, This could bring about: “a lesseningof the masculine energy associated with politics today”.

23. Political parties act as gate keepers to representation in the House of Commons At present there is nomonitoring or scrutiny of the process. There should be. It may be seen that women are: “prejudiced against atthe selection Stage; the bias at this point means women do not even get the chance to stand for Parliament.Discrimination by the selection committee is often cited (Rebecca Lucy Cracks in the Ceiling Fabian ReviewWinter 2008–09)

24. More family friendly working hours. It is not just the selection system that might need furtherscrutiny, but the quality of life of Members of Parliament once they are elected.

“Recent attempts to change or “modernise” the Commons have been useful—for example theWestminster Hall debating chamber, and the reduction in all night sittings, and the building ofPortcullis House with its modern working facilities— but are meagre, still meet with constantresistance, and have not touched the House of Lords. They should go further.”—Member, FWN.

25. There could be multi-seat constituencies rather than the present single member.

26. Time limiting the number of Parliaments an MP can remain in Parliament, would open up the Houseof Commons from a wider range of backgrounds as more constituencies each election became vacant.

27. Allow MPs to job share—this does not have to be between two women MPs. Job sharing isunderstood and accepted in almost all professions. How could it work in our democracy—what modelscould be applied? The standards and flexibility people want in their life needs to be accepted as part of thenew reality, of the lives of modern men and women. It shouldn’t mean they are any less capable of beingpolitical leaders.

About the Fabian Women’s Network

The Fabian Women’s Network brings people together to:

— Create a thriving network for social and political change.

— Connect Fabian networks with Fabian Women Parliamentarians.

— Provide new ways in which women from all backgrounds and sectors can engage in topicalpolicy debates.

There are approximately 1,500 women in the Fabian Society, and the approximately half were emailedfor their input to this submission. The Fabian Women’s Network, like the Fabian Society, does not form acollectivist view. This submission represents a collation of responses received from our membership so farwith ideas that the Speaker’s Conference could explore as part of its work programme.

Submission from the Equality and Diversity Forum (SC–26)

The Equality and Diversity Forum (EDF) welcomes this opportunity to respond to the Conference’srequest for views on this important subject. EDF is a network of national organisations committed to equalopportunities, social justice, good community relations, respect for human rights and an end todiscrimination based on age, disability, gender and gender identity, race, religion or belief, and sexualorientation.

The network has successfully built consensus and cooperation between a wide range of organisationscommitted to progress on equality and human rights, enabling them to improve the services and supportthey can oVer to their members and to the general public. Since our establishment in 2002, we have playeda key role in promoting an integrated equality agenda and have worked closely with Government, statutoryand voluntary organisations on proposals for a single equality commission (now realised in the Equality andHuman Rights Commission) and for a single equality act (the Equality Bill is due to be published later thisyear). We also provide the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Equalities—chaired by theSpeaker’s Conference Vice-Chair Anne Begg MP.

We very much welcome the Speaker’s Conference as a much-needed step to tackle the underrepresentation of some groups in the House of Commons. Many of the Equality and Diversity Forum’smembers will be submitting responses to the Conference relating to their particular area of expertise. In this



response we do not address all the questions put by the Speaker’s Conference, but would like to highlighta number of overarching key issues based on our experience of working across the range ofdiscrimination grounds.

1. We are delighted to see that the Speaker’s Conference will: “consider and make recommendations forrectifying the disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in theHouse of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large”. This is a vital step if we are toensure that the needs of our diverse population are fully met by our elected representatives andovercome the obstacles that hold some groups back from participating in political decision making.

2. Balanced representation in parliaments, local authorities and other political roles is an important goalthat helps give all citizens a fair chance of achieving influential positions. It can also help maintain the widestpossible public confidence in these bodies by building a sense that they reflect the communities they exist toserve. Balanced representation is equally important to the quality of decision making. Unrepresentativebodies fail to make use of the talents of some parts of the community. A parliament that includes peoplefrom a wide range of backgrounds will be able to bring a rich diversity of experience to bear on policy anddecision making, which is likely to improve its quality.

3. However, we are concerned that scope of the Speaker’s Conference is limited. As a network of equalityorganisations, we are keenly aware of the need to address discrimination on the grounds of sexualorientation, gender identity, religion or belief, and age alongside gender, race and disability. Our LGBTmembers have drawn attention to the absence of visible gay and lesbian parliamentarians and stronglybelieve that sexual orientation should be included in the Conference’s remit. They point out that this is notsimply a question of ensuring there is a voice on sexual orientation in Parliament; it is also important interms of presenting strong role models to young people and to the public in general in order to combathomophobia and stereotypes. This argument applies equally to the other areas not currently included in theConference’s remit. We therefore suggest that the remit be extended to cover the grounds of sexualorientation, gender identity, religion and belief, and age, or that these grounds are included as the: “otherassociated matters” referred to in the announcement of inquiry on 15 December 2008.

4. We would also point out that, while much discrimination law relates only to gender, race and disabilityat present, the forthcoming Equality Bill will extend protection across the seven discrimination grounds. Werecognise that Parliament is not covered by discrimination law in the same way as other public authorities.However, the announcement of a Speaker’s Conference was a welcome public commitment that equalitymeasures must extend to all sectors of society—including Parliament. Restricting the scope of theConference to exclude some of the most marginalised groups in society would be a missed opportunity tobe regretted.

5. Finally, we draw the Conference’s attention to issues of multiple discrimination: many people arediscriminated against for more than one reason or because of more than one aspect of their identity. As wesaid in our recent leaflet on this subject64 “people do not simply fit into boxes as black, disabled etc. Theyare diverse, complex and multilayered, and sometimes they are treated badly for more than one reason.” Theexperience of a black woman who wants to stand for Parliament is likely to be qualitatively diVerent fromthat of either a black man or a white woman—although all three are likely to face barriers. It would behelpful for the Conference to consider the specific problems faced by individuals discriminated against onmore than one ground. This is also, of course, an additional reason for widening the remit of the inquiry:the experiences of gay Asian parliamentary candidates are likely to be diVerent from straight Asiancandidates; older women will be treated diVerently to younger women who stand for parliament. There aremany similar examples.

Submission from the National Council of Women of GB (NCW) (SC–27)

Summary of Statement

— NCW has been historically involved with these issues since the 1920’s. It also has a broadconstituency from which it can collect and disseminate relevant information both nationally andinternationally. (See paragraph 2)

— The main text of the Statement covers in detail the points below:

— There is a need for the House of Commons to represent society as a whole, and as women representover 50% of society, priority should be given to measures to ensure equal representation of women,in all their diversity, in the House of Commons. This should in no way preclude candidates fromethnic minorities or disabled people. (See paragraph 3)

— It is a sad reflection that in 2009 there is still a need to call for full participation of women in thelife of their nation, and in decision-making which aVects their lives and those of their families. Thepresent gender imbalance is totally unacceptable. (See Para.3)

64 Information provided, not printed.



— The present unsatisfactory situation is reflected in paragraphs 4–7 of the Statement, and thisinitiative is welcomed.

— NCW continues to work through resolutions, informed debate and submission of its views toGovernment. Although 2007 was designated the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All,with the establishment of a new European Gender Institute, here within the UK we still lag behindmany other countries in the extent to which women may participate in decision making, and inparity democracy in Parliament. (See paragraphs 8 and 9)

— NCW responses to the questions circulated are included in paragraph 10 of the statement, withrecommendations in paragraphs 11 and 12.

— NCW relevant Policy statements, ratified by NCW and its many AYliated Organisations, at NCWAnnual Conferences are attached as an Annex to this Statement.

Submission from the Women’s National Commission (SC–28)

The Women’s National Commission (WNC) is the Government’s independent advisory body on women’sissues, and works in partnership with women’s organisations representing up to 8 million women. The WNCresponse to this consultation is based on feedback from its Board of Commissioners.

Summary

— Current low levels of women’s political representation are a problem because:— No country can aVord to ignore the skills and talents of half its population;— Institutions that exclude women’s experiences and perspectives are more likely to make

decisions that do not take account of the reality of women’s lives; and— A parliament that does not appear representative of the society it serves is in danger of being

perceived by voters as out of touch and irrelevant— The main reason for the low levels of women’s representation are the continued failure of the

political parties to select women for winnable seats.— In addition there are barriers preventing women coming forward for selection as candidates

including: lack of money, caring responsibilities, dislike of the culture of politics and lack ofconfidence.

— Despite these barriers there is no shortage of able women seeking selection in all the politicalparties. Women continue to experience both direct and indirect discrimination within all parties.

— The evidence from the UK and internationally is that the only way to guarantee increased levelsof women’s representation is through the use of quota systems.

— Other methods such as mentoring, shadowing and training can be valuable in encouraging womento come forward but in the absence of quotas they will not result in increased levels of women’srepresentation.

— All political parties should be encouraged to adopt “all women shortlists” to increase thepercentage of women Members of Parliament

— All political parties should be encouraged to used “zipped” lists for elections to the EuropeanParliament

— Parliament should review its working hours and practices to ensure they are as family friendly aspossible.

The Women’s National Commission welcomes the decision that the Speaker’s Conference shouldconsider the issue of parliamentary representation. We have a long standing concern about the low levels ofwomen’s representation in political life. Women currently make up only 19.5% of UK MPs and the UK iscurrently 60th in the Inter Parliamentary Union table of women’s representation around the world.65

Problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups of society.

The WNC believes the low level of women’s representation in the UK is a problem for a number ofreasons:

Women make up half the population. No country can aVord to ignore the skills, talents and experiencesof half its people.

Institutions that exclude women’s experiences and perspectives are more likely to make decisions that donot take account of the reality of women’s lives. Policies made in these circumstances are unlikely to meetwomen’s needs. Since the increase of women MPs in 1997 issues such as childcare and violence against

65 InterParliamentary Union Women in National Parliaments database as at 6 January 2009 (http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm)



women, which have historically been seen as politically marginal, have increased in political importance.66

In the Scottish Parliament (with 39% women) and Welsh Assembly (with 47% women) issues that havehistorically been seen as “women’s issues” have entered the political mainstream.67

A parliament that does not appear representative of the society it serves is in danger of being perceivedby voters as out of touch and irrelevant. This can increase political alienation, which is a key factor in lowvoter turn out.68

Reasons for lack of women in Parliament

The main reason for the low number of women in parliament in the UK is the continued failure of politicalparties to select women as candidates for winnable seats.

Research by the Fawcett Society and others has found strong evidence of persistent and widespreaddiscrimination (both direct and indirect) against women would be candidates in all parties.69 Womencandidates and would be candidates reported numerous examples of discrimination including:

— Being told that the constituency was “not ready for a woman”.

— Questions about family responsibilities being asked of women but not men during selection

— Women candidates being criticised for behaviour or circumstances, for example being too young,going for selection in several seats at once, not being local, when their male counterparts were notcriticised in the same way.

— Sexual harassment by party activists, including members of selection committees

— The existence of “favoured sons”—candidates who benefited from high levels of support from theparty nationally, or regionally and or from key donors and supporters (including trade unions inthe Labour Party). These candidates were almost never women.

— Corruption in the selection process including CVs being “lost”, some candidates being givengreater access to local membership lists and so on, again this benefited male candidates.

— Open hostility to the idea of women in public life from some party members.

In addition to direct discrimination of this type women experience indirect discrimination such asassumptions among local parties about the skills and experience needed to be an MP which are based onthe sort of political career that men are more likely to have than women. In a safe seat where the sitting MPheld the seat for many years before retiring local party members may have no experience of selecting acandidate (or indeed much experience of any recruitment). Their model of a successful MP will be based onthe previous incumbent (usually male) and perhaps unsurprisingly they select someone similar, onlyyounger.

As well as this discrimination there are a number of practical and psychological barriers which preventwomen putting themselves forward for selection. These include:

Lack of money. Selection processes can be very expensive, involving frequent travel to a constituency, over-night accommodation and so on. Women earn less than men and are more likely to face additional expensessuch as the cost of childcare while attending meetings.

Caring responsibilities. Women continue to carry the main burden of responsibility for childcare andeldercare within families. This reduces the time they have available for political activity. In addition there isevidence from both the UK and internationally that women are more likely than men to decide against apolitical career because of fears of the eVect it would have on their family.70

Dislike of the culture of politics. Many women find the political culture in the UK very oV putting. Thisincludes the long working hours, “yah boo” politics in the chamber and media intrusion into private life.

Lack of confidence. The practical problems, both of running for election and then being an MP, plus thecultural image of what an MP is like mean that many women lack the confidence to put themselves forward.

Although these problems do contribute to a lower number of women coming forward for selection ascandidates they do not explain the lack of women in political life. There is no shortage of able women willingto stand as candidates in any of the political parties. Where parties have used positive action to ensurewomen are selected for winnable seats (as the Labour Party did with all women shortlists for Westminsteror twinning for elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly) they have been able to find goodwomen candidates to fill those seats.

66 see http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/Women%20and%20politics%20briefing%20June%202006.pdf67 See OYce of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, 2006. “Encouraging Women into political and public life”, Report

on the Conference in Hillsborough Castle, p3; and “Women and Constitutional Change in Wales”, Occasional Paper No. 7,Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, Queen’s University Belfast. October 2003.

68 See Young People and Politics in the UK: Apathy or Alienation?, David March, Therese O’Toole and Su Jones, PalgraveMacmillan, London 2007b

69 See for example Women and Candidate Selection in British Political Parties, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and Joni Lovenduski,Fawcett 2002

70 Gender and Democracy: What works? Strategies to increase women’s representation, Mary-Ann Stephenson, BritishCouncil, 2004



Action to address disparities in representation

Since the 1980s there have been increasing eVorts to increase women’s representation from both withinpolitical parties and from external campaigning groups like the 300 Group and the Fawcett Society.

Both parties and NGOs have organised shadowing and mentoring schemes and run training courses toimprove women’s political skills and confidence. Groups like Emily’s List within the Labour Party haveraised money for women candidates at the beginning of their careers. All of these tactics have increased thenumber of women coming forward for selection. However on their own they have not succeeded inincreasing the number of women MPs because they have failed to address the main barrier to women’spolitical representation—the failure of local parties to select women for winnable seats.

The only method that has been shown to significantly increase the numbers of women in parliament, eitherin the UK or internationally is some form of positive action or quota.

In the UK positive action has been used by the Labour Party in the form of All Women Shortlists forWestminster elections and Twinning for elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. AmongWestminster MPs women make up 27% of the Labour party, 14% of the Liberal Democrats and 9% of theConservatives—without Labour’s use of All Women Shortlists women’s representation in the UK would befar lower than the current 19.8%.

Women elected on All Women Shortlists have been the targets of criticism since the 1997 election.Opponents of positive action have tried to argue that “quota women” are of a lower calibre than other MPs.In fact among the 1997 intake of Labour MPs women have been more successful in holding governmentpositions than their male counterparts suggesting no lack of talent among the women selected under AllWomen Shortlists.71

Twinning in Scotland and Wales has been even more successful than All Women Shortlists. Women makeup 39% of the Scottish Parliament and 47% of the Welsh Assembly. Both the Scottish Parliament and WelshAssembly were new institutions in 1999 so there was a greater opportunity to deliver a high level of femalerepresentation, however these percentages of women would not have been achieved without the use ofTwinning.

The international evidence is that positive action in the form of quotas is not only eVective, it is the onlymethod guaranteed to deliver women’s representation. An international study by the Women’s Environmentand Development Organisation in 2005 showed that all the countries with a “critical mass” of over 30%women (with the exception of Cuba) had some form of quota either within one or more of the parties ormandated by law.72

Quota systems used around the world include:73

Reserved seats for women

These are seats that are set aside for women only under a single member constituency system. Women maybe appointed or elected to these seats. This system is used in Uganda where there are also reserved seats forother groups such as youth and people with disabilities. Where this happens women are elected to representregions alongside other MPs elected to constituencies. This can create distinctions between women MPsfrom special seats and “normal” MPs.

Quotas on lists

Used with a list proportional representation (PR) system. Parties chose or are required by law to set aquota for the proportion of candidates on their lists that must be women. Unless the quota specifies thepositions on the list that women must be in there is a danger that women will remain at the bottom of thelist with little chance of election

Zipping/zebra lists

Used with a list PR system. Parties chose or are required by law to ensure equal numbers of men andwomen throughout their lists. This can be done by alternating women and men on the list, known as zippedor zebra lists in diVerent parts of the world. The order of the list can be decided by the party leadership, orthrough a ballot of party members. Zipped lists are widely used in countries with high levels of women’srepresentation including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands.

71 Cracks in the Ceiling, Rebecca Lury, in Fabian Review Winter 2008–0972 http://www.wedo.org/files/5050factsheet4.pdf73 For more information about the diVerent quota systems in use around the world see Gender and Democracy: What works?

Strategies to increase women’s representation, Mary-Ann Stephenson, British Council, 2004



Quotas required by law

In some countries quotas are adopted voluntarily by political parties. In others the law requires partiesto use quotas. Quotas required by law are not always successful. If the law does not specify where on the listwomen should be placed or how winnable a seat they should be selected for parties may select women forunwinnable seats or keep them in low positions on a party list. Where the consequences of failing to abideby the law are low (for example a modest fine) parties are less likely to co-operate than where they are high(for example a party’s list being declared invalid).

Quotas on shortlists

Where parties are unwilling to introduce quotas that guarantee selection of women they may chose to setquotas for the pre-selection shortlisting stage. This was done in the Labour party before the introduction ofAll Women Shortlists and has been used by the Liberal Democrats. Unfortunately this type of quota doesnot appear to have much impact on the number of women selected. Indeed many women interviewed by theFawcett Society complained that they were simply included on the shortlist to meet the quota by local partiesthat had no intention of seriously considering them as a candidate.74

The local level is a key site at which acceptance can be won for equal representation through the use ofquotas. In Representing the Future—the Report of the Councillors’ Commission, the authors note that partiescan work towards greater equality of gender representation by, for instance, requiring that no three-candidate slate be all of one gender.75 Local democracy can prove a useful training ground for women aselected representatives, and for practices to secure gender equality.

BME Women

— The Electoral Commission asserts that turn-out rates for the last two General Elections aresignificantly lower amongst black voters than white voters. The Commission estimates that whitevoter turnout was 60% in 2001, rising to 62% in 2005, while black voter turnout did not increasefrom 47%.76 34% of black and Asian voters gave to an ICM/Operation Black Vote poll in 2001 astheir reason for abstaining the belief that “voting would make no diVerence”.77 Moreover,according to a survey commissioned by the Electoral Commission and Operation Black Vote in2002, 43% of black people living in Greater London and the West Midlands said that they would beencouraged to vote by a better representation of black people in politics. 37% cited as an importantreason, “politicians being in touch with the concerns of black people”.78

— Such concerns are reflected in the persistently low numbers of BME elected representatives, andwomen are particularly under-represented in the political process at all levels. Whilst 5.4% of thepopulation of England are BME women, they represent only 0.3% of Parliamentary members. Thisextends to the local level, with ethnic minority women constituting only 0.9% of councillors in2006.79

Recommendations of the CEDAW committee about women’s representation in the UK

The low level of women’s political representation in the UK was raised by the CEDAW Committee in itsconcluding observations on the UK’s 2007 report. The Committee expressed Concern: “that womancontinue to be underrepresented in political and public life” and called on the UK Government to:

“take measures, with benchmarks and concrete timetables, to increase the number of women inpolitical and public life, at all levels and in all areas.”

The Committee also recommended that the UK Government

“introduce temporary special measures, in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Conventionand general recommendation 25, to strengthen its eVorts to promote women to positions of leadership.To that end, the Committee urges the State party to increase the availability of training and capacity-building programmes for women wishing to enter or already in public oYce and to enhance itsawareness-raising campaigns on the importance of women’s participation in political and public life.”

The Committee went on to note that:

“Women of diVerent ethnic and minority communities are also greatly underrepresented in politicaland public life”

74 Women and Candidate Selection in British Political Parties, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and Joni Lovenduski, Fawcett 200275 Representing the Future: The Report of the Councillors Commission, Department of Communities and Local Government,

December 200776 Electoral Commission (2005): “Turnout 2005” p1877 Electoral Commission (2002) “Voter Engagement among black and minority ethnic communities” p35–3678 Richards, L. and Marshall, B. (Electoral Commission, 2003) “Political Engagement among black and minority ethnic

communities: what we know, what we need to know” p779 Government Equalities OYce (2007) “Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women in Political and Public Life in the

United Kingdom” p 1



And to urge the UK to:

“take eVective measures to increase the participation of ethnic and minority women in the labourmarket, as well as in political and public life, including through the use of temporary special measuresin line with article 4”80

WNC Recommendations

— All political parties should be encouraged to adopt “all women shortlists” to increase thepercentage of women Members of Parliament

— All political parties should be encouraged to used “zipped” lists for elections to the EuropeanParliament

— Parliament should review its working hours and practices to ensure they are as family friendly aspossible.

Submission from Victor Launert, Visitor Services Manager, Houses of Parliament (SC–29)

Submitter

1. This submission has been produced by Victor Launert, Visitor Services Manager, a joint Houseposition. The Visitor Services Manager runs Members’ Tours and the annual Summer Opening ofParliament, via the Central Tours OYce. He also manages the Visitor Assistant Team. He researched andproduced the original tour script for the Group on Information for the Public. Previously he has been VisitorServices Manager for HM Tower of London, Front of House Manager for the London Transport Museum,Head of Operations at the Royal Artillery Museum, and has managed two public libraries in Richmondupon Thames.

Background

2. Visitor Services is part of the Public Information Directorate in the Department of InformationServices. The service works alongside the Information OYces, the Education Service, the Web Centre, thenew Parliamentary Outreach team and other colleagues in both Houses to deliver Parliament’s publicengagement strategy, as overseen by the Group on Information for the Public (GIP).81

3. Tours of the Visitor Route in the Palace of Westminster for the guests of Members have long been anestablished part of Parliamentary life. Until relatively recently they had operated, in content terms at least,on a fairly informal basis, with what was said being very much at the discretion of the Member leading thetour, or of the person retained by the Member to do so. At the direction of Members, the Central ToursOYce was established in 2003 to take over the practical arrangements for tours and to introduce a standardscript for all guides booked via them to follow. The script so produced was approved by the Group onInformation for the Public, and forms the basis for the training of all guides and Visitor Assistants.

4. This submission provides a resume of those areas of the script that describe the work of Members ofthe House of Commons, on and oV the floor of the House.

Tour Script: General

5. The tour is not rigidly prescriptive; it describes what a guide must know and cover rather than dictatinghow this must be said, so that the tour can be tailored according to the needs, interest and abilities of eachgroup. Additional information above and beyond this core knowledge is included in the form of footnotes,for addition as the guide sees fit.

6. The script overall is divided into three interlocking sections:

— the history of Parliament as an institution;

— the history, art and architecture of the Palace of Westminster; and

— the work of Parliament and its Members in both Houses today.

80 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: United Kingdom of GreatBritain and Northern Ireland, July 2008 (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/CEDAW.C.GBR.CO.6.pdf)

81 GIP is a bicameral meeting of senior oYcials which sets Parliament’s public engagement strategy.



7. It is emphasised to guides at the start of their training that although research and observation showsthat on arrival most visitors are overwhelmingly interested in the first two areas, the third is of equalimportance and must be covered thoroughly. The thread which knits the whole together as groups pass alongthe Visitor Route is the development of the franchise, from monarchical absolutism to universalrepresentation.

8. There is an acknowledged tension between what may interest the majority of visitors in advance of theirvisit, and the message which Parliament wishes to convey to them with regard to its current workings andsignificance. This is also complicated by the fact that no assumptions can be made regarding the priorknowledge a visitor may have of the development of Parliament, and the struggle between Crown, Lordsand Commons (or the represented and unrepresented which underpins this, and without which the value ofthe franchise and representation at Parliament is hard to appreciate). Setting this scene does take up muchof the tour and may, if the tour is overheard only in parts, give a misleading impression. However, eachVisitor Assistant goes through a rigorous assessment of their tour before being passed ready to lead visitors,and the assessors must be satisfied that the current workings of the Houses and the role of Members iscovered in detail.

Tour Script: Members’ Role

9. The role and work of Members is covered at diVerent points in the script, and some areas ofcommonality between both Houses (eg Committee work oV the floor of the House) might be discussed indetail in one House only, with acknowledgement of this commonality, rather than mentioned twice. Thethree principal areas of an MP’s work—legislation, scrutiny, and representation—are covered, along withmentions of their work for their constituency and on Committees, as well as the procedures of the House(passage of a bill, role of Mr Speaker and the Whips, protocol in the Chamber) and the rights of constituentsto lobby Members. (See extracts from the tour script in the annex to this paper).

Future Developments

10. Work is underway by the Visitor Services Manager to use the Visitor Assistants to deliver additionalspecialist tours and talks; the concept is to use the existing space of Westminster Hall to provide “turn upand go” opportunities to enhance a visit to Parliament for all visitors, in the same manner that sites such asthe British Museum may advertise these in their main foyer. A discreet trial is already in operation forMonday’s Question Time session. Future possibilities being contemplated include The History ofWestminster Hall; a talk delivered by a Visitor Assistant on The Work of Committees, followed by a visit toa sitting Committee; and The Work of a Member, again a talk by a Visitor Assistant followed by discussion/Q&A with a sitting Member who has volunteered their services.

11. The Visitor Services team is working with Parliament’s Education Service to deliver a curriculum-linked tour for all school groups who visit. At present, only those groups visiting through the EducationService receive a specially-tailored tour.

12. Further work is also anticipated to investigate improving disabled access to the Palace of Westminster.

Annex

Extracts from the Visitor Route Tour Script

The role of Members is discussed at various points on the Visitor Route tour; the following stops on theroute are particularly relevant.

A full version of the tour script is available from the Central Tours OYce.

Stop 7: Prince’s Chamber

[…] As we shall see, over the centuries there has been transition from royal control to a system ofrepresentative democracy, in which every adult in the country can vote for someone to represent them inParliament. The House of Commons is the meeting place of these representatives, called Members ofParliament, or MPs for short. Elections are held at least every five years and one MP is elected for each ofthe 646 constituencies that make up the United Kingdom.

An MP has three key responsibilities: representation, legislation and scrutiny. Representation: he or sheis elected to represent the interests of every person in their constituency, no matter whom they supported atthe election. Legislation: MPs have a key role in the law making process and debate and modify draft laws,known as “bills”. And finally scrutiny: MPs have a responsibility to keep a check on the government. Thisis done in a number of ways: questions to ministers (for example, Prime Minister’s Question Time),investigative select committees (which are made up of representatives of all parties, not just that in power),and controls on central government taxation and expenditure.



Almost all MPs are members of a political party and the government is usually formed by the leader ofthe party which has the majority of MPs in the House. This is currently the Labour Party and the PrimeMinister is the leader of that party, Gordon Brown. A government can only continue as long as it commandssupport for its main policies in the House of Commons. […]

Stop 9: Lords’ Chamber

[…] The chamber is now fitted with microphones so that Members can remain standing by their seats tospeak; the benches have hidden loudspeakers so that Members can hear each other. The galleries above andaround are for Members of the public and the press to watch debates. Anybody can apply for access to thegallery, and the proceedings of the House are also easily available through Hansard, the BBC Parliamentchannel, the internet and other sources.

Increasingly, some of the detailed work of amending bills takes place in Committees “oV the floor”. Othercommittees, investigative select committees, are involved in the scrutiny of the government. Unlike theirequivalent committees in the Commons, many of which mirror government departments, select committeesin the Lords cover broader areas such as the European Union, Economic AVairs, Science and Technologyand the Constitution. […]

Stop 10: Peers’ Lobby/Corridor

[…] Ultimately, however, the call for Reform was irresistible; with the rise in literacy (and thereforepolitical awareness), the bulk of the population sought a voice, and although many were quite happy withthe status quo and sought at least to delay change, change finally came in the form of the great Reform Acts.The first of these, in 1832, gave the vote to all owners or leaseholders of property worth £10 per annum, andincreased by half the number of voters, although the way that seats were distributed meant that thecountryside still held precedence. The next came in 1867, under Disraeli’s premiership, and more thandoubled the electorate, including many working men for the first time. In 1884 and 1885 Bills became lawwhich redistributed seats better to reflect the changing shape of Britain, notably the shift in population andwealth between town and country. Votes for women, however, were still some way oV; criminals were to begranted the vote before women.

Stop 11: Central Lobby

[…] This is the mid-point between the Houses of Commons and Lords and the place where any memberof the public can come to meet, or even “lobby”, an MP or Lord. You don’t need an appointment; the deskwill attempt to contact the Member you ask for, and if he or she is in either chamber, a doorkeeper will takethem a note telling them that they have a visitor—although be aware that this does not mean that they haveto come out to see you—so it is always best to make an appointment first. Central Lobby is also the principalthoroughfare between the Chambers and oYces and as such MPs and Lords can often be seen here. […]

Stop 12: Members’ Lobby

This is Members’ Lobby, the working ante-room to the Chamber just as is the Princes’ Chamber for theLords. Here there are message boards with pigeon holes for notes to be left for MPs while they are in theChamber or in Committee meetings, if there is something in one of the slots, the MP’s name is automaticallyilluminated. On the opposite side of the Lobby is a Letters Board, with much the same function.

The nearby Vote OYce supplies Members with Parliamentary papers, including Hansard, and just oV theLobby is the Members’ Post OYce where MPs can collect the hundreds of letters that they receive daily fromthe public.

Also nearby are the Whips’ oYces. The party Whips are responsible for making sure their MPs followparty policy and every week issue a list of the business that is to be debated. When their attendance isessential the item is underlined three times—a three line whip. An MP is either very brave or very foolhardyif they ignore the whip! Whips also act as the eyes and ears of the party leaderships, keeping their ear to theground and reporting back on the mood of Members; and they operate the pairing system, whereby if anMP has an important reason for being absent from a vote, the whips approach their opposite number in theother party and arrange for one of their MPs to be absent as well, thus cancelling each other out in the vote.This may sound strange, but is in fact very sensible and fair, and vital in order to enable MPs to carry outtheir many other Parliamentary and constituency duties without being constantly called back to theChamber; it is also a very human measure, allowing MPs time oV to recover from illness, or to attend tofamily matters, without risking the loss of an important vote.



Stop 14/15: Commons Chamber

[…] Visitors often comment that the Chamber is smaller than they had imagined, and indeed it has only427 seats for 646 MPs. The size of the Chamber, and its confrontational design, help to make debates livelyand robust but also intimate. When the Chamber was being rebuilt Churchill and others argued against anincrease in its size. As MPs do not attend all debates because their work also involves them spending timein their constituencies and in committees, space is not usually a problem, although it can become crowdedon big occasions like the Budget when some MPs sit on the steps.

[…]

It is here in this space that MPs debate legislation, issues that concern them or their constituents, andquestion the government on their policies—their three key responsibilities.

When new legislation, or an amendment to existing legislation, is proposed, it is introduced to Parliamentas what is known as a Bill. Although they may be introduced in either House, to become law, bills mustnormally pass through and be approved by both Houses of Parliament; during this process they may beamended significantly. The first stage is the formal introduction of the bill, known as the First Reading; thisis followed by a general debate on its content (Second Reading); next by detailed clause-by-clauseconsideration (Committee Stage); there are further opportunities to look at the bill in its entirety at ReportStage and, finally, at Third Reading.

When you watch the proceedings of the Commons on television, the Chamber often looks rather empty.This is because, as with the House of Lords, much of the detailed work is carried out in committees madeup of members of all parties and which meet outside this Chamber. In the House of Commons the committeestage of a bill usually takes place in a Public Bill Committee which meets upstairs in the Palace. In bothHouses select committees are an important way in which a check is kept on the government. In the Houseof Commons there is a group of select committees which monitor the work of each major governmentdepartment (eg the Treasury Committee or Health Committee). This work is referred to as taking place “oVthe floor”.

Submission by Aileen Walker, Director of Public Information, House of Commons (SC–30)

Submitter

1. Aileen Walker is Director of Public Information and has worked at Parliament for 26 years in a varietyof roles. Although her post is based in the House of Commons, in the Department of Information Services,most of the teams for which she is responsible provide services to both Houses.

Background

2. The Public Information Directorate plays a key role in supporting Parliament’s strategy of engagementwith the public as outlined in both Houses’ corporate plans and in the Group on Information for the Public(GIP)82 business plan. The strategy builds on the agenda set out by the Modernisation Committee in itsreport, Connecting Parliament with the Public,83 and the Hansard Society Commission on Parliament in thePublic Eye84 (the “Puttnam Commission”).

3. The changes to the Administration of the House of Commons in January 2008 brought the House ofCommons Information OYce, Parliament’s Education Service, the Parliamentary Outreach programme,Visitor Services and Public Information projects together into a new Public Information Directorate withinthe Department of Information Services. This change is facilitating closer collaboration and joint planningaround the development of our inter-related services.

4. These services work closely with other colleagues in both Houses, particularly the Web Centre, theMedia Service, the House of Lords Information OYce, Head of Outreach in the House of Lords, theParliamentary Broadcasting Unit, and Parliamentary Archives to deliver Parliament’s public engagementstrategy, as overseen by the Group on Information to the Public (GIP). There are three main strands to thepublic engagement strategy:

— Welcoming visitors to Parliament

— Using the web

— Reaching out

82 GIP is a bicameral meeting of senior oYcials which sets Parliament’s public engagement strategy83 June 2004 (HC 368 2003–04)84 Members only? Parliament in the Public Eye, May 2005



Strategic Aims

5. The three general aims of the strategy of engagement with the public are:

To inform the public about the work and role of Parliament:

— The creation of content for the Parliament website.

— Publications that explain the role and work of Parliament and support public understanding of thebusiness of the House.

— Support for the Citizenship strand of the National Curriculum, through the Education Service.

— A varied programme of educational visits to Parliament for schools.

— Distribution of the new voters’ guide.

To promote Parliament as an institution and describe why it should be valued:

— Raising awareness of the services oVered by the Information OYce and Education Service.

— Outreach activities in the community and in schools.

— Contributing to the development of new facilities and services for visitors to Westminster, such asa proactive welcome and support for exhibitions.

— Working with other organisations who share our aims, such as the Electoral Commission, HansardSociety, BBC, etc.

To listen to the public by seeking and responding to feedback:

— Answering enquiries and Freedom of Information requests from the public.

— Seeking and responding to feedback from teachers and the general public on the products andservices we oVer.

6. GIP’s vision is to improve the public understanding of Parliament, so that it is recognised by citizens as:

— Distinct from government.

— Holding government to account.

— Welcoming to citizens.

— Working for citizens.

— Worthwhile.

— Personal—relevant to the concerns of individuals.

Current Priorities

7. Following recommendations in the Administration Committee (HC) and Information Committee(HL) reports on Improving Facilities for Educational Visitors to Parliament85 – covering not only educationservices, but also welcoming visitors to Parliament, regional outreach oYcers and the parliamentary website—both Houses approved plans to improve services to the public. The current priorities of the PublicInformation Directorate are now centred around the main recommendations approved by both Houses,namely:

— Providing a dedicated space for educational visitors to Parliament enabling the Education Serviceto welcome 100,000 learners a year.

— Developing curriculum-based tours for Members’ school groups.

— Devising and running a pilot transport subsidy scheme to encourage school groups from remoterconstituencies to visit Westminster.

— Developing the parliamentary outreach programme with regional outreach oYcers workingthroughout the UK.

— Improving arrangements for managing visitors to Parliament.

Submission from the Lesbian & Gay Foundation (SC–31)

Summary

— Representation cannot be achieved without sexual orientation monitoring

— The integrity of the political process is called into question if LGB politicians feel they are unableto be as unconsciously open about their families and partners as their heterosexual colleagues

— Some media outlets perpetuate the belief that homosexuality is essentially deviant, making lifeharder for all LGB people, particularly people in the public eye, including politicians

85 April 2007 (HC Paper 343 2006–07).



— All Parties should have spokespeople for LGB issues

— Within the capital the LGB community and civic infrastructure is considerably more developed.Outside of this sphere, LGB people feel separated from the London-centric political process

— All Parties could commit more resources to engaging with their LGB constituents, and potentialmembers

— Homophobia exists in our society, aVecting LGB involvement in all forms of public oYce. A co-ordinated campaign by Government and the Parties to encourage this involvement would bewelcome

— Parties that have passed homophobic legislation should publicly apologise

— Manchester City Council is an example of best practice in terms of resources devoted to LGBissues, and the real eVorts made to engage with the LGB community

— The estimated five and a half million LGB people in this country have a right to an authentic andidentifiable voice at all levels of government


1. The lesbian and gay population of the United Kingdom was estimated by the Treasury to be3,658,500 people (6% of the population). If we also include the Lesbian & Gay Foundation’s estimate forthe bisexual population at 3%, this makes the total potential lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) population ofthe UK approximately 5,487,750 people.

2. No oYcial data on the number of LGB MPs or Lords exists. For a minority group of potentially fivemillion people, this has very serious implications for representation. The OYce of National Statistics iscurrently not including sexual orientation on the 2011 census. No other significant minority population isexcluded in this way.

3. It is a credit to the hard work of Members that great progress has been made towards LGB equality.But whilst sexual orientation remains hidden at our highest levels of power and public oYce, real equalitycan never be achieved.

4. There is very little visibility of the LGB population within the Houses of Parliament. It is often putforward that being gay, lesbian or bisexual is a private matter. It is not a private matter to be heterosexual;no heterosexual Member would ever consider having to deny the existence of their partner.

5. This means people are treated diVerently because of their sexual orientation. The issue can no longerbe considered private for those that have a public duty to be representative of their diverse communities. Ifit is accepted that homophobia exists in our society, and that an LGB person cannot talk about their familiesand their lives with the same unconscious openness as a heterosexual person, then sexual orientation is nota private matter. It is made more than that, because of the large numbers of people, both LGB andheterosexual, who are unwilling to talk about it. This is why LGB representation and visibility in Parliamentis essential for real LGB equality.

6. It is recognised that being a “minority” politician can be very challenging. Members have a duty torepresent their entire community, but LGB Members may avoid declaring their sexual orientation for fearof being “pigeonholed” or risking voters’ support within their constituency. Anecdotal evidence suggeststhat LGB Members who are not able to be open about their sexuality may have voted against equalitylegislation. This contributes to the lack of an authentic LGB voice in Parliament. To quote Alan Duncan,the first “out” Conservative MP:

7. “I knew that, in politics, if you were gay it would always be used as a political weapon against you.”(Source: www.guardian.co.uk 27 January 2006).

8. And when Simon Hughes MP admitted to having gay relationships in the past, a newspaper posed thisquestion on their website: “Should Hughes’ sexuality stop him becoming [Liberal Democratic] leader orhinder his ability to do a good job in public oYce?” (Source: www.dailymail.co.uk 26 January 2006).

9. Parliamentary authorities and the political parties could all do more to reassure LGB politicians that“coming out” will not see them side-lined or aVect their careers in any way. To inspire future LBG politiciansthe public recognition of this issue could be very important.


10. “More than a quarter [of people asked] feel that one of the solutions to tackling discrimination is to havemore gay MPs in Britain” (Source: Stonewall Living together 2007)

11. It is common knowledge that there are LGB members of Parliament that are unwilling to admit totheir orientation publicly. It is unfortunate that these Members feel that to publicly admit their sexualorientation would be detrimental to them, either with respect to their colleagues and superiors or with theelectorate. This again demonstrates that our society is not fully inclusive of the LGB community. It alsomakes Parliament and the wider political process seem out of touch with LGB people. For LGB people,



“coming out” can be one of the most diYcult and rewarding experiences of their lives. The integrity of thepolitical process is called into question if LGB politicians feel they are unable to be as unconsciously openabout their families and partners as their heterosexual colleagues.

12. Aspiration is vitally important for public engagement with the political process. The AmericanPresidential election had a record voter turnout because for the first time a significant proportion of Americafelt that a member of their community could achieve the highest political oYce. The importance of LGBrole models, especially to younger LGB people, cannot be underestimated. Please see the Lesbian & GayFoundation’s guide to LGB achievement and aspiration Aim High for a further exploration of theseissues.86

13. The media’s representation around LGB people in general, LGB issues in politics and LGB politiciansspecifically needs to be mentioned as an important barrier to a more visible LGB presence in UK politics.For example, a newspaper ran a piece in 2008 about Chris Bryant MP and his recommendations aroundteenage pregnancy. In both the headline, and every time Mr Bryant’s name was mentioned, the writerreferred to the content of Mr Bryant’s profile on a gay dating website, which was a story first broken in2003 (Source www.dailymail.co.uk 28 January 2008). The use, by an MP, of a gay dating website is seen asso scandalous that it is worth mentioning years after it was discovered. Judgements are still made about LGBpeople in the media that perpetuate the belief that homosexuality is essentially deviant.

14. There exists a belief that gay men, lesbians and bisexuals inhabit a “twilight world” separate from“normal” concerns around family, tax, children and the other concerns of the “silent majority”. LGB peopleare part of that silent majority. While recent legislation has allowed us to play a fuller part in society, untildecision makers prioritise public acknowledgement of LGB contributions to mainstream society, the LGBcommunity will feel, and continue to be treated like second class citizens.

15. It is vitally important that all politicians and civil servants recognise that gay men, lesbians andbisexuals do not only exist at rallies and protests nor do we only appear at Pride events and gay pubs andclubs. We live our lives with the same diversity as everyone else.

16. Government and the Opposition Parties need to proactively counter negative portrayals of their LGBcommunities by having a more co-ordinated approach. Harriet Harman MP’s comments about theabhorrence of prejudice were very welcome but it is felt that all the parties should have oYcial spokespeoplefor LGB issues, and the Government should have a Minister who as part of their portfolio has responsibilityfor LGB issues. Please see later examples regarding Manchester City Council for best practice regardingLGB engagement.



17. The feedback received by the Lesbian & Gay Foundation from service users is that they feel unableto bring their concerns to their MP. All MPs, whatever their personal views on the matter, have a publicduty to fully engage with their diverse constituents. The political Parties and the Government could do somevaluable work in encouraging their members to reach out to their LGB constituents. The resulting increasein membership would be welcomed by any Party.

18. Localities with a less visible LGB population deserve special attention. For example, during thedebate over IVF clinics providing services to women where there was no male present in the household, SirPatrick Cormack MP said: “Whatever is the case in Islington, in StaVordshire it is actually normal for a childto have a father and a mother. Is it normal for a child to have two mothers?” (Source www.guardian.co.uk21 May 2008).

19. This quote demonstrates two main things. Firstly, despite the great progress made towards LGBequality, openly homophobic comments are still being made in the Houses of Parliament. Secondly itdemonstrates the prejudice that an LGB candidate may face if they choose to stand in a rural area with aless visible LGB population.

20. Multiple barriers to standing for election should also be recognised. Women, people from ethnicminorities and disabled people can all also be members of the LGB community. The challenges faced bypeople who are members of more than one under-represented group are highly complex, and outside thescope of this document, but it is worth noting that out of a reported 11 “out” LGB MPs, only one is female.This suggests the barriers to being an “out” lesbian MP are higher than those for gay men.




Or, if they do, why aren’t more of them selected?

21. Selection committees in some constituencies are still generally formed by the “party faithful” and socan be assumed to have an older demographic than the population at large. It is generally understood thatolder people can be more likely to misunderstand LGB issues because of their experience of a less tolerantsociety. To demonstrate the experience of one gay politician—

22. “When Alan Duncan first sought to become a Conservative parliamentary candidate, there was onequestion that some of the constituency selection panels were particularly keen to ask him. “You’re not married,”he remembers them saying. “Is there anything in your past that might cause the party embarrassment?” At oneinterview, they put the question three times. “In the end I said, “Put it this way. If I was selected for this seat,you wouldn’t have to worry about the sheep.” Half the panel roared with laughter. The other half looked severe.”Duncan did not get the seat” (Source www.guardian.co.uk 27 January 2006)

Or, if they are, why aren’t more of them elected?

23. To be elected as an “out” LGB politician is still extremely rare. “MPs are not naıve…There would havebeen a lot of people to whom the sexuality of a candidate would have made a significant diVerence” (Sourcewww.guardian.co.uk 23 February 2005). This comment was made at a tribunal when one MP was allegedto have had her researcher “dig the dirt” on her gay rival.

24. The British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology recently did a study inwhich: “the tests classified seven per cent of the participants as being strongly anti-gay and three percent asbeing anti-Lesbian, a further 35 per cent displayed some anti-gay predilection and 41 per cent some anti-lesbianprejudice. These negative implicit attitudes were stronger than those for age, gender, religion, disability or evenethnic origin“ (Source www.medicalnewstoday.com 16 January 2009. Whilst it is accepted that other studieshave revealed a greater public acceptance of LGB people, the evidence of homophobia in the political sphereand amongst the electorate demonstrates the barriers to election that LGB politicians face.


25. The problems and diYculties encountered by members of the LGB community who want to beinvolved in politics have to be considered in two diVerent ways. The barriers for LGB candidates who decideto not disclose their sexuality are very diVerent from those who are willing to publicly admit their sexualorientation from the start. Honesty has always been a major issue for the electorate with respect to theirrepresentatives in Parliament. If an MP discloses their sexual orientation at a later stage of their career, orespecially if they are forced “out”, then a perception of deception may arise.

26. If an LGB person who wishes to become an MP is unprepared to hide their sexual orientation at thestart, then they will face more barriers to entry than a heterosexual person, as has been demonstrated. Giventhat becoming an MP is extremely competitive, it is unsurprising that many MPs are not “out” from thestart of their candidacy. A vicious circle is thus perpetuated as dishonesty and homosexuality are inextricablylinked in the public’s mind. The more “out” MPs and Lords that there are, the less pressure there will be onall LGB MPs and Lords.

27. Standing for Parliament should not be looked at in isolation. Many MPs have used roles in localgovernment, such as that of local Councillor as a “springboard” to becoming an MP. Many LGB peoplewill be put oV being a Councillor due to the lack of locally based inclusive and celebratory activities forLGB people.

28. A co-ordinated approach to encourage LGB people to apply for positions of authority within theirlocal community would be very welcome. This could involve schools (as Governors), local authorities (asCouncillors) and the NHS (as PCT Board Members) and other positions of responsibility which would giveinvaluable experience to a prospective MP and would also create a real environment of inclusivity across thepublic sector.


29. This document is meant to uncover the unique barriers to public oYce which LGB people face.Specific government funded national research around any LGB issue is very rare, but a piece of researcharound LGB people’s attitudes to public engagement and civic involvement seems timely, appropriate andrelevant across the public sector.

30. The work done by politicians and LGB lobbyists in London is vital and has brought about some ofthe most significant legislation in support of the LGB community in this country. However, centralGovernment’s engagement with LGB people is currently unfocused and concentrated on London andLondon based organisations. The risk is that for an average LGB person (especially those outside ofLondon) this process can seem remote and exclusive. Government needs to engage with the grass-rootsorganisations across the regions that speak to their communities.




31. The visibility of political parties at Gay Pride events such as Manchester Pride is welcome, but if onewants to be fully inclusive, such visibility must increase, especially at smaller Pride events such as Oldhamor Hull. The UK’s national politics is dominated by two main Parties. The Conservative Party’s historicallegislative record has understandably alienated them from large sections of the LGB community. LGBpeople often feel the only main Party they could vote for is Labour. This perceived lack of choice has led toa further LGB disengagement with the political process.

32. The current language and voting behaviour of the Conservative front bench is welcomed by LGBpeople. However, we are unaware of any apology for Section 28 and other previous homophobic legislation.The Conservative Party cannot present itself as a viable option for many LGB voters or candidates until itis willing to draw a very public line over its past actions.

33. Until all parties and the civil service are willing to apologise for homophobic actions undertaken, thepast behaviour of the public sector will cast a shadow over current eVorts to engage with LGB communities.We note with interest the previous voting records of the Members of this Speaker’s Conference with respectto equality legislation. We can only wonder what some of you will make of our comments and how muchrelevance you will place upon them.


34. The value placed upon their LGB community by Manchester City Council is clear and evident to thecity’s vibrant LGB population. For more than 20 years the Council has pioneered an inclusive andcelebratory approach to LGB needs and aspirations. Manchester has a lead Councillor for gay men’s issues,a lead Councillor for lesbian’s issues and two lead oYcer posts covering the same responsibilities.

35. The language used by the Council should be regarded as best practice across all public bodies: “Thehistory of Manchester’s LBGT community is an important part of the social and cultural history of the city andthe North West…In addition Manchester has played an important role in the struggle against prejudice andhomophobia and it is the birthplace of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality” (Sourcewww.manchester.gov.uk)

And how can the success of such actions be measured?

36. A forward-thinking approach to commissioning by the Council and NHS bodies in the Manchesterarea (amongst others) has allowed the Lesbian & Gay Foundation to become the largest direct serviceprovider to the LGB community in the country. Manchester City Council has recently been voted by readersof the UK’s leading gay newspaper as the UK’s Best Council or Local Authority (Source: www.lgf.org.uk13 January 2009).

37. The Lesbian & Gay Foundation’s North West strategy (included in our supporting evidence in Annex2) includes three strategic aims which Government, political Parties, campaigning groups, public sectorbodies and others can all play a part in realising. They are (1) developing an evidence base for the needs ofthe LGB (& Trans) sector; (2) to increase the knowledge and engagement of public sector partners and (3)to increase the capacity of the LGB & T voluntary and community sector.

38. In his foreword to the LGF’s North West LGB & T strategy, Patrick White, the Executive Directorof Policy for the North West Development Agency says:

39. “NWDA are proud to support the launch of this new strategy. We recognise that diversity in all its formsis a great social and economic asset to the North West, and pay tribute to the creativity and dynamism of theregion’s LGB&T communities. Compared to other equalities strands we know relatively little either about thebarriers to economic opportunity you face in the workplace or the true extent of your contribution to the regionaleconomy—but plan to put this right through research we are commissioning over the coming year, which canthen be the basis for closer work together in the future.”

40. This promise of considerate and financial partnership working is exactly what the LGB communitywants to hear more of from Government, the Opposition and public sector bodies

41. In conclusion, the low visibility of LGB people and their concerns in Parliament needs to be urgentlyaddressed by both LGB and non-LGB politicians. The estimated five and a half million LGB people in thiscountry have a right to an authentic and identifiable voice at all levels of government.



Submission from Cllr Lynne Smith, Bridget Maguire, Wendy Harrison, Alison Richards, Isabel Arnold &Celia Waller (SC–32)

We are a group of Labour Women members from Bradford and would like to make the followingcomments about the role of women in the House of Commons

What are the reasons more women do not become Members of Parliament?

Short summary:

— Women’s perception of themselves—also now more often in full time work. Many find this issuYcient activity combined with bringing up a family.

— More likely to put families and children first.

— Many women have a role as a carer of older/disabled people.

— Often actively involved in and getting satisfaction from local communities.

— Women tend to be less ruthless and less competitive.

— Entry into politics sometimes via historically male dominated trade unions.

— Society can still be critical of women who succeed in public life.

— The House of Commons itself can seem like an “Old Boys Club”.

1. Women’s perception of themselves—although their role has changed so they are often in full time workthis has not necessarily freed them up for them to feel they want to take on wider responsibilities as well. Insome ways this mitigates against such a move. For most women working full time and bringing up a familyis suYcient activity at any one time—so they are less likely to participate in local politics which can be a wayinto the national political scene.

1.1 Women tend to put families and children first. In the main the women who have succeeded have nosmall children, are rich so may be less likely to follow a first career or have partners who are prepared tosacrifice their own careers. There is inevitably only a minority of women that meet these criteria and this isreflected in the number of women MPs.

1.2. More women than men take on the role of carers of older and disabled people. With the progress inmedical science, people are living longer and women are likely to be involved in this role, for a greaterpercentage of their lives.

1.3 Women are often actively involved in local communities and getting satisfaction from this—whichcan be more easily be combined with family and career—and so the attraction of national politics is lessobvious.

1.4 Women tend to be less ruthless—and naturally less competitive—otherwise women would be betterrepresented in the higher management positions.

2. Entry to national politics has in the past sometimes been through the trade unions—and although this ischanging, most union management posts have in the past been predominantly held by men.

3. Society’s perception of women—society can still be very critical and judgemental about women whosucceed—women are seen in very pejorative terms if they compete in a traditionally “man’s world”—forexample women are seen as “pushy” whereas a man would be “confident” in similar circumstances.Women are still, by the majority of society, seen as remaining close to home whereas men are the breadwinners.

4. The House of Commons itself is a very male dominated environment and the behaviour or some MPs—described as “braying” during debates, does little to entice women to join the fray.

What Actions could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation?

Short Summary:

— Ensure that entry in to the political environment is supported and sustained.

— Provide education about how the system actually works.

— Include education about the political process in the school curriculum.

— Support a national network of Women’s Forum.

— Look at changes in the day to day management of parliament and local councils.

— Introduce reserved seats for women.

— Carry out further research to inform the debate about representation.

1. Entry into political environment is supported and sustained. Too many people find the politicalenvironment very confusing and unwelcoming. There is little nurturing of new members. There should bea consistent policy of providing mentors, buddies etc.



1.1 The political system is a complex network of power and influence that is often a mystery to thenewcomer—a commitment to providing education about how the system actually works may go some wayto encouraging women to feel at ease and therefore able to make a contribution.

1.2 A commitment to including political education in schools—this would be about the political process,pressure groups etc and the relevance of participation for all sections of the community.

1.3 Vigorously support a national network of Women’s Forum to provide local support for women anda link into the system. This would give women members a chance to get the support of other womenmembers in what may be a male dominated constituency management group.

2. Changes to the day to day management of councils and the House of Commons. This could include morefamily friendly policies for the business of local councils to encourage more women to participate locally asagain this is a common way into a more national political engagement. It would also include more familyfriendly policies for the sittings and business of the House of Commons.

2.1 A more structured role for all MPs to ensure there are boundaries and a chance to have a life outsidepolitics. This may encourage women to participate as they would not necessarily see becoming an MPleading to the end of “normal” family life.

3. Reserved Seats for Women. Unfortunately the above suggestions are only really tinkering around theedges—they may increase numbers marginally but without a wholesale re—think about the way the politicalprocess works they are unlikely to deliver any big changes in the gender make up of the political landscape.Reserved seats for women could only happen by moving away from the tradition of representation byconstituency. They would be grouped into some kind of micro region whereby we’d vote for a number ofMPs—some of whom would be women. This has been done for European elections.

4. Research into a number of aspects of the political system.

4.1 Look at other countries that have a more representative system—how have they managed this?

4.2 The selection process—how far are women involved on the panels?

4.3 At what stage in the selection process are women under represented—is it at the beginning or doesthe balance change at any point?

4.4 Look at successful women politicians who are also parents—how have they arranged their lives toachieve this. What would have helped more?

4.5 A number of politicians are retired women—what support have they had and what support wouldhave helped them more?

Thank you for considering our views.

Submission from the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO) (SC–33)

Summary

The National Alliance of Women’s Organisations recommends:

— that a full literature review be undertaken so that the considerable body of research that existsparticularly on women’s underrepresentation in Parliament may inform this enquiry

— the Parliamentary candidate selection process is biased in favour of men, and particularly whiteable bodied men; action to address this must continue

— the over representation of men in public life in itself acts as a disincentive to girls and young womento consider political activity as a career

— moving away from a first past the post system would increase levels of political engagement

— the absence of women in the House of Commons has led to a bias in the prevailing discourse; interalia, this means that there is no routine gender analysis of policies and legislation is not scrutinisedfor its gender impact. Gender budgeting is largely unknown in the UK legislature.

— a public education campaign should be undertaken to address leadership stereotypes which deterwomen and minority groups from seeking elected oYce.



Introduction

This response is provided by the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations which represents women’sorganisations across England. It focuses on the question of women’s underrepresentation in the House ofCommons, including ethnic minority, disabled, and other minority women.

There is now a considerable body of research on women’s underrepresentation in Parliamentarydemocracies, and some of the leading researchers can be found here in the UK. We recommend that a fullliterature review be undertaken to inform the Conference’s work, as the answers to most of the questionsposed in this consultation exercise may be found there. We have drawn on this extensive evidence base inour response.

Research by Anne-Marie Goetz87 has identified a number of broad social mechanisms that lead towomen’s underrepresentation across the world:

resource constraints limit women’s time for and leverage in politics, and encourage a focus on localissues; gender-based inequalities are often seen as “natural”, thereby limiting the legitimacy ofgender equity; and women’s sexual subordination to men, which undermines the value of theirconsent or “voice” in politics. The terms of the sexual contract in many societies establish thatwomen’s consent may be assumed. Men have no obligation to be accountable to married womenfor their behaviour in the family and in relation to women’s property because women have freelysurrendered these rights to men. By consenting to a loss of power and rights, the value of women’sconsent is undermined and their voice becomes unreliable. This makes them secondary citizens inkey political arenas.

Comparative research by Shaw88 shows that women in the House of Commons are treated as interlopersand are unable to take advantage of the routine rule breaking that the majority practice. This puts them ata significant disadvantage in acting as our elected representatives. In the same vein, Joni Lovenduski reportsin her research89

There was one woman Labour MP who found it oV-putting that when she got up to speak, some of theTories shouted “Melons, Melons”. So she went to see the Speaker, who was then Betty Boothroyd, who toldher: “Look love, we’ve all had to go through it. Next time, wait for them to speak and shout out ‘Chipolatas,chipolatas’.”

Lovenduski’s research, like Shaw’s, describes graphically the discriminatory and exclusionary eVect ofmasculine norms and codes of behaviour in the House of Commons.

The General Election of May 2005 returned 128 women MPs. They represent the Parties as follows:

Number

Labour 96Conservative 17Liberal Democrat 10Labour/Co-operative 2Democratic Unionist Party 1Ulster Unionist 1Sinn Fein 1

Effective Solutions

These facts, and the available research, appear to suggest that the most eVective initiatives that lead toan increase in women’s representation have been to reduce the discretion available to local party selectioncommittees to demonstrate bias in favour of men. The Labour Party’s all women shortlists combined withtheir electoral success in 1997 led to a considerable boost in the number of women MPs. The Twinning ofconstituencies and the selection of one man and one woman to each led to the equal representation of womenin the Wales Assembly. There is no evidence that the electorate is reluctant to elect women, but there is plentyof evidence that selection committees are biased in favour of selecting men.

It has been clearly demonstrated that similar biases exist in the labour market and these have only beenpartially eradicated by making available legal redress. The recent change in electoral law90 has assisted inas much as it permits measures to improve women’s representation to be taken, but has not been widelyadopted. The next step should be to require parties to demonstrate they are not biased in favour of oneparticular group, that is, white, able bodied men. The success of such actions can be measured by a decreasein the overrepresentation of men.

87 Anne Marie Goetz, “Women’s Political EVectiveness: A Conceptual Framework”, Chapter 2 in NoShortcuts to Power:African Women in Politics and Policy-Making, eds. A.M. Goetz and Shireen Hassim,London: Zed Press, 2003.

88 Sylvia Shaw, “Language and Gender in Political Debates”, Chapter 5 in Speaking out: The female voice in public contexts,ed. Judith Baxter, 2006.

89 Joni Lovenduski: “How men deter women from Parliament”, Inaugural lecture of the Anniversary Professor of Politics atBirkbeck College, University of London, 8 February 2002

90 Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002



It is argued that, throughout European parties, women’s representation has increased dramatically sincequotas were introduced. It is also suggested that the improvements in women’s representation in the UK“can to a large extent be traced to the use of ‘positive action’ measures (commonly known as ‘quotas’) bycertain political parties.” It is now fairly common for parties within Europe, especially green parties or thoseof the left, to adopt some form of quotas policy. Of the 76 parties in European Union states which have 10 ormore members in the lower house of the national legislature, 35 (or 46 per cent) use quotas. Amongst these76 parties, 35 have achieved levels of women’s representation above 24 per cent (the Labour Party’s recordhigh) and of these 35, 24 (or 69 per cent) have a quotas policy in place. Women’s representation remainsbelow 10 per cent in 17 of the parties, of which only one has a quotas policy in place. However, very highrepresentation of women may of course be achieved without quotas, as in the case of Denmark (37.9%).91

Underrepresented groups should be encouraged to stand for election via the provision of training andshadowing opportunities. Limited opportunities are available within the political parties, but this should bewidened and provided on a non-party basis for candidates who wish to enter public life either by serving ina public appointment or by election to local or central government.

It is essential to put in place definite but hopefully short term positive actions: in populations where thereare high density minority groups, insist on at least one BME representative on the short list; reintroducewomen only short lists and work to ensure BME women among those standing—ditto disabled women;encourage and support disabled people to enter politics. The financing of campaigns should be reconsideredto encourage less aZuent sections of the population to stand.

Overcoming these barriers will involve quite profound cultural shifts, particularly in men’s attitudes andbehaviour, and requires a public campaign of education and appreciation that demonstrates the nonsenseof stereotypes.

Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups in society?

NAWO believes that the answer this question is, unequivocally, yes. The absence of women in the Houseof Commons has led to a bias in the prevailing discourse away from issues which might be considereddomestic or of interest to women in particular. There is no routine gender analysis of policies and legislationis not scrutinised for its gender impact. Gender budgeting is largely unknown in the UK legislature. Theabsence of women as role models deters girls and young women from considering a career in politics, andreinforces the bias in favour of men in the ranks of parliamentarians. The invisibility of women and theirspecific needs and interests means that there is little demand for the data produced by the state to be genderdisaggregated, and this in turn makes it diYcult even if the political will existed to undertake gender analysisor to understand the impact of legislation, fiscal policy etc on women.

Again, research indicates that gender diVerences in political engagement vary across democraciesaccording to their electoral institutions.

Women are less likely to be politically engaged than men but this[ gender] gap is smaller in moreproportional electoral systems. Proportional representation electoral rules and gender quotas signal tocitizens that inclusiveness is important to the country’s democracy. Gender gaps in political engagement aresmaller in more proportional electoral systems and in countries with gender quotas.92


NAWO believes that part of the reason that surveys continue to record high levels of public dissatisfactionwith parliament and low levels of trust in parliamentarians is that Parliament is seen as biased in favour ofa small and unrepresentative group of white men who are drawn from upper middle class, privately educatedbackgrounds. This group is demonstrably overrepresented and is perceived to be passing laws which improvetheir own position rather than the position of the majority of the population or indeed those worse oV thanthemselves.

91 Gender Quotas in a Comparative Perspective, www.essex.ac.uk/ECPR/standinggroups/women/workingPapers/Gender Quotas in a Comparative Perspective oct2002.pdf

92 Gender, Institutions and Political Engagement: A Comparative Perspective Kittilson, Schwindt Bayer, 2008




The principal barriers are:

Financial: women and other disadvantaged groups are less likely to have the financial resources to supporttheir entry into public life

Gender roles: women shoulder a disproportionate burden of unpaid caring for both children and olderpeople, and research shows that they are able to spend less time on voluntary political activity than men.Underlying this practical barrier is the cultural tradition of male leadership and the belief that women aresomehow not the “natural” leaders of society and indeed are not the leaders in reality in most if not allsocial groups.

Perceived bias: The over representation of men in public life in itself also acts as a disincentive to girls andyoung women to consider political activity as a career, as it leads to a perception of bias against the entryof women.

Actual bias: the selection process employed by the main political parties consistently demonstrates biasunless measures are taken specifically to counter this.

Submission from the Association for Citizenship Teaching (SC–34)

What we really need in schools is a “Duty for Promote Democracy”

The revised National curriculum that came into force in schools in September 2008 had three overall aims.The third aim is Responsible Citizens. The bones of this are detailed below. Responsible Citizens

— are well prepared for life and work

— are enterprising

— are able to work cooperatively with others

— respect others and act with integrity

— understand their own and others’ cultures and traditions, within the context of British heritage, and

— have a strong sense of their own place in the world

— appreciate the benefits of diversity

— challenge injustice, are committed to human rights and strive to live peaceably with others

— sustain and improve the environment, locally and globally take account of the needs of present andfuture generations in the choices they make

— can change things for the better.

The revised Citizenship education curriculum in secondary schools enables teachers and young people toarticulate this in detail using a language that has developed since the introduction of the subject in schoolsin 2002. With the revised Citizenship education curriculum we can now articulate this aim with a clearerlanguage and greater senses of understanding. Citizenship has a role to play in building a participatory,democratic ethos across the whole school. This is known as the “3Cs of Citizenship” and is very muchsupported by the new curriculum; Citizenship in the curriculum, wider community and culture of the school.

There is more than just anecdotal evidence that the “old” curriculum was not suYciently inspiring foryoung people. A MORI poll in 2000 found that, asked what they did most often in class, students put “copythings from the board” first, and “learn things about the real world” last. Research from the HarvardGraduate School of Education asked students, “when did you feel most intellectually engaged?” Students’responses included, when we have time to:

— help to define the content;

— find a particular direction that interest us;

— create original and public products;

— did something…took part in political action, wrote a letter;

— sensed that the results of our work are not predetermined or fully predictable; and

— when teachers encourage diVerent forms of expression and respect our views.

Evidence like this supports the new curriculum’s emphasis on learning that oVers students real choice andreal purpose. It also illustrates what an important role Citizenship should have in this transformation.

In many ways, learning in the Internet-age is racing far ahead of learning in schools. On the Internet, peerassessment is the norm. Think of the millions who comment on each others’ photos on Flickr. Everythingis cross-curricula. Go to the BBC news website, read up on the US Presidential campaign, link to BarackObama’s views on climate change, link to Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth, and then link to the Oscars.You’ve covered four subjects in four clicks. Knowledge is democratised. Everyone can access it, add to it



and review it, as they do on Wikipedia. Collaborative problem-solving is standard. Don’t know how to fixyour bicycle? Go to any number of cycling forums, share your problem and dozens of people will help yousolve it.

All these changes have one thing in common; public participation. Participation is becoming the norm,or as Charles Leadbeater the commentator on innovation says, “The audience has taken to the stage.” Atits best, the Internet has created a revolution in democracy and participation, which should have a profoundimpact on Citizenship education. Mass mobilisation is now possible through sites such as moveon.org andchange.org, or consider the example of students in Plymouth who managed to get 10,000 people to sign aFacebook petition to stop the deportation of one of their classmates in the Spring of 2008.

Soon we will be teaching young people who may still be alive in the 22nd century, but we don’t even knowwhat the world will look like in the next decade. So we need to try to oVer a curriculum which can prepareyoung people for a world we cannot yet even imagine. There are currently at least three models of Citizenshipeducation in schools:

Citizenship for Courtesy: Citizenship is about teaching children good manners and courteous behaviour;to be polite, respectful and pick up litter.

Citizenship for Cohesion: Citizenship is about teaching children “Britishness”, and what makes us and ourcountry who we are.

Citizenship for Change: Citizenship is about teaching children the knowledge, skills and most importantlythe inclination to participate in political and public life.

While each of these models are important, it is clear in both the Crick Report which launched Citizenshipas a statutory subject in 2002, and the new Citizenship programme of study, that the focus for Citizenshipshould be on the latter model, Citizenship for Change.

One concise way to sum this up is to say that the purpose of Citizenship education is to build students’sense of political agency. A sense of political agency is your belief that you can eVect political change in yourschool, your community and the wider world. This could be as simple as a willingness to email your MP orraise an issue in school council, or it could be more a more complex and significant commitment, such ascampaigning to improve a local park or lobbying to lower the voting age. This is important because it meansthat in Citizenship our focus must be less on fund-raising for charity and more campaigning for change;fewer Christmas shoe boxes and more boxes of petitions.

If this is what we are trying to achieve through Citizenship there are two major implications for the waywe organize learning in our classrooms, schools and communities. First, we need to give students some sayin the content and/or process of learning. We cannot say to them that participation is important, but givethem no involvement in their learning. This is consistent with the principles of democracy, motivation andthe new curriculum. Second, we need to create opportunities for students to eVect change in the worldaround them. You will not feel political powerful until you’ve had a powerful experience of acting politically.

Student voice and student action are therefore two key characteristics of a compelling learning experiencein Citizenship. Or to put it another way, we need to begin to explore ways to move from learning that isteacher-led and classroom-based, to learning that is student-led and community-based.

The new Citizenship programme of study provides a great opportunity to put these principles into action.The new structure of key concepts, key processes and range and content encourages us to focus less on abody of knowledge alone, and more on combining skills and knowledge in a learning experience thatempowers young people to take action for change. This learning is embedded by the key concepts with giveCitizenship greater depth, rigour and clarity-see diagram.

The Big Three Challenges

Senior leadership:

We know that the real key to securing Citizenship’s future in the next 10 years is support from SLT,specialist Citizenship teachers and discrete Citizenship lessons. While each of these supports the other,ACT’s view is that our priority should be specialist Citizenship teachers. We have let down a generation ofstudents by using reluctant, non-specialists to teach Citizenship and we must tackle this as a priority. We donot yet have 1500 specialist Citizenship teachersin the country, but those we do have tend to be high quality and high energy, who are able to convince SLTto support Citizenship and secure discrete curriculum time. There are no better advocates for the subjectthan the specialists. The Citizenship CPD course is a step in the right direction, but feedback from aroundthe country about the course is not generally encouraging—we would suggest we could learn some lessonsfrom the PSHE model, which is much more locally based. Nevertheless, we think the real need is to increasethe number of PGCE Citizenship courses (especially in places like the Northeast), and the number of placesthey oVer. We need to target Heads in particular, and make a clear and convincing case for how Citizenshipcontributes to school improvement and community building. One step in the right direction are the filmsACT has just had made at British Library, which celebrate the successes of 10 years of Citizenship. Thesewill be used at an NCSL conference for Heads in June this year.



Ofsted:

One of the issues that has been raised by quite a number of teachers is that Ofsted has given their schoola good grade for Citizenship, when they are know they do not warrant it. Many Citizenship teachers actuallywant the short-comings of their Citizenship teaching exposed by Ofsted so they can use this to improveprovision. We need to ensure Ofsted inspectors are suitable trained and rigorous about their Citizenshipinspections-demonstrating clear understanding.

The problem of politicians:

The evidence suggests many simply don’t understand what Citizenship is about. This became clear whenwe attended an education fringe meeting during the last party conference season. In response to a questionabout Citizenship education, an MP made some vague comments about work experience and life skills. AnMP who spoke at the recent Portcullis House Crick Reception reinforced this impression. Some politicianshave an understanding that could be described as the model of “Citizenship for Courtesy”—good behaviour,giving to charity and volunteering. We need to find a way to start a dialogue with politicians about this. Itmay be fair to say that ACT is often struck by how remarkable it is that politicians are reluctant to embraceCitizenship—it is after all an apprenticeship for their profession. A politician, who doesn’t supportCitizenship, is like a scientist who doesn’t support science teaching or perhaps a turkey voting for Christmas!

Submission from the Citizenship Foundation (SC–35)

Summary

— Our experience running Citizenship Foundation programmes such as the National YouthParliament Competition and Youth Act has shown us that young people are passionate aboutpolitical issues—the environment, world poverty, racism and inequality—and that they areprepared to campaign for change.

— We thus argue that the problem of political disengagement is not one of apathy, but of politicalliteracy. People are not uninterested in political issues; they either (1) lack the skills, knowledge andconfidence to participate in political processes or (2) do not believe that existing politicalinstitutions are able to address the issues that concern them.

— Therefore, if the Speaker’s Conference wishes to address the disparity between the representationof women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and theirrepresentation in the UK population at large, we suggest that it focuses not on the appearance ofapathy, but on the political literacy of these and other social groups. The crucial question is: howmight they develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed for eVective participation?

This paper is arranged in the following sections:

1. Background: the appearance of apathy

2. About the Citizenship Foundation

3. What we mean by Citizenship, Citizenship Education and “Citizenship-rich” communities

4. Citizenship Education in schools and through the National Curriculum

5. Developing Active and EVective Citizenship in Youth and Community Settings

6. From Participation to Politics: Reconnecting “Civil” and “Civic” Engagement

7. Recommendations and conclusions

1. Background: the appearance of apathy

1.1 In the last two General Elections, voter turnout amongst 18–24 year olds went from bad (39 percent in 2001) to worse (37 per cent in 2005) (Electoral Commission, 2005). Although in line with decreasingvoter turnout across the generations, these figures have brought the issue of the disengagement of youngpeople from politics to the forefront of the political discourse, with: “more young people vote for the winnerof the X-Factor than the next Prime Minister” becoming a phrase often bandied about by wearied politicalcommentators. Apathy has been a common explanation for this lack of participation in formal politics; wewant to explode what we described in our evidence to the Power Inquiry almost four years ago as theapathy myth.

1.2 The Citizenship Foundation’s experience with young people in schools and in community settingstells a diVerent story. We believe that young people are not disengaged from political issues; rather they either(1) lack the skills, knowledge and confidence to participate in political processes or (2) do not believe thatexisting political institutions are able to address the issues that concern them.



1.3 This lack of knowledge about, and faith in, the political system is compounded by a decliningdemocratic tradition within families and communities, accentuated by the decline of a range of “bridginginstitutions”. In previous generations, institutions such as trade unions and churches created links betweencivil society and civic politics, and helped to develop and hone political literacy.

1.4 If the Speaker’s Conference wishes to address the disparity between the representation of women,ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UKpopulation at large, we suggest that it focuses not on the appearance of apathy, but on the political literacyof these and other social groups. The crucial question is: how might they develop the knowledge, skills andconfidence needed for eVective participation?

1.5 Our work with young people, both within formal educational settings (such as schools and colleges)and in youth and community settings, suggests that high quality Citizenship Education and participationprogrammes can play a key role in (re-) connecting individuals to the political process, in developing thepolitical literacy with which they can “navigate” the system and in raising political aspirations.

1.6 However, we oVer two qualifications: (1) Citizenship Education has only been taught in Englishschools since 2002 and has not been able to build on the heritage of a strong social curriculum within whichthe issues of politics, law and economics might be addressed; (2) By definition, with the exception of itsyoungest members, the existing adult population has not had access to this curriculum and, therefore, hasnot been “schooled” in matters of politics.

1.7 It follows that, in making the case for high quality education programmes for young people, we aremaking the case for high quality education programmes for all.

1.8 While there has been some good work carried out in the field of Adult Citizenship Education (ACE)—such as that carried out through the active citizenship programmes developed within the framework of theDCLG supported Take Part programme93 and the excellent resources and activities delivered under theauspices of the LSN-QIA Post-16 Citizenship Education programme94—there is no universally accessibleeducation programme available to the adult members of those communities that are the Conference’sconcern.

2. About the Citizenship Foundation

2.1 The Citizenship Foundation is an independent education and participation charity that aims toempower individuals to engage in the wider community through education about the law democracy andsociety. We focus, in particular, on developing young people’s citizenship skills, knowledge andunderstanding. Our work includes citizenship resources for a wide audience from teachers to youngoVenders, nationwide training programmes, national active learning projects for secondary schools andcommunity-based projects to develop Citizenship Education as a collective responsibility beyond school andcollege boundaries. We are committed to three interdependent strategic objectives: supporting andinforming the development of (1) Better Citizenship Education, (2) EVective Participation and (3) StrongerCommunities.

3. What we mean by Citizenship, Citizenship Education and “Citizenship-rich” Communities

3.1 It is important that we oVer our own working definition of citizenship. By citizenship we mean theeVective, informed engagement of individuals in their communities and in broader society around issuesrelating to the public domain. This is a definition of citizenship based around participation and “process”,rather than a narrower one that refers to an individual’s legal status in terms of, for instance, nationality.This engagement requires that young people are educated for citizenship and that they develop a range ofknowledge, skills and dispositions. They need to know about politics, law, economics, the functioning ofcommunities and social groups and their rights and responsibilities in terms of these communities andgroups. And they need to feel confident in applying this knowledge, which requires a “toolkit” of citizenshipskills: investigating, communicating, participating, negotiating, taking responsible action. Critically,eVective, rather than merely “active”, citizenship is both underpinned by, and develops, the individual’spolitical literacy.

3.2 We refer to those schools that combine the delivery of a clearly identifiable and rigorous curriculumin Citizenship with multiple and varied opportunities for both student participation and communityinvolvement as “Citizenship-rich”, a term and definition now adopted by the National Foundation forEducational Research in their Longitudinal Study into Citizenship Education (NFER, 2007; Breslin andDufour, 2006).

93 The Take Part programme was originally launched at the Home OYce in 2004 as the Active Learning for Active Citizenshipprogramme and has encouraged activity in a number of designated areas. Details are available from Helen Marsh, HenryTam and Charles Wood at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

94 Bernedette Joslin at the Quality Improvement Agency leads this initiative. Although focused on 16–19 year olds it may holdreal lessons for future ACE provision.



3.3 More recently, in work commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government,we have extended this thinking beyond the school to the neighbourhood, developing the concept of the“Citizenship-rich” community: inclusive, participatory and politically informed.

4. Citizenship Education in Schools and through the National Curriculum

4.1 Citizenship was introduced as a statutory Foundation Subject of the National Curriculum in August2002 and revised, along with the wider curriculum, in August 2008. Previously, during the 1990s, it had hadthe status of a “Cross-curricular theme”—a status that we suggested condemned Citizenship (and the otherCross-curricular themes) to being “everywhere but nowhere” (Citizenship Foundation, 2006).

4.2 The introduction of Citizenship Education into secondary schools is unparalleled since the 19thcentury in terms of subject innovation, with the possible exception of Information and CommunicationsTechnology (which is, in any case, of a diVerent nature). Professor Denis Lawton at the University ofLondon Institute of Education has described the introduction of Citizenship to the secondary curriculumas “the most important educational innovation in the last fifty years” (Breslin and Dufour, 2006).

4.3 However, as we have argued elsewhere,95 and as the National Foundation for EducationalResearch’s Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS) Study makes clear (NFER, 2002–07),Citizenship Education remains a work in practice. After less than seven years, we should expect this to bethe case, granted that, as argued earlier, it does not build on the kind of social studies tradition enjoyed inthe United States or across Western Europe.

4.4 In this context, there is some excellent work (which we shall go on to describe) but, equally, in toomany schools Citizenship has a low priority with teachers and heads. It is often delivered by non-specialistteachers in tutor time at the start of the school day, bundled into low status and overcrowded Personal,Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHEE) programmes or simply dispersed across the curriculum,largely invisible to teachers and students alike.

4.5 It is our concern that this low priority aVorded to Citizenship Education at a local level is now sharedon the national stage. The excellent and valued DCSF support team for Citizenship has been significantlyreduced in size and is also charged with “looking after” Religious Education and PSHEE.

4.6 Moreover, the introduction of Citizenship has never been accompanied by the kind of properlyfunded, widely promoted, high profile National Strategy for Teaching and Learning in CitizenshipEducation that we have repeatedly called for (most notably in evidence to the Education and Skills SelectCommittee in 2006) and which commonly supports other “priority” areas such as literacy and numeracy.

4.7 The best school-based Citizenship Education programmes combine strong, specialist Citizenshipteaching in dedicated curriculum time with a plethora of opportunities for students to “do” citizenship—participating in meaningful activities through which they develop, rehearse and hone their citizenship skills,across the school and in the community.

4.8 These activities might include taking part in mock elections and mock trials, participating in SchoolCouncils, local youth councils and the UK Youth Parliament, taking part in community volunteeringprogrammes, organising social enterprise programmes and raising funds for charitable causes.

4.9 As noted earlier, the NFER CELS Study which has monitored and evaluated the nature and qualityof Citizenship Education since its introduction in 2002 has now adopted our concept of the “Citizenship-rich” school to describe this multi-faceted approach to the delivery of Citizenship (NFER, 2007).

4.10 In this context, the reports of the CELS Study oVer a good news story that needs to be told, oneabout the increasing number of “Citizenship-rich” schools. These schools see organisation-wide impactacross a range of measures: achievement, inclusion and cohesion.

4.11 For twenty years the Citizenship Foundation has been involved in the design and delivery ofresources and a range of active learning programmes designed to build the political, legal and economicliteracy in schools, each designed to promote participation and active, eVective citizenship, of which theNational Youth Parliament Competition (NYPC) which has been running since 1990, is a longstandingexample.

4.12 In 2008, the NYPC involved 1500 young people drawn from a range of backgrounds across thecountry. The competition helps bring to life the processes of parliament, government and politics by oVeringyoung people the opportunity to set up and film their own parliamentary debates. In doing so, participantsare able to reflect on how laws are made within the framework of a democratic process and how parliamentand parliamentarians work.

4.13 Through emphasising the knowledge that MPs (and MSPs)96 must develop, and the terms in whichthey are required to work in order to present a reasoned point of view, the NYPC oVers a rare positive publicrepresentation of their role. In particular, the competition demonstrates how MPs balance the needs andviews of constituents with their own conscience and any “party line”. Frequently, local MPs work with

95 A full outline of this argument is contained in the Citizenship Foundation’s submission to the Education and Skills SelectCommittee investigation into Citizenship Education in schools (2006).

96 A version of the NYPC based on the Scottish Parliament has been available since 2003.



schools and youth groups that have entered the competition, panels of MPs judged those entrants short-listed for prizes and senior politicians (including the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition) haveparticipated in the annual awards ceremony.

4.14 The NYPC oVers teachers and youth group leaders97 a framework through which students can learnabout and practice democratic engagement through participating in an interesting, confidence-buildingexperience that can be delivered as a part of the National Curriculum in Citizenship, through other subjectssuch as Drama or as an extra-curricular activity. In taking part, participants get a genuine insight into formalpolitics and into aspects of what their MP is doing while “away at Parliament”.98

5. Developing Active and EVective Citizenship in Youth and Community Settings

5.1 The Citizenship Foundation has long believed that citizenship must not just be active; it must beeVective. That is to say, it must empower individuals—through the development of political literacy and arange of practical citizenship skills—to drive change in whatever setting they are working in. TheFoundation’s participation and social action programmes are focused on generating exactly these capacitiesin individuals and communities.

5.2 In this context, the Foundation’s Youth and Community based programmes are designed around fivekey principles:

— Facts—through participating in the programmes, individuals need to be able to learn a range ofkey facts about political processes and institutions.

— Understanding—they need to ally this knowledge with a wider understanding of how politicsworks in practice.

— Skills—there needs to be a practical focus on the development of the type of citizenship skills(communication, negotiation and political awareness) that support and enable politicalengagement.

— Experience—the programmes must aVord participants the opportunity to put their learning andskills into practice, to “do” citizenship.

— Reflection—the programmes must be designed in such a way that participants are encouraged toreflect on their experience, such that they cement their learning and build their confidence.

5.3 The Citizenship Foundation’s Youth Act programme was first established in two London Boroughs(Haringey and Islington) in 2004 and has since been delivered in fifteen authorities. Youth Act supportsgroups of young people (aged 11–18) who want to achieve change in their school, college, youth club orcommunity. Through training to develop their campaigning skills, the programme fosters participants’personal development, social understanding and political empowerment. Specifically, it develops skills inadvocacy, negotiation, influencing, teamwork, media, communication and conflict resolution.

5.4 Working in groups with an adult supporter (for example, a youth worker, teacher, parent or policeoYcer), participants identify a local issue that they want to tackle and follow an intensive trainingprogramme to enable and support their campaign for change. Projects have focused on a variety of issuesincluding gun and knife crime, bullying, facilities provision and estate regeneration, with many Youth Actgroups and participants winning local and national awards for their eVorts.

5.5 By supporting young people to set realistic campaign goals (for example, cleaning up a part of theirestate or establishing a local anti-bullying initiative) young people develop the skills, the knowledge and—most importantly—the confidence to engage with the formal and informal political systems in their localcommunity. There is evidence that this builds their interest in “bigger” issues and in the broader politicalsystem, nationally and internationally. It is common for young people who participate in Youth Act trainingto go on to take their campaigns and their interests to a wider audience.

5.6 Youth Act explodes the apathy myth: young people are interested in local, national and internationalissues. Young people are concerned about the way in which their local communities are policed, cleaned andprovided for. In our experience, Youth Act participants also take an interest in a range of national andinternational issues: votes at 16, tuition fees, the war in Iraq, world poverty. However, their interest is in theissue itself and sometimes in response to the apparent lack of action in the formal political sphere.

6. From Participation to Politics: Reconnecting “Civil” and “Civic” Engagement

6.1 As noted above, our experience running Citizenship Foundation programmes such as the NationalYouth Parliament Competition and Youth Act has shown us that young people are interested in politicalissues—the environment, world poverty, racism and inequality—and that they are prepared to campaign forchange. However, what they lack is faith in our formal political structures, trust in our politicians to deliver

97 The NYPC was extended to youth groups in 2005–06 so as to encourage participation by those best reached through channelsbeyond formal schooling.

98 We appreciate the current accessibility and openness of the Parliamentary Education Service in opening up their centralresources and facilities to help us (alongside many other organisations), in bringing politics to life for young people.



on these issues and the knowledge, skills and confidence to make these structures work for them. They arecommitted to civil action but not civic engagement. They are often willing—and sometimes keen—to engagein “civil” society but remain unconvinced of the relevance of “civic” politics.

6.2 We believe that this separation of the “civil” and “civic” domains poses real dangers because, in thelonger run, it casts many of our most passionate campaigners outside the political process, questions therelevance of formal politics and reduces it to a dull and mistrusted managerialism in the process.

6.3 The declining levels of participation in a range of organisations and conduits that might have“bridged” the civic and civil spheres in previous years has accentuated the appearance of a “professional”,self-perpetuating and detached “political class”, based in Westminster and Brussels, if not the local townhall. We suggest that, as the routes into formal politics at the national and European level narrow (“politics”is increasingly a high-end graduate entry career, pursued from—or before—graduation and accessedthrough internships and think tanks, not one entered into after a lifetime in workplace or communityactivism), the risk of this civic-civil split becoming embedded is all the greater.

6.4 Finally, because it is much more diYcult to audit the level and diversity of participation in civil society(as opposed to formal politics), we have little idea as to who is missing out, a point that will be of particularconcern to the Speakers Conference. Certainly, there is a danger that recent attempts to developparticipation and learner voice among young people have disproportionately benefited those already drawnto participate. If this is the case, we may be at risk of widening the participation gap, rather than narrowingit. For this reason, programmes such as Youth Act are especially important in reaching beyond the “usualsuspects” and targeting the so-called “hard to reach”.

7. Conclusions and Recommendations

7.1 Increasingly, research and experience points away from “apathy” as a single or appropriateexplanation for low levels of participation in the political process. Instead, the suggestion is that “politics”has become at best an irrelevance and at worst a “dirty word” amongst the wider population, especiallyamongst young people. In short, too many people feel that “politics” is something that is not relevant tothem and, therefore, does not engage them. However, evidence does show that young people, in particular,are interested in political issues and do hold political views.

7.2 Against this background, the Electoral Commission has expressed concern that there is a lack of aconnection between young people’s ability to be articulate their views, and their participation in theprocesses of power, stating that: “…it should not be assumed that this group are ‘apathetic’ …politicaldebate is not phrased or presented in a way that is meaningful to this group—and lack of connection leavesthem with no motivation to vote” (Electoral Commission 2004).

7.3 Recent high profile campaigns and campaigning bodies have demonstrably involved those that the“apathy myth” suggests “don’t do politics” (Live Earth, Make Poverty History, Stop the War, CountrysideAlliance). However, their engagement is with political issues rather than in formal politics.

7.4 Moreover, because of the very nature of informal civil participation, it is diYcult to map where thesecampaigners are drawn from.

7.5 Against this background and so as to close any “participation gap” and the apparent disjuncturebetween the civic and civil spheres, it is vital that the Conference gives its attention to:

— The under-resourcing of Citizenship Education in schools and the low priority currently grantedto it by the DCSF and by some school leaders;

— The patchy and uneven access to youth and community engagement programmes such as YouthAct and the paucity of local national funding to support such activities;

— The need for a clear, coherent approach to the provision of Adult Citizenship Education (ACE),accessible through the FE sector, school based family learning programmes and workplacebased learning;

— The actual and potential impacts of a growing disconnect between civil action and formal civicengagement;

— The increasingly exclusive routes of entry into national politics and any ways in which this mightbe mediated.

References

Breslin, T and Dufour, B (eds.) (2006) Developing Citizens: a comprehensive introduction to eVectivecitizenship education in the secondary school, London, Hodder Murray.

Electoral Commission (2004), Public Opinion and the 2004 Elections: London, Electoral Commission.

Electoral Commission (2005), Turnout How many, who and why? London, Electoral Commission.



NFER (Kerr, D, Lopes J, Nelson, J, White, K, Cleaver, E, Benton, T). (2007) Vision versus pragmatism:citizenship in the secondary school curriculum in England: Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study: FifthAnnual Report. Slough, National Foundation for Educational Research

Submission from the Young Foundation (SC–36)

As the call for evidence from the Speaker’s Conference and terms of reference point out, there is a disparitybetween the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons, andtheir representation in the UK population at large.

The situation in the House of Commons reflects a wider problem in society—that significant groups areunderrepresented in positions of leadership and power in public bodies, business, the voluntary sector andthe media. It is important to look beyond the House of Commons to address the problems ofunderrepresentation within it. Civic engagement and public leadership at a local level can be the first stepon the journey to becoming a more prominent leader. For most, and particularly for those from theunderrepresented groups, this progression requires encouragement and support.

The routes that once helped to find and nurture leaders from marginalised communities in particular—like the churches and trade unions—no longer do so to the same extent. The main political parties have alsoshrunk. In the past, these channels were vital to providing the networks and skills that young people neededto reach positions of power, but they have since diminished. For example, being selected by a political partyin a winnable seat generally requires candidates to both have developed significant networks within theirparty, and possess a range of skills, ranging from public speaking to leading a team of supporters. Theseinstitutions also played a key role in spotting talent, which could then develop through established andwidely understood channels.

As a result of these “channel blockages”, young people who are financially better oV, or have access tosocial networks, are advantaged in reaching positions of power. On the whole, these young people are lesslikely to be from an ethnic minority, be working class or have a disability. The Young Foundation hasidentified a number of barriers to getting young people from diVerent communities engaged in civicleadership. These consist of mutually reinforcing supply and demand factors which are summarized infigure 1.

The Young Foundation will recommend that initiatives which aim to readdress the imbalances inrepresentation across government, the public sector, business and the voluntary sector need to combineaddressing barriers to both the supply of new leaders, and the demand for new leaders. Possible ways ofdoing this include:

— Match-making intermediaries

— Connecting existing programmes to power networks—by creating new routes and making existingroutes more accessible

— Focussing the motivation and passions of young people: giving them opportunities to develop theirideas into action

— Raising aspirations (including through local role models)

— Mentoring and other individualised support

— Including multiple methods on single programmes, to provide a full range of opportunities todevelop and explore politics.

In particular, we would like to see more opportunities focused on building the non-cognitive skills andnetworks that young people need to be active in their communities, and take up positions of power. Theseskills will also be increasingly important to have in the workforce over the coming decades.

We should aim to create a pool of talented young people with the potential to go on to become MPs, butalso take on other roles, whether in local government, other public bodies (eg PCT boards), business or thevoluntary sector. Broadening the horizons and skills of young people is also more relevant in a world wherethere is an increasing expectation that people will change their career many times over the course of theirlifetime. The UpRising leadership programme, which has been set up by the Young Foundation, is onepossible model for this and is currently being piloted in Barking and Dagenham, Newham and TowerHamlets. In every community, we would like to see a dedicated programme focused on developing the skillsand networks of young people to be able to take up positions of power.

An approach that works across the board to create routes for young people into positions of power (andto move from one area or sector to another) is likely to be more eVective than one focused solely on a singleinstitution. This is because one of the keys to success is building the skills and networks across the boardthat have both general application, and the potential to lead to greater involvement in politics. Majorinstitutions, including Parliament, local authorities, quangos the BBC, the Police, PCTs and HousingAssociations amongst others therefore need to reform to create better routes for the involvement anddevelopment of young people.



To drive this systemic change, there is a need to develop and spread best practice of unblocking routes topower for young people. The government should help by encouraging institutions to include this in theirthinking, especially where new progammes are being set up. For example, the proposed national internshipscheme should not only help young people get into employment, but also spot and develop talented youngpeople who can take up positions of power in a variety of roles.

In summary, the disparity in representation needs to be tackled by addressing both the supply and demandfactors that act as a barrier to young people influencing and taking up power across the UK and in particularin Parliament.

The willingness and availability of people to

put themselves forward for election/selection.

Examples:• Psychological attributes such as fear, and

lack of confidence, motivation, interest,

low feelings of influence

• Capacity - Lack of skills, knowledge and

education

• Communication and language issues

• Lack of trust and social capital

• Disengagement, apathy, alienation from

mainstream institutions

• Lack of commitment to mainstream

political institutions

• Reluctance to take on work seen as other

people’s expertise

• Constraints due to time (due to

personal/professional responsibilities),

money and employment

• Lack of understanding of ‘how things

work’

• Social divisions and exclusion

• Limited access to networks of power,

resources and support

• Tokenism, typecasting and overt

discrimination

• Lack of material and symbolic value/

status attached to leadership role

• Organisational discrimination – including

tokenism & typecasting

• Lack of identification with existing leaders/

lack of role models

• Once in leadership positions, high levels

of paper work and conflicting demands,

demands of high expectations from

community, insider-outsider tensions -

due to competing loyalties to ‘community

roots’ and elite power networks,

perceived inefficacy, disillusionment and

burnout can cause individuals to step

down from leadership positions, and/or

stand as barriers to further progression

Determine the acceptability of people as

candidates and include the willingness of

selectors to adopt them and electors to cast

their votes for them.

Examples:

• Exclusionary selection procedures

• Organisational cultures of exclusion

and prejudice

• Informal and closed recruitment

networks

• Closed selection

• Selector hostility / prejudice / bias

• Negative perceptions of under-

represented groups e.g. young

people

DEMAND FACTORSSUPPLY FACTORS

Figure 1 Barriers to representation



Submission from Parliamentary Education Service (SC–37)

Submitter

1. Tom O’Leary is Head of Parliament’s Education Service and has been in post since October 2007. Hehas a background in education and online provision in the public sector and is a qualified secondary teacher.

Background

2. Parliament’s bicameral Education Service has grown significantly in recent years as a result ofincreased interest in educational provision amongst Members of both the House of Commons and the Houseof Lords, and in response to external developments such as the introduction of citizenship education to theNational Curriculum.

3. The Education Service is part of the Public Information Directorate in the Department of InformationServices. The Service works alongside the House of Commons Information OYce, the Visitor Services team,the Web Centre, the new Parliamentary Outreach team and other colleagues in both Houses to deliverParliament’s public engagement strategy, as overseen by the Group on Information to the Public (GIP).99

There are three main strands to the public engagement strategy:

— Welcoming visitors to Parliament

— Using the web

— Reaching out

The Education Service is active in all three areas.

Executive Summary

Opportunity, Reach and Access

4. The impact of Parliament’s Education Service, as it works with ever increasing numbers of schoolchildren from all backgrounds across the UK, has the potential (in combination with many other factors)to encourage greater diversity of Parliamentary representation in the longer term.

Education Service aims

5. The Education Service works with schools and Members of both Houses of Parliament to supportyoung people in developing their understanding of Parliament and democracy. It aims to:

— inform young people about the role, work and history of Parliament through educational visits,tours, publications and outreach

— engage young people to understand the relevance of Parliament and democracy today throughactive learning

— empower young people to get involved by equipping them with the knowledge and skills to takepart

6. To achieve this, the Education Service oVers resources and support for students and teachers including:

— an exciting range of visit programmes catered to learning needs

— an outreach programme, including teacher training and student workshops

— online, print and DVD classroom resources on the work of Parliament

Education Service Impact

7. Opportunity Of all the groups regularly visiting and experiencing contact with Westminster, schoolchildren best reflect a cross-section of society, and thus represent a powerful opportunity to encouragebroader engagement with Parliament. It is often the case that the only visit a person makes to Parliamentduring their life time is when they are at school. During lessons on Citizenship, it may also be the only timethat the processes and structures of Parliament and government are explained. Therefore, by welcomingschool visits to Westminster, providing high quality resources and creating regular contact withparliamentarians, there is the potential to increase greatly young people’s sense of access to Parliament andits processes. It is possible that this sense of access and relevance will play a part, alongside a complex setof drivers and influences, in helping broaden diversity of political representation in the longer term.

8. Reach To realise the ambition to connect with as many young people as possible, Parliament ispursuing a rapid expansion of its education provision. For example visits to Parliament by school childrenhave risen by over 200% in the last three years to around 37,000 in 2008–09. On average a maximum of

99 GIP is a bicameral meeting of senior oYcials which sets Parliament’s public engagement strategy.



40 schools a week visit Parliament through the Education Service. An illustration of the demand occurredrecently when nearly 400 visits slots (which are released in phases) were booked by schools in a single day.However, current numbers are not expected to rise much further because of accommodation constraints atpresent. To address this situation a dedicated education centre is planned for 2012–13 which will increasecapacity to 100,000 a year. Whilst a visit to Parliament, with the opportunity to meet a Parliamentarian, ishighly prized, it is not possible to make this available to every school, even with the planned extra capacity.Therefore, the importance of the Education Outreach programmes and the resource provision (online andin print) cannot be underestimated. A new online education channel (www.parliament.uk/education) waslaunched in 2008. The Education Outreach programme trains over 1,000 teachers a year and also connectswith many thousands of students in areas remote from Westminster. Underpinning this work is a set ofaward-winning resources in print and film which are constantly reviewed and updated. The aim of theEducation Service is to achieve a meaningful engagement with every school child in the UK as they progressthrough their education. The Education Service is also forging relationships with relevant partners who areworking on political literacy initiatives across the country.

9. Equality of Access Ensuring equality of access for schools is a priority for Parliament as the currentexpansion takes place. In regard to physical visits, the current and planned increase in provision hassignificantly extended the availability of the visits programme. However, potential barriers still exist andwork is underway to ensure that schools coming to Parliament reflect a genuine cross section of society. Forinstance, the location of Westminster represents a significant issue for some potential users in terms of travelcosts. With this is mind, a recent instruction from the House of Commons Administration Committee topilot a travel subsidy is underway and early indications are showing that it is having an impact on thegeographical spread and balance of the schools visiting. With a view to encouraging greater diversity theEducation Service is also obtaining better information about the background of the school children visitingWestminster. This information will enable targeted marketing and financial help to ensure that groups whodo not make use of the Education Service are encouraged and enabled to do so. The service also activelywelcomes visits from groups with special needs. Beyond the physical visits, the outreach and publicationsprogrammes mentioned above significantly increase access as they are available to all users on the sameterms. In certain situations they are also more accessible for learners with particular needs.

Education Service activities

10. The work of the Education Service broadly divides into three areas which are described in some moredetail here:

11. Education Visits A programme of hour-long workshops plus an 75 minute tour of Parliament isoVered to UK schools, for children aged seven to 18. All of the workshops introduce students to howParliament works focusing in particular (though not exclusively) on the part played by both Houses inscrutiny and the passing of legislation. The visits include a question and answer session with the school’sMP subject to their availability. The sessions are tailored to meet the requirements of the national curriculum(citizenship and politics) and diVerentiated by age and ability. A programme of technology integration isunderway and many workshops make use of interactive white boards and hand held voting pods. Whilstother opportunities to work with young people coming into Parliament are also being pursued, the coreworkshop programme is now at capacity as mentioned above.

12. For clarification it is important to note that school children currently visiting Parliament via Member-sponsored tours are booked in through the Central Tours OYce (CTO) and do not participate in EducationService programmes. It is estimated this may amount to over 40,000 young people a year. Options arecurrently being investigated to ensure these visitors receive some input from the Education Service duringtheir time at Parliament. Once the Education Centre is in place structured engagement with these groupswill be possible.

13. Resources The Education Service produces materials which support teaching and learning aboutParliament in print, film and on the Internet. Young people are consuming information in very diVerent waysfrom their predecessors and the opportunities this represents are being exploited. The new websitewww.parliament.uk/education, was launched in October 2008 and marks the beginning of an ambitiousprogramme to create exciting and engaging online content including games that teach about political literacyfor use by students and their teachers. It is already receiving 15,000 visits a month which is expected to growconsiderably. The website is currently commissioning a range of resources from downloadable worksheetsfor teachers and students to a game which will explore the work of an MP. Alongside this the service hasmade a series of films, including the award winning You’ve got the Power, which has been ordered by over1700 schools in the last six months. For the first time a series of cut down versions of this film are about tobe posted online to make them more widely available. Finally, there are a number of very popular printedpublications which are distributed free of charge and a new updated set is planned for 2009.

14. Education Outreach The Education Outreach Team trains teachers to increase their knowledge andunderstanding of Parliament to enable them to teach about political literacy and parliamentary democracywith increased confidence and with greater eVectiveness. At a time when reports about the teaching ofcitizenship in schools continue to highlight a weakness in covering political literacy, this work is of increasingimportance. The annual Teacher Institute run by the Education Service provides trainee citizenship teachers



with the opportunity to spend a week at Westminster, learning about Parliamentary processes across bothHouses and engaging first hand with the work and role of Parliament. This year alone, the team has workedwith 1,000 teachers. The team also works directly with students in schools, concentrating in particular onschools from areas where travel to Westminster is a significant barrier. Recent and planned visits includeNorthern Ireland, Scotland, the Orkneys and the Shetland Islands.

Vision for the Education Centre

15. A dedicated education facility in the heart of Westminster100 The realisation of the proposed fiveclassroom facility will significantly increase the capacity of the Education Service to deliver its programmesfor visiting school groups and to improve further its services for Members of both Houses. The learningspaces will be far better suited to teaching than is currently the case and will include cutting edge ICTfacilities. Reserved lunch facilities and dedicated children’s toilets will greatly improve the experience ofvisiting schools as they do not have these at present. The current number of 37,000 school children takingpart in workshops will rise to a potential 100,000 and this figure is likely to include many of the children onMember-sponsored CTO tours mentioned above. It is anticipated that the core programme of visits, thecontent of which covers the work of both Houses, will form the main part of this increased capacity.Members of both Houses will continue to have the opportunity to meet visiting school groups on a rangeof programmes, and the increased room capacity will also allow more special events, including teachertraining, to take place on site.

Working for both Houses of Parliament

16. A bicameral service The Education Service is funded 70:30 (Commons:Lords) for running costs and60:40 (Commons:Lords) for capital costs. All of the content delivered by the service actively covers the roleof both Houses which can be observed in the workshop programme. For example, students are encouragedto propose bills and follow their progress between the two chambers and at committee stage(s), proposingand voting on amendments. The Education Service works closely with other parliamentary educationinitiatives such as the Lord Speaker’s Outreach programme.

Submission from the Association of Women Solicitors (SC–38)

Terms of Reference

The Conference: “shall consider and make recommendations for rectifying the disparity between therepresentation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and theirrepresentation in the UK population at large; and may agree to consider other associated matters”.

The AWS are responding to this process as this has a significant impact on women solicitors. As lawyerswe have to work within the laws of this country both through our employment right and through our legalwork. The laws of this country are mainly made by men (approximately 80:20 ratio of men to women) andas such this aVects all women solicitors.

About the AWS

The Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) is a recognised group of the Law Society of England andWales. We have an agreement with the Law Society to provide representation for women solicitors within theprofession, to the government and to the society at large. We receive an annual grant from the Law Society todo so.

100 Decision to build an education centreDuring 2006 the House of Commons Administration Sub-Committee worked with the House of Lords InformationCommittee conducting a concurrent inquiry into visitor facilities and a proposed visitor centre for Parliament. This was inline with the recommendations of the 2004 Report of the Select Committee on Modernisation of the House of Commons,Connecting Parliament with the Public (HC 368).On 27 March 2007 the Administration Committee published its report Improving Facilities for Educational Visitors toParliament (HC 434). This did not recommend proposals to build a visitor centre. However, it did recommend “that adedicated space for school visitors of approximately 1,000m2 (consisting of flexible accommodation of five classrooms withancillary space for storage, toilet facilities, a lunch area and locker space) should be sought either on or oV the existingEstate—the exact space depending on what becomes available and at what cost.” The House of Commons approved this on12 June 2007.On 11 June 2007 the House of Lords Information Committee published its own report on Improving Facilities for EducationalVisitors to Parliament. This report recognised that there were strong arguments in favour of a full visitor centre but thatenhancing education facilities is an important first step to improving facilities for visitors. It recommended that the Houseendorse the recommendation from the Administration Committee, subject to the final design, the location and the cost beingapproved by the appropriate authorities.



There is no exact record of when the 1919 Club (named after the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act1919), the forerunner of the AWS was founded. In or around 1920–21 there was a note in the 1919 Clubarchives that women who were articled attended classes and were given permission to invite other womenarticled clerks to meet in a vacant classroom after lectures. The first public function of the Club was theentertainment of a delegation of American women lawyers in July 1930. Its aim was to promote women inthe solicitors’ branch of the profession and also to provide social and instructional meetings for both womensolicitors and articled clerks. As there appeared to be no barrier to men taking on female partners in the1960s, it was seriously proposed to wind up the 1919 Club. The Club however, continued and took the newname of the “Association of Women Solicitors”.

It is therefore important to note that the AWS and its forerunners have been tirelessly fighting on behalfof women solicitors for over 85 years.

What does the AWS oVer Women Solicitors

1. Organises CPD accredited professional events.2. Organises events to provide opportunities to network and the building up of contacts.3. Operates a mentoring scheme to assist women solicitors with career development from trainees to

retired judges.4. Runs a maternity/paternity helpline.5. Runs an annual week-long Returners Course at the Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge for men

and women seeking to return to the profession after a career break.6. Publishes the quarterly magazine, LINK, with a readership of around 30,000 plus.7. Is involved in publications geared to helping women in the legal profession.

8. Responds to consultation papers on behalf of women solicitors.

9. Has a seat on the Law Society Council to champion the cause of women within the profession.

10. Represents women solicitors at working parties and at national and international conferences.

11. Works closely with other professional groups and women organisations.

12. The AWS regional groups have a full program of social activities designed to encourage morewomen to get together to exchange experiences.

The above is provided by way of illustration of the history of the AWS. There are no other recognised orunrecognised group of which we are aware, within the legal profession, whose aims are to:

— Articulate and represent the views of all women solicitors.

— Promote women’s interests in the profession.

— Campaign on issues important to women solicitors.

— Actively oppose discrimination against women solicitors.

The AWS currently has over 18,000 members. Our website address is www.womensolicitors.org.uk


1.1 Only 19 countries in the world have achieved the goal of 30! per cent women’s representation innational legislatures, a goal which was adopted by the Beijing Process in 1995. The UK is not one of them.There is a clear perception issue in that voters’ perception is that the House of Commons do not fullyrepresent the people. This can and does lead to a lack of engagement.


2.1 Just under 20 per cent of MPs are women, meaning the politicians who make decisions on our behalfstill do not reflect the population as a whole. It is clear that matters of importance to women move furtherup the political agenda the more women MPs are in parliament. Where women become involved in thepolitical process they bring a diVerent style and approach to political discussions. It is less of aconfrontational style and more of a conciliatory one which works better in achieving a more open and frankdebate. At a time of increased uncertainty in the economic climate and the fear this engenders, the populaceare looking to their Politian to resolve these issues. An adversarial approach and “in-fighting” does not assistconfidence building, thus potentially prolonging and deepening the recession as a result of a lack of faith.That is not to say that it is not important for policies to be queried and it is the method of doing so that canonly improve. There is an obligation on parliament to ensure the equality of representation as truerepresentation should and must reflect those represented.

The Electoral Commission research An audit of political engagement confirms that women candidates arean electoral advantage for the parties. The report shows that overall women are as likely to turn-out to votein elections as men, but that they tend to be turned oV by male-dominated Westminster politics.



3. What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomeMembers of Parliament:

— Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election? Or, if they do,



3.1 There are clear perception issues within local selection processes. There is no research that we areaware that shows women have more diYculty getting elected once selected. As regards women candidates,a review of working practices need to be undertaken to ensure family friendly policies are in place i.e workinghours etc. There is of course a clear diVerence in putting forward those to winnable seats not justunwinnable ones.

4. What are the problems and practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection andelection—by members of these underrepresented groups who are looking to become MP’s?

4.1 The first point to consider is actual awareness of these positions. What does the Government do topublicise the positions that are open for election? If there is no advertising then those minorities will not beaware of any opportunity. This is the first hurdle. The next issue to address will be whether when advertisingany such position doing it in such a way to encourage and inspire those from minorities to apply. From anAWS perspective are positions advertised in such a way that gives the perception of inflexibility and hostility.Is there structure to the application process or is the perception that it is whom you know that will aVordyou the opportunity to engage in the process. There must be clear and positive address to women andminorities whereby they are informed that they are individuals whom the Government wants and that theywant to hear what they have to say. There is also perception that their views may be compromised and manyare discouraged by that possibility alone.

5. What actions could be taken by Government to address disparities in representation?

5.1 There must be transparency and the eradication of elitism. There to see if they have ability and todevelop an interest in politics are tools that must be positive campaigning to ensure that there—remove thosewho feel they have the ability, can aspire and be encouraged to apply. There must be local level dialogue withschools and universities to engage in youth who in the future may decide to take politics as a career pathway.Workshops and shadowing as well as some form of mentoring scheme to encourage women and otherminorities could be used.

6. What actions have been, or could be taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others to addressdisparities in representation?

6.1 There needs to be a paradigm shift in attitudes to public service. This starts at a grass roots levelthrough education in schools. There is a perception of a lack of openness in the selection process even thoughpositive action has been brought in to a greater or lesser extent. Changes in the selection process as well asproactive mentoring at a local grass roots level are all basic improvements that should be made.

7. What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom to address similar concerns?

7.1 There has been positive action in relation to selection processes in the EU to increase the number ofwomen in Government. In many businesses and indeed within our own organisation a buddy/mentoringscheme has been put in place. As there are in fact two issues to be addressed. The first is supply and demandof mps but the second is equally important and should also be looked at at—remove the same time and thatis of retention. Many organisations who have suVered from similar issues have been made great stridesthrough a number of initiatives of getting new entrants through the door but the problem becomes moreacute when having spent time, money and energy these recruits are lost. We would therefore ask theconference to look at retention issues and working practices within parliament alongside the main issue.

8. How can the success of such actions be measured?

8.1 The hope is that there is cross-party political agreement to a set of targets . These targets should bemonitored through the regular use of key performance indicators, research and surveys. Most businessesnow have equality and diversity monitoring programmes. Why is the national supposedly mostrepresentative body (Parliament) not compliant with the most basic of tools used by most businesses. Thereis a role that should be undertaken by a body responsible to parliament and not as has been the case byindividual lobbying groups. It is more than the OYce for National Statistics should undertake.



Submission from National Muslim Women’s Advisory Group (SC–39)

This submission is based on the views, conversations and testimonials of individuals who have taken partin our great democratic process of standing for public oYce. It is submitted on behalf of the NationalMuslim Women’s Advisory Group. (NMWAG)

1. Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups insociety?

1.1 An emphatic Yes.

2. If so, what are those problems?

2.1 The fact that the House of Commons, senior management and board of organisations; councillorsand MPs remain predominantly white, male, middle class and able bodied, suggest that they are incapableof fully understanding and therefore meeting the needs of the people that they represent and the wider societythat they are a part of.

2.2 As a result, the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons would suggest that these peopleare culturally insensitive and out of touch with the strengths and skills that candidates from BMEbackgrounds can oVer, which would directly impact policy making.

2.3 Assumptions and stereotypes further add to the distorted perceptions of the unrepresented groupwhich are perpetuated in decision and policy making. Decisions made in a vacuum further exacerbatedisadvantage. The subsequent criteria for assessment and selection ends up oVering advantage to theexisting “in” groups.

2.4 The lack of understanding of the experiences, motivations and finer cultural nuances of diVerentracial groups, distances government from the very people that it should be representing.


3.1 Less representation is definitely noted by the under-represented groups. They feel alienated from thedemocratic process as they do not identify with the people that they see in the House of Commons. As aresult they are often less likely to vote as they feel: “it will make no diVerence” and are less likely to beengaged in civic life. The few BME or female candidates that are visible, are often perceived as a tokenisticgesture. BME, female and disabled communities need “role models” to inspire them and raise aspirationsas President Obama has for all ethnic communities in the US, who seem to have become more politicallyactive and engaged in civic society feeling that they too have a voice.

3.2 Where representation exists, it is not geographically balanced and there is a definite lack ofrepresentation in all regions.

3.3 Society’s inherent “isms” are replicated within all political parties and hence the BME candidates areunable to win selections. This situation will remain as long as BME membership of political parties remainslow because of what they see, hear and experience.

4. What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomeMembers of Parliament:


4.1 General membership of political parties reflects attitudes and stereotypes which are less than positiveand disadvantage BME candidates. It is felt that there is a bias towards able bodied, middle aged, white,men, then women, over BME candidates. This creates diYcult if not impossible barriers for BME candidatesto overcome.

4.2 Political parties need to adopt all “women, BME, disabled” lists to increase chances of under-represented candidates selection.

4.3 BME groups are hindered by perceived as well as actual institutional discrimination and racism.

4.4 Due to these groups historically not being politically active in political parties, they lack the requisiterole models and mentors who can train them in the finer nuances of refined political skills and networking.In order to become successful in political careers.

4.5 There is a lack of transparency and information on how to successfully pursue a political career,without having access to the “old boys network” model.



Why aren’t more of them selected? Or, if they are,

4.6 Many BME candidates are only oVered “un-winnable” seats in order to fill party quotas and tick boxexercises so that political parties can fulfil their equality targets.

4.7 Some female and male Muslim councillors said they were not selected because they did not fit the“stereotype” of being white, middle class.

4.8 BME candidates are expected to restrict their ambitions to seats with a large ethnic minorityelectorate.

Why aren’t more of them elected?

4.9 BME candidates are usually oVered un-winnable seats.

4.10 Even when selected, they often do not have the required support of their party.

5. What are the problems and practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection andelection—by members of these underrepresented groups who are looking to become MPs?

5.1 There seems to be an inability to see BME, female and disabled candidates as “MP material” causedby institutional racism and prejudice.

5.2 Many underrepresented groups do not have the financial resources typically available to their male,white counterparts, to campaign for themselves. In addition time is also a crucial factor along with a strongcapable team and the buy-in from the constituency.

5.3 BME candidates identified the following diYculties in securing selection; length of membership is tooshort, activities undertaken for the constituency are not broad enough, involvement in local campaigns hasnot been deep enough and they have not been embedded in the party nor do they have access to the networkswithin the local, regional, national party along with the sitting MP. An unnecessarily heavy burden is placedupon the suitability criteria.

5.4 Lack of “old boys network” or equivalent.

5.5 Poor networking, public speaking and political skills and a general lack of understanding due to thefact that they do not have female Muslim role models or mentors to help them overcome these barriers

5.6 Muslim women, in particular face barriers within their own community of sexual discrimination andcultural prejudice.


6.1 The government could engage in positive action by having quotas for the House of Lords, say aminimum 30% for the underrepresented groups.

6.2 Currently the Scottish and Welsh have top-up lists and allow winnable seats to go to BME candidates.Westminster should also be seen to take positive action by allocate 50% of the last minute seats that comeup through late retirements to BME candidates.

6.3 Create awareness of how to overcome barriers and “get into politics” through localised road showsand build strategic partnerships with current grass roots projects attracting underrepresented groups.

7. What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others to addressdisparities in representation?

7.1 Political Parties need to deliver on what they say, “actions speak louder than words”. Promote,publicise, fund whether through grants or other means of financial support and network individuals andprojects that are aiming to attract under-represented groups.

7.2 Political Parties should take positive action in terms running eVective mentoring and sourcing ofwinnable seats and to get the BME candidates embedded into the constituencies early. Set targets, influencepolitical parties to organise debates within their constituencies in order to increase representation of under-represented groups.

7.3 Muslim women need a better understanding of the importance of Political engagement as it giveswomen the power and the channel to pursue the values and aims they believe in and to get involved indecisions that impact their lives.

7.4 NMWAG Civic Skills project “Play Your Part—Make Your Mark” (www.localleadership.gov.uk) isa pilot project designed to train 30 Muslim women from around the UK to become more active in civic lifeas well as pursue higher level political careers. This project needs cross party support, promotion and needsmentors (both men and women, of any race or faith) to mentor these candidates into mainstream politics.



7.5 Go beyond a simple (often transparent gesture) and have a real desire to attract these groups. Havepeople from these groups promote the projects to their communities.

7.6 Create a positive media campaign to attract more people profiling and tracking careers of “up andcoming” potential candidates and put pressure on parties and the candidates to succeed.

8. What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom, to address similarconcerns? And

8.1 President Barack Obama has to be the most powerful role model. Having a black man as a presidenthas inspired people from all communities as well as those who have typically sat on the fringes of society tostep forward and create change.

8.2 BMEs who were not typically engaged believe that they too can become politically active and makea diVerence. In the past they had never seen successful politicians from their communities but with powerfulleadership and role models, they would strive to attain the same levels of political or civic success.

8.3 Devolution in Scotland and Wales under both Plaid Cymru and SNP parties have delivered on thisagenda. The three largest and most well established political parties have failed in attracting proportionaterepresentation of minority groups. Perhaps a way forward would be for the government to use quotas forthe House of Lords.

9 How can the success of such actions be measured?

9.1 Increased representation of all groups.

9.2 Measure the number of civic positions taken up by BME men and women and their geographicalspread.

9.3 Measure number of BME men and women who get selected and elected.

9.4 Track those candidates who want to pursue a political life and regularly meet with them to find outwhich hurdles they are facing and provide constructive advice, support and networks to overcome thesebarriers.

9.9 Need for eVective communication and promotion of good practice, in terms of what works andchanges as a result of having more diverse representation. The general public need to understand theachievements especially in terms of the prevailing apathy, loss trust and belief in the political anddemocratic process.

Submission from the Labour Party Disabled Members Group (LPDMG) (SC–40)

LPDMG have been working with their political party to promote the better inclusion of disabled peoplewithin the political structure and hopes that this work achieved by the Speaker’s Conference will goconsiderably toward achieving this aim.

Until we get a greater percentage of disabled people in public appointments the equal representation ofthe public will not be achieved.

Although LPDMG works within it preferred political structure it’s over all aim to assist all disabledpeople to achieve in all aspects of life within the community and political structure without coming acrossany barriers.

LPDMG would be available to work with the Speaker’s Conference in anyway to assist and achievetheir aims.

The Conference invited written statements from interested organisations were invited and this is ours.

1. During electioneering disabled people are discriminated against because of inaccessible transport.

When visiting the public to talk to them disabled people usually have to rely on their party members totake them round the wards, as not everywere has transport or accessible transport. They also have otheraccess requirements, such as the need to supply British Sign Language interpreters. Therefore there is a needfor the use of taxi’s on these occasions. The cost often negates this being achieved and the candidate shouldnot always have to rely on members of the CLP; who might not be available at the same time as they wishto talk to the public.

There is a need for extra funds to be available to meet the access needs of those who have a disability whowish to go out electioneer when they want—just like any one else.

We suggest that a scheme similar to the Access to Work Scheme be put in place, which pays for thedisability access needs in the workplace, including for MPs, is set up and administered by the ElectoralCommission.



These available funds for those with a disability should be well advertised within the political structureand the same for public appointments; as well as structures in place to ensure that these extra funds are notused for unfair gain to achieve the appointment they are applying for.

2. Disabled people have few role models within society to look upto; people who have achieved regardlessof their disability; thankfully with the better media coverage of the Paralympics we now have role modelsin sports.

But if we want to see more disabled people in public oYce then those within public oYce should be willingto declare their disability; if they have one.

This not only shows the younger generations what they have achieved but also the job market.

It says that they should not be ashamed or in fear to declare their disability to achieve their aims in life.

The fear of discloser could be greatly assisted if more disabled people in public oYce declared theirdisability voluntary and all who hold already a public oYce have a part to play in this.

Most people go into public oYce with an aim to right the wrong in one or two areas; nothing wrong withthis—so disabled people should be leaders in the work, providing the solutions in all manner of subject andnot just disability and the only way this can happen is being part of the organisation—an MP; MEP, or evena Commission for example

3. When a disabled person is elected into oYce, be it in Local Government or as a MP there is a need toensure that the oYce is accessible physically and the information that they will use to achieve their job isaccessible for them

Not every disabled person wants to see to all the access needs for disabled people within the organisationor the building when they attend their first day in oYce; in fact why should they?

But unfortunately they have to if they want to be included in what they were elected to do.

Many Local Government oYces and oYcers are not fully aware of their obligation to ensure the oYce ofbeing a Councillor is fully “accessible” in the real sense of the word.

Under the legislation there should be procedures ready for all types of access to information and oYces,buildings and all amenities accessible but there seldom is.

A review of Local Councils should be achieved to find out who is adhering to the law and a means to ensurethat this is achieved should be put in place for those who are not.

4. Young people of today seem to know little and understand even less of the structure of politics.

It is a fundamental thing to use your vote; an aspect of life that 50% of the public fought for and it has agreat eVect on every ones future.

During their education, politics should be mandatory within the Citizenship section of the curriculum.

But it seems that not all schools teach this section of the curriculum or that they have to.

LPDMG would support the mandatory inclusion of citizenship within the curriculum and it shouldcertainly include politics, which should lead to involve those who are underrepresented in the politicalprocess, including disabled people in the political process.

5. LPDMG invented an Access Guide so all CLP’s could understand their obligation under the law totheir members.

LPDMG believes that the principal behind the policy should be undertaken by all political parties andeven organisations that oVer public appointments; thus ensuring that any member of the public with adisability who wants to involve them selves in politics by attending their “parties” meetings or organisationscan be assured that they will be able to enter and be fully involved from the start. Good practice wouldsuggest that notices of political party meetings should simply say that if people have access needs they shouldcontact the Secretary or other designated oYcer so that reasonable adjustments can be made.

Many disabled people are so used to not having their access needs meet that they don’t even ask, but theyneed to be met before they arrive at a meeting.

Panel forms filled out when Party members apply to join the panel of potential council or Parliamentarycandidates, should ask whether the person considers themselves to be disabled and if so whether they haveany access needs.

A support network for disabled candidates and potential candidates similar to ones already available forwomen and BAME candidates should be established.

It is not for the disabled person to make the political parties aware of their obligations to meet the letterof the law or organisations.

Each political party does not do enough to ensure that their disabled members have access to their localCLP’s and this also appertains to the House of Commons and the House of Lords and many organisationthat oVer public appointments.

Under this comes the access to the actual polling stations.



Many authorities are making progress in making polling stations accessible but until all are the politicalstructure is discriminating against disabled people.

Local Authorities should ensure they meet the letter of the law and have all of their polling stationsaccessible.

Another aspect of accessibility is the availability of the MP to the public when elected; too many“surgeries” are still held in inaccessible venues and the public, especially disabled people, will perceive thisas another reason for seeing their view not being of value.

In conjunction with this is the availability of information; perhaps even a reply to a letter, not beingavailable in “other formats upon request”.

LPDMG have had numerous conversations with people who have receive correspondence back from theirMPs ignoring their access needs—even when they have been informed of them; this is perceived as ignorance,laziness and a lack of understanding of basic disability issues that really should not be condoned in any way.

Perhaps there is a need for Disability Awareness Training for MPs too?

6. There are aspects of statute within the House of Commons that require an MP to stand down fromtheir oYce if they sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

These archaic policies should be re-looked at under the DDA, as LPDMG believes they could bediscrimitory; there is a need for support when people are ill and under the DDA reasonable adjustment totheir work, job and time; with the lack of coordination across the country people with disabilities are leftfeeling very unsure about going into an job were “reasonable adjustment”—which could be for treatmentthey could need in the future of even might be undertaking then—is not considered.

Councillors are covered by the DDA but not MPs (are MEPs the same?) so does the House of Commonsmake reasonable adjustment when needed?

Often opportunities are missed to put aspects of legislation right on matters such as these and so it isLPDMG’s hope that the Government will take the opportunity during the forth coming Equalities Bill toinclude a “duty to make reasonable adjustment” applicable to the MPs as already for Councillors.

Of course out of this must come a procedure for monitoring?

7. LPDMG finds that there are disabled people who are willing to place themselves forward for publicappointment but know little about the procedures on how to achieve this.

They have the life experiences, not just on disability, but lack the practical experience and along with thefear of disclosure of their disability, usually play safe and do not go further than think about it.

Society has for generation’s equated disability with mental incompetence and many disabled people feelthey are fighting on more than one front when placing them forward for public oYce.

So to combat this there is a need for leadership development and not just for those who attend or areinvolved in groups whether they are under-represented or not and to ensure that the development of thisperson in the leadership training continues there should be a mentoring scheme available along side thetraining scheme.

This scheme will provide support and continued encouragement.

There are more disabled people that are not members of disability group who want to work for thecommunity and not just on disability issues than who are members of organisations.

It is this section of the disability community that are not considered.

Why should you have to join a group to be interested in taking up a public oYce?

All political parties and public bodies from the beginning of the process of elections should provide clearpolicies, which inform the candidate on reasonable adjustment.

8. Often the first person that a disabled person encounters when enquiring on how to place himself orherself forward for election is the front line staV.

There is a great need to ensure that staV have received disability awareness training and the oYcers of theorganisation too.

This will go well to allow disabled people to feel able to ask for reasonable adjustment during the electionand certainly improve and change negative attitudes that face all disabled people.

9. The perception that the media portray of disabled people being heroes when they have only achievedwhat abled bodied people have achieved, but probably in a diVerent way due to their disability, gives anegative view to the public—always bringing the disability forward as the subject and not the work andachievements of that person.

The language used to portray disabled people continues to perpetuate this portal of society having to carefor disabled people and the way this is portrayed perpetuates the public conception that disabled people arenot capable of doing a job within a public body.



Although the media, (journalists), have said that they are changing their language, disabled people knowthat they are not listening to them on this matter and until they do they will continue to get it wrong andlead the public in this negative aspect of portal of disable people.

Submission from FATIMA Women’s Network (SC–41)

FATIMA Women’s Network formal response to Speaker’s Conference on the underrepresentation of womenin the House of Commons, including ethnic minority, disabled, and other minority women.

FATIMA Women’s Network is the leading women’s infrastructure organisation supporting diversewomen’s groups. As an independent, strategic and diverse organisation, using dynamic interventions tosupport women and their families, particularly from minority communities, to achieve gender equity, social,economic and environmental justice we are active in several fora:

— FATIMA’s application for NGO Consultative Status to the UN is currently under considerationby the Committee.

— FATIMA is a member of the consultative platform for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.

— FATIMA is the UK lead for the UN initiative for Women’s Organisations Working onEmpowerment and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

— FATIMA is the UK partner and a founder member of the European Network of Migrant Women,formally launched in Brussels in December 2008 and started in January 2007.

— FATIMA’s report Global Issues-Local Voices: Use of International Instruments & Agencies waslaunched at the 52nd UN Commission on the Status of Women 2008.

— FATIMA is a founder partner of the national BME infrastructure partnership Voice4Change.

— FATIMA works to raise awareness of social enterprise amongst Black, Asian, Ethnic Minority andRefugee communities.

This Response is based on our extensive experience of engaging with women and families from diversecommunities since October 2002 and on a number of projects related to leadership development, civicparticipation, intercultural dialogue, interfaith, entrepreneurship, use of international instruments andagencies and preventing violent extremism.

Prepared by Parvin Ali CEO & Founder and:

— Business Board Member of the East Midlands Regional Development Agency with lead forBusiness Support & Enterprise.

— Member of the East Midlands Regional Assembly.

— Member of the National Muslim Women Advisory Group, chaired by Hazel Blears.

— Founder Member and Board lead for women on the Cedar Network—the European Network ofMuslim Professionals, launched in January 2009.

— Founder Member of the World Islamic Businesswomen Network, part of the World IslamicEconomic Forum.

— Founder Member on Board of the Regional VCS Infrastructure Single Platform.

Formal Response

This Response is based on our extensive experience of engaging with women and families from diversecommunities since October 2002 and on a number of projects related to leadership development, civicparticipation, intercultural dialogue, interfaith, entrepreneurship, use of international instruments andagencies and preventing violent extremism.

1. Are Problems Caused by the Unbalanced Representation in the House of Commons of DiVerent Groupsin Society?

If the views of those groups are important in the decision making process then it is EXTREMELYproblematic if they are not represented and irresponsible. Even government has recognised this in2005 DCLG Strong and Prosperous Communitieshttp://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/153590.pdf

and 2008 DCLG Communities in Control: Real People, Real Powerhttp://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/communityempowerment/communitiesincontrol/

Devolved power must be extended to ALL citizens not just the lucky few and the decision making bodiesneed to better reflect the diversity of those citizens. This is clearly not the case at present. Gender Budgetinghas never been properly implemented and yet this would be a key way to ensure parity in legislation.



2. If So What Are Those Problems?

1. Perception: The view held by a significant percentage of diverse communities- particularly women- thatbarriers are insurmountable, and change has been very, very slow and erratic. Tokenistic appointments arealso more likely to be men.

2. Expectations: Election of Barack Obama as President of USA and Hillary Clinton as Secretary of Stateexpectations raised exponentially. Discussions ensued on why the UK has not supported development ofBlack leadership or produced women leaders. The visible lack of diverse representation reinforces apathyof political parties to significantly change.

3. UK Model: Ironically the UK democratic model of a multi-cultural and pluralistic society has beenslow to accommodate women, Ethnic Minorities, and disabled people and is now viewed as mechanistic andintransigent and incapable of accommodating diversity at this level.

4. Lack of Voice: Greater need for political representation amongst marginalised groups than amongstother sections of society, to counter-balance their multiple disadvantages and their lack of voice in society.

5. Elitist: White, middle-class, able bodied men are disproportionately represented in Parliament andmen still outnumber women in all local councils. Those elected from ethnic minorities are more likely to beprofessional and middle class. Therefore socio-economic factors play a significant role.

6. Lip Service: Government gives primacy to white, professional males and does not actively encourageother sections of society.

7. Ageism: Young women, Ethnic Minorities, and disabled people are even less represented in the Houseof Commons and this sends a clear message that political representation and engagement is for people of a“certain age”.

3. Is There a Relationship Between These Levels of Representation and Voter Attitudes to Parliament?

There is a clear correlation between levels of representation and voter attitudes.

1. Parliament is seen as “elitist” and inaccessible. For marginalised groups its representatives aretherefore a reflection of this resulting in disengagement and voter apathy amongst citizens.

2. Muslim voters for many years felt little aYliation with the democratic process as they had interpretedthe government’s controversial foreign policy to be directly linked to the lack of Members of Muslim origin.Consequently they were more likely to vote in a local election than a general election, as they felt less ableto influence at the national level.

3. Voting patterns at local and national level vary and often provide an insight into issues that citizensfeel they are able to influence due to closer engagement and identification with local candidates.

4. What Are The Reasons Why More Women, People From Ethnic Minorities, and Disabled People Do NotBecome Members of Parliament?

The primary reason that these marginalised groups do not become Members of Parliament is that theyDO NOT COME FORWARD to stand for election or selection. The highly competitive nature of partypolitics means that no party wants to risk seats with candidates from marginalised groups, as this does notalways equate with securing votes from that self-same group in an election. Hence need for selection notelection.

Why Don’t More From These Groups Consider Standing For Election

1. The system that elects or selects candidates is not equally disposed to ALL sections of the community.Therefore they are less likely to be selected or elected and therefore very little chance of being successful.

2. The burden of public scrutiny and public interest intensifies when representatives from minority groupsare elected/selected. This level of pressure and scrutiny is diYcult to bear and even less so for those who mayhave issues about confidence particularly women and those from Ethnic Minority communities; for somedisabled people even being photographed too frequently may be intrusive.

3. Need to perform well above the average to justify their being selected in the first place. Minor gaVesbecome PR disasters for the marginalised groups which they are purported to represent and they may feelinadequate to the task of meeting the high expectations once they have “broken through” the glass ceiling.

4. Representation role is too narrow and they do not always wish to be seen as representatives of aminority groups but rather individuals representing a geographical constituency or a wider community ofinterest.

5. Lack of a transparent process as for example access to the House of Lords is not a very transparentprocess and seen as somewhat arbitrary and whimsical, often based on the political relations of theindividuals rather than their contribution to society.



6. Tarnished predecessors who have been representatives from Women, Ethnic Minority or disabledgroups have sometimes been embroiled in activities that undermined the integrity of future representativesfrom these constituencies. Therefore acting as a deterrent to others particularly women who worry aboutwhat the children will think of them.

7. Little hope of succeeding as the pervading view is that white, able-bodied, middle class and/orprofessional males are preferred and others need not bother to apply.

8. Low confidence due to discrimination and so women, particularly from Ethnic Minority communities,who have experienced multiple disadvantages and discrimination requires a very high level of couragealmost bordering on the masochistic to put themselves forward.

9. Organisational culture of Parliament is such that it is London-centric, Christian, White maledominated, and family-unfriendly all of which conspires to preclude the full participation of women whohave families (generally women up to 55 years of age) as increasingly women are leaving it until late tohave children.

10. Poor work-life balance as there is an expectation that one must be available at all hours and bondedto the State and one’s constituency.

Or If They Do Why Aren’t More of Them Selected?

11. Risk-Narrow representation: They are perceived to primarily represent their own constituency andthis is too narrow a platform for success.

12. Risk-Single issue: May have “political baggage” related to the individual standing for oYce becauseof a particular issue which may reduce their chance of being elected by a majority of the electorate, as evenon single issues there are multiple perceptions and loyalties.

13. System for selection: Far fewer Ethnic Minorities, women and disabled people participate in localpolitics to ensure they have any influence in selection, therefore the critical mass that is needed to select acandidate of their choice is lacking.

14. Presentation skills: Those that do participate are often professional, middle class, able-bodied Whitemales who are able to provide a well articulated proposal for their candidate to an audience very similar tothemselves.

15. Time, care and financial constraints:

— Time—campaign, network and build alliances;

— Care issues—related to children and elderly relatives;

— Financial-often seeking public oYce requires some disposable income and /or flexible employmentand whilst those from professional classes can piggy back their work related networking with theirpolitical one this may not be the case for those from non-professional backgrounds, and it is theprofessional class that tends to be represented at branches where the selection is often done.

These factors prohibit many women who are often the primary carers but particularly aVect those fromdiverse communities where women are not expected to relinquish their domestic responsibilities despiteworking outside the home.

Or If They Are Why Aren’t More of Them Elected?

16. Risk-Narrow representation: They are perceived to primarily represent their own constituency andthis is too narrow a platform for political parties to risk a seat.

17. Risk-Single issue: Often “political baggage” such as their group responding to a particular issue suchas Muslims countering the epithet that they are “all terrorists” can mean that whilst this spurs them to seekpublic oYce the voters only see them capable of responding to this issue.

18. System for selection: Current system for selection means that only a few people make the decisionand the majority are not engaged at all. The party political system also requires people to sign up to aparticular position in advance of understanding what the implications may be to their communities such asForeign Policy etc and many may find this hard to do. Invariably those who have succeeded and bypassedthe system have been well-connected, professional, middle class White males, who are parachuted into safeseats and have no demonstrable record of political participation before that time..

19. Time, care and financial constraints: These are often in short supply for women who are often stillthe primary carers and amongst diverse communities where children are expected to be supported until theyleave home.



5. What Are The Problems and Practical DiYculties Encountered-At Any Point In The Process of Selectionand Election-By Members of These Under-Represented Groups Who Are Looking To Become MPs?

Finance, time, lack of mobility including use of car, and care issues impact on ability to campaign andlobby.

6. What Actions Could Be Taken By The Government To Address Disparities In Representation?

FATIMA Women’s Network strongly believes that our members are disempowered by the lack ofstrategic voice for women from diverse communities in key policy areas. As often Black, Asian, EthnicMinority and refugee women’s issues are subsumed under either race or gender and the critical inter-sectionality is neither properly understood nor addressed.

The separating of several policy strands such as migration and development, preventing violentextremism, faith and inter-faith between several generic organisations or speacilaist ones who only focus onone of these issues, means there will always be an adverse impact on women and families from diversecommunities. This has been particularly exacerbated by the creation of the single commission—the newEqualities and Human Rights Commission.

The necessity of a voice to champion their issues and provide a much needed national, visible platformthrough eVective engagement with grass roots communities cannot be emphasized enough.

The need for 50:50 representation within all political parties and representative bodies is vital for parityand a very good base for further diversity.

1. AYrmative Action: It is imperative to have cross party agreement on short term aYrmative actionto improve representation such as quotas.

2. 50: 50: It should be mandatory to have 50:50 political representation of women and men at all levelseven in political parties.

3. Truly diverse not just prescriptive: Our members do not feel it necessary to be too prescriptive as thepoint made potential candidates like to feel they are able to represent their political constituency aswell as their community of interest. Members also pointed out that often focus too narrow andonly focussed on representatives of African, Caribbean, Indian or Pakistani origin rather thansimply looking to diversify representation overall and including women originating from SouthEast Asia like Malaysia or Middle East who are also significantly present in the UK but moreimportantly truly reflective of a pluralistic and multi-cultural society.

4. DiVerent election models: Research into diVerent models to consider how best long term toimprove representation such as in Europe where proportional representation has been reasonablysuccessful and even the quota system.

5. Capacity building: The opportunities for placements, internships, shadowing and mentoringschemes should be increased and made more widely available.

6. Accessible government: Government needs to be seen to be more accessible and familiar to ALLgroups and sections of society, not just the privileged few.

7. Closed lists and all-women lists : In certain areas where significant concentration of EthnicMinorities worth considering closed lists of candidates who are non-White and increasing numberof women.

8. Welsh Assembly: The model for the Welsh Assembly where there one man and one women in eachconstituency area should be explored.

9. Actively recruit: Many women lack confidence to come forward so “head hunting” should bewidespread and inclusive, rather than only high flyers; and potential candidates could attendintense week-end to identify those wanting to go forward.

10. Unelected cross-bench MPs and Councillors: A few places reserved for People’s MPs who are notelected but selected because they have a good track record of working with the community. Theyneed not be bound by any Whip.

11. Subsidising campaign finance: Limits on funding for campaigns and bursaries if their manifestodoes not exclude certain sections of the community, as in case of far right parties.

7. What Actions Have Been, Or Could Be, Taken By Political Parties, Campaigning Groups And Others ToAddress Disparities In Representation?

7.1 Whilst FATIMA work with the Electoral Reform Society and various government initiatives we haveno resources to actively work on this agenda.Very little has been done because no one accepts responsibility.



8. What Actions Have Been Taken Elsewhere In The UK and Overseas, And By Whom, To Address SimilarConcerns?

European countries have used aYrmative action such as quotas, proportional representation, all-women’slists, and the 50:50 rule

And How Can The Success Of Such Actions Be Measured?

Diverse representation at all levels and 50:50 gender balance as well as gender sensitive policies includingGender Budgeting. Once this has been achieved closed or all-women lists should no longer be required.However it would be well worth keeping a few spaces for selected candidates to ensure the inclusive modelis maintained as other marginalised groups can come up eg travellers, refugees etc.

Submission from UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) (SC–42)

1. Introduction

1.1 On 12 November 2008 the House of Commons agreed that the Speaker’s Conference: “shall considerand make recommendations for rectifying the disparity between the representation of women, ethnicminorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population atlarge; and may agree to consider other associated matters”.

About The UK Resource Centre for Women in SET

1.2 The UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) works tosignificantly improve the participation and position of women in science, engineering and technologyoccupations in industry, research, academia, and public service to benefit the future productivity of the UKand the lifetime earnings and career aspirations of women. It is the UK’s leading centre providinginformation and advisory services to employers and organisations in the SET sectors and supporting womenentering, returning and progressing in these fields. DIUS fund the UK Resource Centre.

2. Summary

1. UK Resource Centre for Women in SET believes that the under representation of women from allgroups, and the under representation of other groups in parliament has a negative impact on the prioritygiven to addressing diYculties and inequities in the SET sector. Half a million women in the UK are qualifiedin either science, engineering or technology—but less than a third work in those sectors, all of which aresuVering a severe skills shortage, set to get worse in the coming decades This situation is bad for the UK’sproductivity and competitiveness. It undermines the UK’s aspirations for fairness and opportunity. It wasteswomen’s talent and limits their career aspirations, lifetime earnings and economic contribution. The UKResource Centre contends that:

— Higher numbers of women in parliaments generally contribute to stronger attention to women’sissues. (Progress of the World’s Women 2008–09 Unifem 2009).

— Women are not in the UK parliament in suYcient numbers or diversity to represent fully the rangeof needs, views and interests of women, including their gender and gender equality interests.101 Andwomen’s will and their voices must be heard.

— Parliament and government does not suYciently prioritise policy, processes and implementationto improve gender equality.

— With the current low levels of representation, very few female parliamentarians have a SETbackground, limiting the perspectives and experience for developing SET related legislation,policy, scrutiny and governance.

— Those women who are in parliament have to carry the equality agenda to a disproportionate extent.

— Parliament does not oVer a benchmark to industry and other sectors where there is underrepresentation.

101 Women’s interests: Women have as wide a range of interests as any other other social group. Women’s interests often, butnot always, include both gender and gender equality interests.Gender interests: This term denotes interests that women have because they are women. These include issues related topregnancy and childbirth, nourishing and educating children, and building a safe community environment.Gender equality interests: These are interests derived from an analysis of inequality based on gender diVerences, and aim fora lasting transformation of gender relations in order to ensure full achievement of women’s rights.[Definitions from chapter 2 p19 at http://www.unifem.org/progress/2008/politics.html Progress of the World’s Women 2008/09 Unifem (2009) 18 Jan 09]



— Parliament is not properly accountable to women because it is not making a suYcient diVerenceto their lives though laws and policies.

— Public confidence is undermined.

We oVer some examples from our experience of working on gender equality in the main body of oursubmission and recommend:

— Explicit gender equality objectives and targets across all mainstream policy.— Champion at cabinet level for gender and SET to increase accountability.— Attention to the voices of women in SET through consultation, expert know how and improved

representation on decision making bodies.

2. UK Resource Centre for Women does not have specific evidence about how attitudes are aVected bythe current numbers of women etc. in parliament. However we are aware that individual women in SETidentify appropriately gender balanced universities, workplaces and governance arrangements etc. aspreferable, and existing arrangements, where women are under represented, are seen as problematic.

3. The UK Resource Centre is a specialist body focusing on the representation of women in SET(workplace, education, governance and decision making) not in parliament as such. However, on the basisof our experience of addressing under representation in that sphere, we suggest that numbers could beincreased by:

— Positive action to increase women’s interest in being MPs (This can linked to programmes whichseek to increase the number of female local councillors, members of public bodies). Positive actionwill include removing barriers and improving access.

— Improving conditions of service, practical arrangements and the culture of parliament and otherpolitical environments.

— Support arrangements for under represented groups within parliament etc.— Quotas set by political parties.— Leadership on the relevance and importance of equality and representation from all political

parties, and in relation to every step in the process towards becoming an MP.— Strong and mobilised women’s networks and organisations including those in the voluntary and

community sector.

4. In Section 4 of our submission we provide an overview of our work to increase the numbers of womenon SET public bodies. We suggest it oVers transferable experience as well as complementary positive action,relevant to the numbers of women in parliament, and the pursuit of gender equality objectives.

5. There is a well rehearsed set of ways to increase the numbers of women in politics and decision makingapplied across the world, most of which form a virtuous circle in terms of the impacts on women’s lives. TheUK Resource Centre has a focus on one particular sector and group of women, women in SET. However,as this is the only comprehensive intervention targeted at a employment sector in relation to gender equality,it oVers a microcosm of the issues and problems relevant to other spheres of women’s experience, and a testbed for solutions.

6. However, the UKRC believes that increasing the numbers of women in politics is not suYcient. It hasto be coupled with the implementation of gender policies. Our institutions must also have the incentives,skills, information and procedures to respond to women’s needs.

3. the Impact of Under Representation in Parliament on Women in SET

3.1 UK Resource Centre for Women in SET believes that under representation has a negative impact onthe priority given to addressing diYculties and inequities in the SET sector. Half a million women in the UKare qualified in either science, engineering or technology—but less than a third work in those sectors, all ofwhich are suVering a severe skills shortage, set to get worse in the coming decades This situation is bad for theUK’s productivity and competitiveness. It undermines the UK’s aspirations for fairness and opportunity. Itwastes women’s talent and limits their career aspirations, lifetime earnings and economic contribution. Thenegative eVect is because:

— Higher numbers of women in parliament generally contribute to stronger attention to women’sissues (Unifem 2009).

— Women are not in parliament in suYcient numbers to represent fully the range of interests, needsand views of women (including women in SET), including their gender and gender equalityinterests and women’s will and their voices should be heard.

— Parliament and government do not suYciently prioritise policy, processes and implementation toimprove gender equality.

— With the current low levels of representation, very few female parliamentarians have a SETbackground, limiting the perspectives and experience for developing and delivering SET relatedlegislation, policy, implementation, performance measures, scrutiny and governance generally.

— Those women who are in parliament have to carry the equality agenda to a disproportionate extent.



— Parliament does not oVer a benchmark to industry and other sectors where there is underrepresentation.

— Parliament is not properly accountable to women because it is not making a suYcient diVerenceto their lives though laws and policies.

— Public confidence is undermined.

3.2 We oVer some examples of the impact of a lack of women in parliament combined with a lack ofincentives, skills, information and procedures to respond to women in SET’s needs. And we makesuggestions for changes.

3.2.1 Gender equality objectives should be more explicit in higher level SET related policy and legislation.Examples of SET relevant reports etc where this has not happened include the Leitch Report on Skills, andRace to the Top (Sainsbury Report on Science and Innovation). Neither “gender equality” nor “diversity”have featured as key thematic focus areas. This indicates a lack of linkage across three types of policy areas—gender equality, gender in SET and Science, Skills etc more widely. Better representation will play a part inimproving public policy and implementation otherwise it will continue to have “little regard for specificgendered elements or impacts.” (Unifem 2009, Ch2 p30)

3.2.2 There is a lack of women involved in senior policy making, in parliament and on advisory bodieson SET. This should be tackled by charging a cabinet minister with specific responsibilities to identify andprogress SET and gender equality objectives. Such a Champion for SET and Women’s Equality, along withother changes, could also ensure the use of gender and SET expertise, and SET and gender objectives thatare woven into the whole fabric of legislation and the implementation of policy. Champions with strongaccountability could strengthen the existing machinery on women and help with the proper implementationof the positive provisions of the gender equality duty.

3.2.3 Greater understanding and commitment to gender equality would also be marked by expert adviceand consultation data on the under representation of women in SET having a stronger, proportionate impacton the political and policy process. We recently engaged 300 people in the consultation process for the Visionfor Science and Society (DIUS lead) and await the outcome. A positive outcome would be a clear signalingof the SET and gender equality issue as a central issue in the political mainstream, backed by systematicimplementation and resources. Specifically in the case of the Vision for Science and Society, successful adviceand influence would be indicated by proper consideration and reflection of gender equality and diversityissues in the final policy and include:

— Explicit statements about addressing women’s equality and representation (going further thanpassing references to under representation or diversity).

— EVective machinery, champions and action to improve women’s involvement in science.

— Requirements for disaggregated statistics and monitoring.

— Discourse/language demonstrating an understanding of gender (power) relations and thegendering of society.

— Targets to assist with increasing the numbers of women (or men) in specific areas.

— Commitments to positive action.

— Commitments to flexible working and approaches for equal opportunities.

— Provisions for “culture change” in science and science policy.

— Support for the work of the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET.

— Recommendations for “integrated strategies” with focus on all aspects of supply, demand,retention and progression of women in SET (ie we can’t just focus on girls/schools/university).

3.2.4 There are no or very low numbers of women on select committees and involved in decision makingand leadership in SET, in government and in parliament. We are doing work to address the representation ofwomen on SET public bodies, which is described below, and this should improve the advice to government.

In Conclusion

3.3 The UK Resource Centre recognises the progress in the past 10 years as evidenced by the FawcettSociety whose findings are reported in the Unifem publication referred to above:

A 2008 study of UK politics, for example, confirms that since the number of women in parliamentdoubled to 18.2% since the 1997 election, issues of particular importance to women—such aschildcare and social protection—have received more attention.

3.4 We also agree that women’s direct engagement in public decision-making is a matter of democraticjustice, and also a way of ensuring better government accountability to women. Quotas have been aneVective vehicle especially when backed by sanctions. However, increasing the numbers of women in politicsis not suYcient. It has to be

… linked to gender-sensitive good governance reforms—understood as inclusive, responsive, andaccountable management of public aVairs that increases state capacity to implement genderpolicies. Political accountability to women begins with increasing the number of women in



decision-making positions, but it cannot stop there. It requires governance reforms that equippublic institutions with the incentives, skills, information and procedures to respond to women’sneeds.102

3.5 The UK Resource Centre supports eVorts to make parliament reflect the population at large. And webelieve this should be coupled with continuing eVorts to implement governance reforms that addressgender equality.

4. Getting a Balance—Increasing the Numbers of Women

4.1 The UK Resource Centre is a specialist body focusing on the representation of women from all groupsin SET (workplace, education, governance and decision making) not in parliament as such. On the basis ofour experience of addressing under representation in that sphere, we suggest that numbers could beincreased by

— Leadership on the relevance and importance of equality and representation from all politicalparties, and in relation to every step in the process towards becoming an MP. Party leaders,Ministers, the Cabinet and the Shadow Cabinet can demonstrate active understanding andcommitment, making key issues and people visible through their language, choices andcommitments. They could follow the recent lead of President Obama who has not shied away fromfeminist agendas.

— Quotas amongst political parties.103

— Positive action to increase women’s interest in being MPs. This can link to programmes that seekto increase the number of female local councilors, members of public bodies).

— Improving conditions of service, practical arrangements and the culture of parliament and otherpolitical environments. There is transferable experience widely available from work in thecorporate and public sectors.

— Support arrangements for under represented groups within parliament etc. eg groups, skillstraining, mentoring/coaching, progression programmes.

4.2 Positive action in particular is essential for change and is an approach that the UK Resource Centrehas experience of. Women come to public life and politics via a number of routes. The UK Resource Centreargues that positive action to increase the percentage of women in public appointments links to action toencourage women to step forward and succeed in the political arena. Interventions across these spheres arecomparable and we oVer an overview of our work on public appointments.

Case Study—Increasing Representation

4.3 There are over 1000 public bodies in Britain and the government is keen to improve the gender balanceof their boards. Clearly, it is very important that women are fairly represented on these boards so that policydecisions taken and advice given to the government fairly reflects the views of women as well as men. TheUK Resource Centre is working with government in their aim to have 40% female representation on SETpublic bodies by 2008. The 59 SET-related public bodies that have been identified as falling within the 40%target are the primary focus for UK Resource Centre activity.

4.4 The figures in 2006 compiled by the UK Resource Centre and based on Cabinet OYce figures, showthat women currently make up 26%. The overall representation of women on public bodies was 36.6% in2006.

4.5 The strategy developed by the UK Resource Centre in relation to public appointments has twostrands:

— To build the supply of women applying for appointments generally as well as the targeted science,engineering and technology public bodies.

— To work with government departments on demand within the recruitment process.

4.6 The definition of a SET related public body is where members of NDPB (Non-Departmental PubicBody) are advising on science, engineering, technology and built environment related issues and a SETqualification is likely to be a prerequisite of membership. There is a wide variety of NDPBs working acrossall sectors of science, engineering and technology. Some make decisions, control budgets, and recommendpolicy, while others primarily give advice. Some work at very senior, national levels and others have morelocal or specific remits.

4.7 UK Resource Centre shows women how serving on the board of a NDPB can bring the followingbenefits:

102 http://www.unifem.org/progress/2008/politics.html [18 Jan 09]103 Strong representation: Quotas and other temporary special measures, such as reserved seats, are a proven means for

supporting women’s engagement in political competition; they are currently used at national and sub-national levels in95 countries. In elections held in 2007, the average representation of women was 19.3% in those countries that used some typeof electoral quota, as opposed to 14.7% for those countries without quotas, regardless of electoral system. http://www.unifem.org/progress/2008/politics.html [17 Jan 08]



— It can help develop and demonstrate a range of managerial skills, such as processing information,decision-making, developing and implementing strategy.

— It can help you make new contacts.

— It can provide a new interest and outlet for skills and knowledge you possess.

— It enables you to influence decisions and policy in an area of interest.

4.8 The UK Resource Centre works with the OYce of the Commissioner for Public Appointments(OCPA) and equivalent agencies in Wales (Wales Assembly) and Scotland (OCPAS) as well as governmentdepartments to support their aim to recruit more women into public appointments.

4.9 UK Resource Centre activities include:

— Production of a good practice guide for people recruiting to public bodies on Person Specificationsand Role Descriptions.

— Working with departments to support individual strategies.

— Informing a growing pool of women who are members of the GetSETWomen network aboutforthcoming vacancies to widen the pool of potential applicants.

— Working with recruitment agencies to improve gender equality practices.

— Carrying out research with women to establish ways of improving the number of applications.

— Collecting examples of innovative and exemplar practice from boards to ensure good practice isshared.

— Collecting and collating annual statistics from departments for government.

4.10 We further link our action on SET public boards with raising the profile of individual women in SET.We therefore have a broad range of exciting and innovative interventions comprising:

— GETSET women network (and database)

— Public appointments programme

— Leadership

— Mentoring

— Media training

— Influencing TV fiction (to include women in SET and in prominent roles)

— Public life skills

— Publicising opportunities eg around SET decision making

— Web based activities—social networks, blogging, e portfolios, personal stories/case studies

— Women of Outstanding Achievement (WOOA) photographic exhibition

— Promoting role modes.

4.11 The UK Resource Centre suggests that these kinds of strategies could be adopted by the relevantinstitutions to increase the representation of women from all groups, and other groups in parliament. Inaddition, our public body work complements representation in parliament as it increases the number ofwomen engaged in public decision making, closely allied to parliamentary work.

4.12 In addition we commend the Unifem 2008–09 report, which confirms these approaches. It verycomprehensively describes the issues and the solutions in its chapter, Politics. Included is a reference toFawcett’s articulation of the barriers to participation, summed up as the “four C’s of confidence, culture,childcare and cash—the impact of gender role expectations. It has further useful conceptualisation, relevantdata on statistics and trends, information about the gender gap in voting and women’s manifestos. It coversgender balanced elected bodies—the “parity zone” where no gender is more than 60%. It also suggestsstructural, cultural, attitudinal, procedural and financial measures that together can make a diVerence to thenumbers of women elected. Lastly, it gives a central role to advocacy and the mobilisation of women thatis founded on an analysis of inequality based on gender diVerences, and strives for a transformation of genderrelations.

In Conclusion

4.13 There is a well rehearsed set of ways to increase the numbers of women in politics and decisionmaking applied across the world, most of which form a virtuous circle in terms of impacts on women’s lives.The UK Resource Centre has a focus on one particular sector and group of women, women in SET.However, as this is about the only comprehensive intervention targeted at under representation at all levelsin a sector in the UK, it oVers a microcosm of the issues and problems relevant to other spheres of women’sexperience, and a test bed for solutions.



Submission from the Fabian Society (SC–43)

Summary

1. This submission draws on original research seeking to analyse how far an “ethnic penalty” persists incandidate selection. This research data consists of all new candidate selections for the current Parliament inthe Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties which had been completed by 1 November2008 (excluding cases where a sitting MP was to stand again). As with all Fabian outputs, the content ofthis note is the responsibility of the individual author and does not represent a collective view of the Society.

2. This submission suggests that tracking progress towards the goal of “fair chances and no unfairbarriers” for candidates depends on looking not only at Parliament as a whole but paying more attentionto progress (or lack of it) towards broadly proportionate intakes in the proportions of MPs in newParliamentary cohorts; and in candidate selections in the major political parties.

3. Though the position in the three major parties diVers in important respects, the emerging evidencesuggests that the “ethnic penalty” is fast depreciating, and that it has not operated in the aggregate forLabour selections for the 2005 Parliament and for the next General Election. (The relatively small cohortsmean that caution is advisable here). Most political, media and public discussion about progress towardsfair chances for BME candidates has been too pessimistic, and underestimated progress since 1997.

4. This is not to argue against further eVorts to increase BME representation: the current progress hasbeen achieved not by chance, but due to a wide range of eVorts by parties and pressure groups, notablyOperation Black Vote and others. It does suggest that a deepening of current eVorts (which are bringingsuccess) may be more important than believing that current methods are not working and need a newapproach, such as all minority shortlists and quotas.

5. An important under-explored issue in academic research and public debate is why the barriers to BMEcandidates have been broken down more quickly than those for women. (This is partly because there is lesshistoric data, and transnational comparisons are much more complex given diVerent patterns of ethnicminority population). Addressing this issue could oVer important clues as to how the barriers to fair chancesmay have changed since 1997. In particular, that the economic and time commitments to seeking selectionmay well now be more important than direct discrimination or stereotyping as to what a “typical MP” islike (in part because the large number of women elected in 1997 may have changed this). This suggests thatmore attention is needed to how chances are distributed within the group of aspiring BME candidates andwomen candidates, and the importance of how class, gender, race and disability interact.

Ethnic minority representation: the conventional wisdom and emerging evidence

1. The fact of under-representation is clear. There are currently 15 non-white MPs: there would be 60 ifthe House of Commons was to reflect proportionately the ethnic mix of the country.

2. The conventional wisdom on BME representation can be summarised along these lines:

— There has been very little progress since 1987, so that it will take 75 years to have a “Parliamentthat looks like Britain” if special measures are not introduced.

— Black and Asian candidates face significantly higher hurdles in being selected because of theirethnicity.

— There will be no chance of a level playing field until similar measures to the all-women shortlists(adopted by the Labour Party) are introduced, because international comparative evidencesuggests proportionate representation of women has almost always required positivediscrimination or equality guarantees.

— The failure to act demonstrates that race is not taken as seriously as gender—so that BMEcandidates fall further behind when progress is made elsewhere.

3. Much of this can be taken as a broadly accurate description of the situation of fifteen and even tenyears ago, the evidence from recent Parliamentary intakes and current selections suggests that it isdecreasingly relevant or accurate. In fact, there is good evidence to suggest we may be reaching a “fairnesstipping point” where black and Asian candidates do not face an “ethnic penalty” which means the barriersare higher than for white candidates.

4. There have understandably been complaints that special measures to select more women have not beenreplicated for BME candidates. Yet the evidence shows, perhaps counter-inutitively, that relatively rapidprogress is being made on ethnic representation while a gender penalty for female candidates remains morestubborn. Much public discussion is too pessimistic about the chances of minority ethnic candidates and toocomplacent about chances for women.



How can we determine progress towards fair chances?

5. Much debate focuses only on the headline number of black and Asian MPs there are in the House ofCommons. The overall under-representation is clear evidence that it has been more diYcult for black andAsian citizens to become MPs. But this does not illuminate a central issue: is the ethnic penalty is beingreduced over time, or alternatively, does it remain stubbornly high so that diVerent strategies are urgentlyneeded?

6. Looking at Parliament as a whole only tells us so much. The pattern of political careers means that thenumber of BME MPs today reflects the results of candidate selection contests over several Parliaments sincethe election of the Father of the House back in 1964: more than two-thirds of MPs have served for over adecade, and one in twenty since before 1979.

7. So to get a snapshot of whether candidates today have fair chances, we need to look at the cohorts ofnew entrants—the class of 2005, of 2001 and so on—assessing whether the extent to which BME candidatesor women are elected proportionately to their share of the population in new intakes. Because party selectionin a winnable seat is overwhelmingly the almost exclusive route to the House of Commons, it makes senseto assess progress in each of the major parties. If candidates had fair chances of selection, we would expectthat to be reflected over time in BME candidates to be selected in one in 13 seats, and women in half ofthe seats.

From ethnic penalty towards fair chances?

8. In the Labour landslide of 1997, four new black and Asian MPs joined the five already in Parliament,all representing Labour (as the sole Asian Conservative lost his seat in the landslide). The number of blackand Asian MPs rose from six to nine. But this increase was solely a consequence of Labour strength andTory weakness in the new Parliament. This obscured the lack of progress towards diversity in the LabourParty in 1997. Labour had elected 183 new MPs to Parliament in the 1997 landslide. So only 2.2% were fromethnic minority backgrounds. Strikingly, Labour fielded only 13 non-white candidates (including the fiveexisting MPs) out of 639. Less than 2% of candidates who were not already MPs were non-white. Neitherthe Parliamentary intake, nor the pool of Labour candidates, were any more diverse proportionately thanthe pre-1997 Parliamentary party.

9. In the two general elections after 1997, the number of Labour BME MPs has risen from nine to 13,and Parliament as a whole from nine to 15. But this apparently slow rate of change obscures how muchprogress towards fair chances for BME candidates has sped up.

10. In 2005, Labour elected only 40 new MPs. This time, three Asian and black MPs made up 7.5% ofthe group. Labour fielded 32 BME candidates in all (5.1%). And that rose to 8% in selecting candidates whonot already in Parliament. Both new candidates and new MPs were more than three times more likely to benon-white than had been the case in 1997, though with Oona King losing her seat, there was only one morenon-white Labour MP than in 2001 and only four more than in 1997.

11. In this Parliament, Labour had held 26 selection contests in seats which the party already holds by1 November 2008. In four cases (15.4%) it has selected non-white candidates. It can be confident of winningeach of those seats: the least safe would require a 9% swing for the Conservatives in Streatham. Labour isalso likely to regain Bethnal Green and Bow following the implosion of George Galloway’s Respect party.Overall, in this parliament Labour has been selecting BME candidates at a rate of 10.5%. (This rises to 16.7%in marginal seats where Labour is within 10%, and falls to 8.2% in unwinnable seats).

12. Those figures show that Labour can claim to be defeating the ethnic penalty in Parliamentarycandidate selections of all kinds (Labour seats, marginal seats and unwinnable seats) this time around. Theevidence does not mean that unreconstructed attitudes have been eradicated—but that they can beoutweighed by a commitment to equality from party leaderships and members.

13. Just as importantly, this is the first time good progress is being made in more than one party. This isessential if the presence of black and Asian MPs in Parliament is to be entrenched, rather than vulnerableto changes in the fortunes of particular parties.

Conservative progress and the specific LibDem barriers

14. The Conservatives had an all-white parliamentary party after 1997 and 2001, having had one AsianMP (out of 336) after 1992. The 2001 Conservative intake consisted of 37 white men and one woman.However, they did elect two non-white MPs in the 51 strong class of 2005. They made up 3.9% of the newintake and 1% of the Parliamentary Party as a whole.

15. Now, in 32 selections replacing retiring Conservative MPs, the party has selected 3 BME candidates(9.4%), two of them women, Helen Grant in Maidstone. Kent, and Priti Patel in Witham, Essex. The partyhas selected seven further BME candidates in its 175 target seats (4.3%), three of them in the top half of thelist. Overall, the party is selecting BME candidates in 4.9% of new selections so far. These figures—strong



progress at the top, and less further down the candidates list—reflect the “top down” way in which theConservative leadership has tried to catalyse change from a low base. This may not yet fully reached thegrassroots.

16. The LibDems will probably not elect any BME MPs next time around. They have only briefly hadone Asian MP, when Parmjit Singh Gill won the 2004 Leicester South by-election before losing it after10 months at the General Election, and he is again the only candidate in anything like a competitive seat.In nine selections in this Parliament in LibDem held seats, the party selected five women but no BMEcandidates. The party does select BME candidates at a slightly higher rate (5.6%) than the Conservativesbut very heavily in areas with high ethnic minority populations where the LibDems have little chance.

17. The LibDem party needs to select a non-white candidate when selecting for winnable seats likeWinchester, York or St Ives (and not only for areas with high minority populations like Birmingham or EastLondon). The LibDems need to work out how, within their own political culture, they could facilitate theselection of good BME candidates in a winnable seat. A more eVective route than seeking permission to useall-minority shortlists (in marginal constituencies with very low ethnic minority populations) would be tohold a transparent national competition among party members to find perhaps five highly talented BMEaspiring politicians who the national party would promote to constituencies and party members forselections for Westminster, Brussels and other elected posts.

Conclusions

18. It is inevitable that (outside landslides), these are small cohorts. So caution is advisable and thepattern must be sustained. But this evidence challenge the claim that there could never be fair chanceswithout “strong” measures of positive action, such as quotas or all minority shortlists. It suggests too thatthe “soft” measures may have been more eVective than is usually realised, particularly given the evidence ofa considerable acceleration of progress between 1997 and 2008, when these issues gained much moreprominence within parties. It was a reasonable hypothesis to suggest that what has been shown to be truehistorically of gender would also prove true of race—but the dynamics of race and gender under-representation could turn out to be quite diVerent.

19. Warnings against complacency should be listened to. Progress in Parliamentary selections does notseem to be being reflected in local politics. But complacency is not the only risk. With too little eVort toquantify the scale of the ethnic penalty now, we have risked hearing the most vocal advocates for increasedBME representaion telling aspiring candidates that they do not and can not have fair chances and a levelplaying field despite the evidence suggesting that they already do.

20. If it did prove possible to sustain a pattern where BME candidates were selected over time in 10–15%of cases, that would hardly be something to worry about: it would simply mildly accelerate progress towardsa Parliament that looks like Britain while still taking some time to overcome the historic legacy of under-representation. (If fair chances in selections and Parliamentary intakes could be achieved and sustained, howquickly this happened would depend on the rate of retirements and turnover of existing MPs, though manymay feel that this is a secondary issue if fair chances are in place).

21. But will these positive changes go deeper than extending to black and Asian lawyers and Oxbridgegraduates similar chances to join their white peers in the political class? That demands much greater scrutinyof how financial and time commitments in candidate selections prevent a level playing field. AConservativeHome survey found would-be Tory candidates spent an average of around £20,000 trying toget selected, and over £34,000 if lost income was accounted for too. The time demands—campaigning acrossthe country to show keenness—demand a professional job, and make little allowance for familycommitments. Women, working-class candidates of all races, and those outside the elite are unlikely to geta fair chance.

Gender and Race: Ceiling Effects and Dilemmas of all Women Shortlists

21. To some extent, disagreements about proposals for all-minority shortlists among current black andAsian MPs and candidates (who are fairly equally divided on the question) may reflect generationalperspectives. Those pioneering candidates who had to overcome much steeper barriers to break throughtwenty years ago are sceptical of claims that so much has now changed. They might well feel that youngercandidates are naıve to suggest they have a level playing field. But the evidence suggests that they do (thoughonly by standing on the shoulders of those who made the historic breakthrough possible). All-minorityshortlists may well have made a diVerence 20 years ago—when they were not seriously on the agenda—butthey have come to prominence when probably no longer necessary, certainly in the Labour Party. (If thereis no “ethnic penalty” visible, other arguments such as accelerating catch-up or guaranteeing progress couldstill, in principle, be pursued).

22. The evidence from the use of all-women shortlists is that a “ceiling” eVect is a danger. Labour has thelargest number of women MPs by some distance, and is the only party to employ positive discriminationmeasures of all-women shortlists. The 2001 Parliamentary intake suggests that there would be many fewerwomen without this. And it is striking how far women remain from having fair chances in all parties. Incurrent selections of new candidates, each party is selecting women in only around a quarter of selections



(Labour 24.9%, Tory 26.6%, LibDem 25.8%). Where a party is replacing sitting MPs, Labour (using apositive action measure) is selecting women candidates at a lower rate (38.5%, 10 of 26 selections) than eitherthe Conservatives (40.6%, 13 of 32) or LibDems (55%: five of nine selections) in selections in this Parliament.While Labour held 10 all women shortlist selections; in the first 16 open Labour selections for a Labour-held seat (to 1 November 2008), only one women was chosen. It appears there is a dilemma here. All-womenshortlists were necessary to make progress, and remain so, but may demonstrate diminishing returns.Greater emphasis is needed on combining cultural pressure and change with such mechanisms, to counterthe danger that they are seen as an alternative to cultural change.

Three Ideas for Possible Recommendations and Action

23. There is a need for more attention and research as to how class, gender, race, disability and otherfactors interact, and also to find ways to encourage and facilitate the review and comparison of successfulinitiatives on a cross-party basis. (The Equality Commission might be a good space for such; Parliamentitself might have a valuable role to play in disseminating such information). Many of those involved inindividual party eVorts as well as neutral voices would like to see cross-party progress would be willing toparticipate in cross-party exchanges of information and experience if such spaces existed.

24. It would be useful for Parliament (eg through the House of Commons research and library service)to collate better data on ethnic minority, and to publish a data series on BME representation to ensure agood ongoing evidence base on the scope or lack of progress towards fair chances in BME representation.The authoritative House of Commons Library reports after General Elections suggest a reluctance to collateinformation on ethnic background (perhaps seeing this as “personal”) on a similar basis to information ongender, on school and university background, and occupation. But this would be particularly useful inenabling a “cohorts” analysis of fair chances to be sustained. So Commons Library reports rely on externalinformation, from campaigning pressure groups, which can be sketchier. A robust data series would add agreat deal of value to an evidence-based public debate in this area.

25. Perhaps the most useful outcome of a Speaker’s Conference could be to push for clear commitmentsfrom each party for a much greater degree of scrutiny of the current formal and informal factors involvedin selection, particularly as there is reasonable evidence to suggest that these might discriminate againstcandidates with caring responsibilities, less economic means or less professional opportunities to interactwith the “political class” as part of their work. These factors may particularly aVect women, especiallyworking-class women, and less aZuent candidates from BME communities, as well as working-class men.Combining training and mentoring opportunities with access to financial bursaries—oVered on acompetitive basis for candidates who show talent and aspiration—could have a particularly valuable impactwithin this.

Submission by the Centre for Women & Democracy (SC–44)

Executive Summary

This submission:

— deals specifically with the representation of women in parliament

— in particular addresses what actions could be taken by the Government, political parties and othersto address disparities in diversity (in this case in terms of gender)

— looks in some detail at these issues in the context of experience both in the UK and abroad

— proposes that the UK adopt, for parliamentary elections, a quota system which requires politicalparties to ensure that a given percentage of their candidates are women

— proposes that there should be eVective sanctions if the quotas are not met

— proposes the establishment of a Democracy Diversity Fund to support parties in finding, trainingand selecting good candidates of both genders from all communities

— proposes that such a system should be subject to review after each election, and that, if there isevidence to suggest that it is no longer necessary, abolished.

1. Preamble

1.1 This submission deals specifically with the representation of women in parliament, and in particularaddresses what actions could be taken by the Government, political parties and others to address disparitiesin diversity (in this case in terms of gender). It looks at these issues in the context of experience both in theUK and abroad, and makes recommendations which include proposals for the monitoring of success.



1.2 The Centre for Women & Democracy (CFWD) was established in 2007 to research and campaign onissues of women’s representation at all levels of public life. Based in Leeds, CFWD works predominantly inthe north of England, but also has a national remit.

2. Introduction and Background

2.1 Women have been able to stand in General Elections since 1918, but to date progress in integratingwomen into the parliamentary system has been painfully slow. There are currently only 126104 women MPs(19.5% of the House of Commons). In 1918, one woman was elected (and 706 men), and the percentage ofwomen MPs did not reach 5% until 1964. In 1992, it rose to 9%, and in 1997 reached 18% (120).

2.2 The two charts on the following page below illustrate both the figures and the percentages for eachparty between the 1987 and 2005 General Elections.105

Figure 1: Number of women elected for each party 1987-2005

1720

13 1417

21

37

9598

2 2 3 510

0

10

20

30

40

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1987 1992 1997 2001 2005

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Figure 2: Percentage of women in each party's

parliamentary group 1987-2005

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35

1987 1992 1997 2001 2005

Year

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104 Figures in this section relating to the numbers of women in the House of Commons are drawn from statistics collated by theCentre for the Advancement of Women in Politics at Queens University, Belfast.

105 For table see Appendix 1.



2.3 Internationally, the UK is in the upper half of the “league table”, but is falling steadily down it. In2007 there were 49 countries with a greater percentage of women in their legislatures than the UK; there arenow 68.106

2.4 Figures from the Electoral Reform Society have already demonstrated that—regardless of theresult—there is already very little possibility of increasing the number of women MPs at the next GeneralElection, and that it may well actually decrease. This will result in the UK falling even further behindinternationally, especially since other countries will continue to overtake us as their elections are held.

3. The Political Culture

3.1 The current political system is one which has developed very slowly over centuries, making very slightadjustments—usually slightly behind the times—to take account of social, political and economic change.From time to time this incremental process has been punctuated by major change brought about afterconsiderable debate and some upheaval—the 1832 Reform Act, for instance, or the enfranchisement ofwomen in 1918.

3.2 This incremental approach worked reasonably well while Britain was one of the few stabledemocracies in the world, but today many aspects of the way in which the democratic process works—bothinside the House and outside it—are seen as outdated and obstructive.

3.3 It is not reasonable to suppose that matters such as the physical arrangements inside the chamber—which encourage adversarial debate—are likely to be changed as a result of this or any other process, andwe are therefore not making recommendations along those lines, and although there may well be some sensein examining the way in which debates work, it is not proposed to examine this in detail here.

3.4 It is also the case that the very poor reputation of politics as a profession is discouraging to manysections of the population, and this will require major change—in the culture of the press and the tone ofsociety as well as in the behaviour of some MPs themselves—if it is to be mitigated. Again, this submissiondoes not make detailed recommendations, but notes that any structural, constitutional or electoral changeswill have to be accompanied by a significant improvement in culture and perception as well as a publicdebate.

4. Achieving Democratic Diversity

4.1 It is proposed that the UK adopt, for parliamentary elections at least, a quota system which requirespolitical parties to ensure that a given percentage of their candidates are women, which enforces eVectivesanctions if the quotas are not met, and which backs them up with a Democracy Diversity Fund to supportparties in finding, training and selecting good candidates of both genders from all communities. This systemshould be subject to review after each election, and, if there is evidence to suggest that it is no longernecessary, abolished.

4.2 It is accepted that these proposals will need further discussion and debate, and the variety of modelsavailable (see below) means that much of the detail is deliberately being left open so as not to inhibit this.However, it is also the case that, if the principle is accepted, the space for the debate on the detail will becreated.

4.3 It is recognised that the UK already uses one particular kind of quota system, and this is dealt within Section 5 of this submission, as well as being illustrated in the charts in Para 2.2

4.4 The remainder of this section explains the rationale for the proposal in Paragraph 4.1, drawing onthe experience of other countries as well as devolved institutions in the UK.

4.5 In considering the record of other countries in this area,107 it is accepted that not all are comparable.Some are eVectively single-party states (eg, Cuba, on 43.2%) or have very diVerent social and politicalcultures from the UK (eg, Afghanistan where 27.7% of MPs are women). In some cases—for instanceRwanda (56.3%), Angola (37.3%) and South Africa (33%) significant constitutional change or civil warscreated clear space in which to develop new democratic institutions. Even in Europe, many countries hadto re-invent their democratic institutions after the Second World War —or, in the case of countries such asSpain (36.3%), Portugal (28.3%), and Bulgaria (21.7%) after the removal of single-party dictatorships.

4.6 In the UK, the opportunity to create new institutions was oVered by Scottish and Welsh devolution,and, to a lesser extent, by the Northern Irish settlement.

4.7 In a number of quarters, there was a demand for these new institutions to be inclusive rather thanexclusive, and although none of them produced a blueprint for the delivery of equality objectives, it wasaccepted on all sides—to varying degrees—that there was a collective responsibility for achieving them.

106 See Appendix 2 for a full list.107 Figures related to the representation of women across the world and the use of quota systems are taken from the Inter-

Parliamentary Union (www.ipu.org.uk) and the Quota Project run by the International IDEA and the University ofStockholm (www.quotaproject.org) respectively.



4.8 The table below shows the percentage of women members for each of the main relevant parties indevolved institutions in the UK.

Con Lab LD SNP PC SF DUP All*

Scotland 31.2% 50% 12.5% 27.7% 34.1%Wales 12% 61.5% 50% 46.7% 46.7%N/Ireland** 28.6% 8.3% 16.7%

* Includes Independents and smaller parties not listed.** 2 largest parties only.

4.9 The eVect of the actions of those parties which took positive steps to increase the representation ofwomen is clear. Famously, Wales was the first legislature in the world to have 50% women members in 2003.

4.10 Internationally, a variety of diVerent approaches has been taken, but a common feature is the use ofquota or other systems to ensure the election of women in those countries with (relatively) high levels ofwomen MPs.

4.11 Of the 24 countries in which women’s representation in the national parliament was at or over 30%,the majority employ quota systems in one form or another, and even in the Scandinavian countries, wherequotas have been highly contentious (and are further discussed below), they have played a part in increasingthe numbers of women, with the result that Sweden (currently at 47%) looks as though it will be the firstEuropean country to reach parity.

4.12 In all, 97 out of 189 countries employ one or more of the various forms of quota available (seebelow). Some use more than one, and several use diVerent types of quota for diVerent kinds of election.

4.13 There are three basic types of quota:

— Constitutional—in which the requirement for there to be a certain percentage of women in thelegislature is part of the constitutional arrangements.

— Electoral—in which the electoral laws of the country require quotas to be implemented. This is thetype of quota system which CFWD is proposing should be adopted in the UK.

— Party—in which some or all of the political parties in the country voluntarily apply some form ofpositive action or quota requirements. This is the type of quota system currently in use in the UK,and has the drawback of leaving the burden of creating actual improvements on the shoulders ofa small number of parties.

4.14 In some countries, both the first and second kind are used, with the provisions of electoral law beingconsequential to the constitutional arrangements. In addition, the ways in which quotas are set,implemented and enforced varies greatly, with each country setting up whatever system will suit itsrequirements best.

4.15 The Nordic countries Sweden (47%), Denmark (38%), Norway (36.1%) and Iceland (33.3%),together with Finland on 41.5% are the most obviously successful and comparable group of countries. Theyhave stable political systems and their democratic and party structures are not dissimilar to the UK’s.

4.16 Of these countries, Sweden, Norway and Iceland all use party quotas—in Norway most of theparties have a 40% quota, in Sweden the centre left parties have a 50% quota, whilst the centre right partiesused quotas in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, but do not use them now. In Iceland the three centre left parties(which between them have about half of MPs) all use quotas.

4.17 In Denmark, on the other hand, quotas were used until 1996, when they were abandoned. In1997 33% of Danish MPs were women, in 2001 the figure had risen to 37.4% and it currently stands at 38%.There has been much debate about this, particularly in academic circles, and although there is not space torehearse these here, the quote below from Professor Drude Dahlerup of Stockholm University (Para 4.25)suggests lines of thought.

4.18 Finland has no quota system for parliament or for local councils, but the Act of Equality of2000 requires all public committees, and all municipal bodies (other than councils) to have a minimum of40% of both men and women. It is worth noting here that Finland’s very high standing in the world’s rankingis historical—in 1906, 12 years before British women were granted even a limited parliamentary franchise,16 Finnish women MPs were elected.

4.19 In the remaining European countries with 30% or more women MPs:

— the centre left parties in the Netherlands (41.3%) operate quotas

— Spain (36.3%) has both electoral law (the Equality Law of 2007 introduced the “principle ofbalanced presence” into electoral law, and party lists which do not comply with its requirementsare ruled out by the Electoral Commission)

— Belgium (35.3%) has an electoral law (2002) which requires party lists to be composed of equalnumbers of women and men, with places not so filled left vacant

— Both of the main parties in Germany (32.2%) operate quota systems.



4.20 It might be argued that, given that a number of European countries have managed to increasewomen’s representation using party rather than electoral quotas, the situation in the UK should be leftunchanged. However, the Westminster parliament is now so far behind similar legislatures with which itought to be comparable that it will be impossible for significant progress to be made unless all parties aremade equally responsible for achieving it.

4.21 Constitutional quotas are not generally found in Europe, and are more likely to be in operation incountries which have recently-written constitutions, or where the severity of the problem is agreed to warrantsuch a step.

4.22 There are currently 15 countries using constitutional quotas, 44 using electoral law quotas, and169 political parties in 69 countries (including the UK) using party quotas. In total, 97 countries (out of 189)use either one or a combination of quota types (see Appendix 3 for a breakdown).

4.23 In many cases, quotas are used in conjunction with proportional representation in one form oranother, and, indeed, first-past-the-post is probably the most diYcult electoral system to make work withquotas. This submission does not specifically argue for electoral reform, but notes that there is a strong casefor it to be considered, and anticipates that this case will be made very eVectively by other submissions.

4.24 It is clear from even this very brief overview that quotas are not a panacea for the ills of under-representation, but on the other hand it is a fact that, of the 24 countries in which 30% or more MPs arewomen, 20 use quotas of one kind or another, whilst of the 53 countries where women constitute 10% orunder of MPs only 11 use quotas.108 Moreover, in some of these 11 the quota is very low (eg Jordan, whereit is 6 seats or 5%); in others the sanctions are either weak or non-existent; and in others still only very smallparties, or parties with no MPs have quota systems.

4.25 However, it is also the case that none of the Nordic countries have strong sanctions either, and yetthey are all well up the list. This quote from Professor Drude Dahlerup of Stockholm University providessome food for thought as to why this might be:

“In a system with almost no institutionalized sanctions, not even in the political parties themselves,for non-compliance with quota rules, the question is what the incentives have been for the localbranches to comply with the centrally imposed quota rules? Our investigations show that it is notthe sanctions by the central party organization that make the local party organizations complywith the quota rules. Rather, parties have gradually nominated more women because they fear thesanction of the voters, especially the female voters, if they do not have a suYcient number ofwomen among their candidates. However, what is considered a suYcient share of women hasgradually increased in the Nordic countries from just one woman in the 1940s-60s, to one third inthe 1970s and 1980s, to a new demand for de facto gender balance, notably in Sweden and Norwaytoday.”109

5. The Political Parties

5.1 The three main political parties—Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat—are at the heart ofcreating change in the political system. The degree to which these three institutions are either committed tochange, or capable of delivering it within their structures, is therefore key to increasing the diversity of theHouse of Commons.

5.2 Over recent years they have taken a variety of approaches to the challenge of increasing womencandidates and MPs

5.3 The Labour Party have used all-women shortlists (as well as twinning and zipping systems in Scotlandand Wales). These have been relatively successful in raising the level of women’s representation.

5.4 The Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have used various schemes providingencouragement, support and training, although both have rejected positive action as used by Labour. TheConservative Party has made changes to its procedures for this round of selections which have resulted inmore women being selected in winnable seats. The Liberal Democrats have invested heavily in training andsupport, and this has also been rewarded with some success.

5.5 However, despite this, the Electoral Reform Society figures110 still show that there is now very littlepossibility of improving matters in any significant way at the next General Election. The concentration ofwomen candidates and MPs in marginal seats for all parties means that each party’s electoral fortunes hasa very direct eVect women’s representation for each party, but hardly any overall, and it does seem that eventhe most optimistic (in gender terms) of realistic projections would only produce a very marginal increase.

5.6 Whatever the outcome of the Speaker’s Conference, it is likely that political parties will remaincommitted to the principle of increasing the numbers of women MPs; the question is whether or not theywill be able to achieve it without external motivation and support.

108 Kenya, India, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Malta, Armenia, Somalia, Algeria, Albania, Jordan and Equatorial Guinea.109 Drude Dahlerup, Women, Quotas and Politics 2006.110 Electoral Reform Society, Gender Representation in the Next Parliament, June 2008.



5.7 Both the parties, and the women’s organisations connected with (but not run by) them (Women2win,Labour Women’s Network, and the Gender Balance Campaign respectively), as well as a number of otherexternal bodies concerned with issues around women’s representation already provide training and supportfor women, and there is no reason why this should not continue. However, the whole process is under-resourced, with funding for candidate training and diversity competing with funds for other purposes.

5.8 It is directly in the public interest for the quality of talent-spotting, training, development andmentoring by the parties to be as high as possible, and this applies to all candidates, not just to women.

5.9 It does not seem reasonable to leave voluntary organisations eVectively responsible for the quality ofMPs without providing some support, particularly if quotas are to be introduced.

5.10 It is therefore proposed that a Democracy Diversity Fund be established, to be funded bygovernment but administered by the Electoral Commission. Political parties would be able to apply to thefund for specific schemes relating to candidate development, and the implementation and outcomes of suchschemes would be monitored by the Commission. Grants could be made on a matched funding basis, andthere could be a cap on the amount available to any individual party across the period of a parliament.Parties participating would be expected to meet certain criteria in terms of their commitment to diversity ofall kinds, and there might be an argument for restricting grants to those parties securing a given percentageof the vote at a General Election—this would prevent small parties with no significant levels of support (andtherefore unable to influence the make-up of the House) from absorbing resources without being able toproduce the outcomes.

5.11 The direct involvement of the Electoral Commission in this way would also enable the whole processto be monitored eVectively, both in terms of candidate selection and the rate at which women are elected.The quota requirement should be abolished once an acceptable (and previously agreed) level ofrepresentation had been met, but the Democracy Diversity Fund should be continued to as to ensure thatparties are able to find, train and field the best possible candidates from all communities and backgrounds.

APPENDIX 1

This table shows the number of women elected for the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democratparties in each General Election between 1987 and 2005, and (in brackets) the percentage of that party’sparliamentary group that number represents.

Election Con Lab LibDem

1987 17 (5%) 21 (9%) 2 (9%)1992 20 (9%) 37 (14%) 39 (10%)1997 13 (8%) 101 (24%) 43 (7%)2001 14 (8%) 95 (23%) 5 (10%)2005 17 (8%) 98 (30%) 10 (16%)

APPENDIX 2

There are 68 countries with a greater percentage of women in their parliaments, and these are listed below.It should be noted that all of these countries have a democratic system which is comparable with the UK’s,and some are one-party states.

These figures are compiled by the Inter Parliamentary Union, and are available from their website atwww.ipu.org

Rank Country % MPs Women Last Election

1. Rwanda 56.3% 20082. Sweden 47.0% 20063. Cuba 43.2% 20084. Finland 41.5% 20075. Netherlands 41.3% 20066. Argentina 40.0% 20077. Denmark 38.0% 20078. Angola 37.3% 20089. Costa Rica 36.8% 200610. Spain 36.3% 200811. Norway 36.1% 200512. Belgium 35.3% 200713. Mozambique 34.8% 200414. New Zealand 33.6% 200815. Iceland 33.3% 200716. Nepal 33.2% 2008



Rank Country % MPs Women Last Election

17. South Africa 33.0% 200418. Germany 32.2% 200519. Belarus 31.8% 200820. FYR Macedonia 31.7% 200821. Uganda 30.7% 200622. Burundi 30.5% 200523. Tanzania 30.4% 200524. Guyana 30.0% 200625. Peru 29.2% 200626. Timor-Leste 29.2% 200727. Switzerland 28.5% 200728. Portugal 28.3% 200529. Afghanistan 27.7% 200530. Austria 27.3% 200831. Namibia 26.9% 200432. Trinidad & Tobago 26.8% 200733. Australia 26.7% 200734. Vietnam 25.8% 200735. Kyrgyzstan 25.6% 200736. Iraq 25.5% 200537. Suriname 25.5% 200538. Lao PDR 25.2% 200639. Andorra 25.0% 200540. Ecuador 25.0% 200641. Lesotho 25.0% 200742. Monaco 25.0% 200843. Singapore 24.5% 200644. Liechtenstein 24.0% 200545. Seychelles 23.5% 200746. Honduras 23.4% 200547. Luxemburg 23.3% 200448. Mexico 23.3% 200649. Tunisia 22.8% 200450. Pakistan 22.5% 200851. United Arab Emirates 22.5% 200652. Canada 22.1% 200853. Mauritania 22.1% 200654. Eritrea 22.0% 199455. Senegal 22.0% 200756. Ethiopia 21.9% 200557. Moldova 21.8% 200558. Bulgaria 21.7% 200559. Serbia 21.6% 200860. China 21.3% 200861. Italy 21.3% 200862. Croatia 20.9% 200763. Estonia 20.8% 200764. Philippines 20.5% 200765. Poland 20.2% 200766. Korea DPR 20.1% 200367. Latvia 20.0% 200668. Dominican Republic 19.7% 200669. United Kingdom 19.5% 2005

APPENDIX 3

Countries using quota systems often use more than one at the same time; the table below shows whichare in use where.

The information is taken from the Quota Project website run by the International IDEA and theUniversity of Stockholm at www.quotaproject.org



Country Constitutional Electoral Law Party

Afghanistan y yAlbania yAlgeria yArgentina y y yArmenia y yAustralia yAustria yBangladesh yBelgium y yBolivia yBosnia Herzegovina y yBotswana yBrazil y yBurkina Faso yBurundi y yCameroon yCanada yChile yChina yCosta Rica y yCote d’Ivoire yCroatia yCyprus yCzech Republic yDjibouti yDominican Republic yDominican Republic yEcuador y yEl Salvador yEquatorial Guinea yEritrea yEthiopia yFrance y y yGermany yGreece yGuyana yHonduras yHungary yIceland yIndia yIndonesia yIraq y yIreland yIsrael yItaly yJordan yKenya y yKorea (DPR) yKorea (Republic) y yKyrgyzstan yLiberia yLithuania yLuxembourg yMacedonia y yMalawi yMali yMalta yMauritania yMexico y yMoldova yMorocco yMozambique yNamibia yNepal y yNetherlands y



Country Constitutional Electoral Law Party

Nicaragua yNiger y yNorway yPakistan yPalestinian Territories yPanama yParaguay y yPeru yPhilippines y yPortugal y yRomania yRwanda y ySenegal ySerbia y y ySlovakia ySlovenia y ySomalia ySouth Africa ySpain y ySudan ySweden ySwitzerland yTaiwan y yTanzania y yThailand yTunisia yUganda y yUnited Kingdom yUruguay yUzbekistan yZimbabwe y

Submission from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (SC–45)

Introduction

The Equality and Human Rights Commission welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Speaker’sConference on under-represented groups in the House of Commons. Our legacy Commissions (theCommission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability RightsCommission) have a long history of contributions to this debate and we hope we can build on their eVortsin a constructive way.

The Commission starts from the position that a Parliament which reflects the demography of the nationit represents will result in better legislation and a higher degree of public confidence in the democraticprocess. We do not think this is achieved by swapping statistics and arguing that each House or politicalparty needs to represent a microcosm of society. This approach misunderstands the nature of representativedemocracy. However we would like to see, across the whole Parliament, a reflection of the diversity that isevident across Britain.

We recognise that there is a strong case for direct interventions and measures to strengthen the democraticprocess immediately, but what will drive change in the long-term is a recognition by all political parties thatdiversity and fair representation are necessary in order to thrive in a new electoral environment reflective ofmore plural and complex identities in modern Britain.

An Ipsos/MORI survey for the Commission published last week (20 January 2009) shows British peopleare increasingly comfortable with racial diversity but lack faith in our institutions to represent all groups ortreat them fairly. This may pave the way for a political system that has to be more respectful of the need fordiversity and diVerent forms of political representation, far more open to people from a much wider rangeof backgrounds.

This document does not intend to oVer a commentary on the current under-representation of women,ethnic minorities, disabled people and people from a wider spread of socio-economic groups or the lack ofdiversity in sexual orientation and identity, age, and people with diVerent religions and beliefs in Parliament.The committee is well versed on the problem it has been set up to consider.



We are disappointed that the under-representation of out gay men and lesbians, those who are transgenderand people from a wider range of socio-economic backgrounds are not specifically included in the remit ofthe committee. We hope that the inability or unwillingness of these groups to break into the House ofCommons will be addressed under “associated matters”.

We resist the temptation to make specific recommendations about how political parties select and promotecandidates from under-represented groups. There is a deeply held resistance to state intervention in politicalparties’ internal processes and how parties operate is outside the remit of the Conference, though we hopethey will seriously consider any recommendations the Conference makes.

This initial report details:

1. Ongoing research being undertaken by the commission which may be of interest to the Conference.

2. Catalytic measures which could have a dramatic impact on the composition of the House ofCommons

3. Good practice, suggesting research projects including into the paths members follow to the Houseof Commons, lessons from other professions and some thoughts on how Parliament itself has tochange.

We share the hopes of members that this Speaker’s Conference will act as a trigger for reform and wouldlike to oVer our support to the Conference over the coming months. The Commission would welcome theopportunity to give oral evidence to the Conference to expand on these points.

1. Ongoing Research

The issues likely to be considered by this Speaker’s Conference dovetail with a number of pieces ofresearch currently being undertaken by the Commission:

1.1 Sex and Power

Our annual update on the position of women in positions of power and influence was published inSeptember 2008 is now in its fifth year. The report looks at women’s progress in 25 areas including:Westminster MPs, Cabinet members, Members of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, editors ofnational newspapers, those in public appointments, senior police oYcers and judges, health service chiefexecutives, local authority chief executives, trade union general secretaries and heads of professional bodies.

The latest report suggests a worrying trend of reversal or stalled progress—with only a few significantincreases. The number of women Members of Parliament and Cabinet members went down in2008 compared to the previous two years. Evidence from selections suggests a further drop in women MPsis expected after the next General Election. The Commission will continue to use this annual measure as away of reminding Britain how far we have to travel to improve women’s representation.

1.2 Working better

Our research into how Britain works aims to identify and promote innovative new ways of working whichhelp meet the challenges of the 21st century, whether this is someone with caring responsibilities, a motheror a father who wants to be a more active parent, a disabled person who wants a fulfilling career, a youngerworker who wants phased entry into work, or an older worker who wants to stay in the labour marketlonger.

We will publish our initial report in March and we will share relevant findings with the Conferencefollowing publication. Our research on international comparators may be of interest to the Conference; inparticular the example of Norway, where an increase in representation of women in Parliament preceded themove by the Norwegian government to require at least 40 per cent of board directors to be women.

2. Catalytic Measures

We would like to use this opportunity to consider proposals which may fall outside the remit of thisConference but could have a dramatic impact on the composition of the House of Commons. Theseproposals are set out briefly below and would require further research but we hope they will oVer someradical thinking and propositions that are worth testing.



2.1 Term limits

The rate of change in the House of Commons is incredibly slow as MPs in “safe” seats tend to serve fora number of years and it is estimated four out of five MPs seek re-election at any given election.

Recent research by the Fabian Society into candidates selected to contest seats where an MP from theirparty is retiring (ie “winnable” seats) show that the numbers of women and ethnic minority candidatessecuring selection is higher than the current composition of the Commons. This is an encouraging trend butthe pace of change in “safe seats” is too slow.

One way of speeding up the turnover of MPs would be to impose a term limit. A limit of four Parliamentsfor example would mean members serve for a maximum of 20 years.

An increased turnover of members, particularly in “safe seats”, would mean increased opportunities fornew candidates and opportunities for candidates from under-represented groups to enter the House.

Term limits could also be considered for the House of Lords. Peers currently serve for life, but a 20 yearlimit would see a turnover which could be beneficial in bringing new voices into Parliament.

Clearly this is a controversial proposal, not least because it would have resulted in most of our recentPrime Ministers being forced to stand down as an MP before they reached the top of their parties. It wouldalso mean parties may struggle to recruit new MPs if potential candidates felt an approaching period inopposition would “eat into” their allocated 20 years. Some may ask if the proposal is ageist, valuing as itdoes new recruits over experience.

We recognise the drawbacks in this proposal but as the Conference is seeking all views we wonder if it isworth considering term limits with perhaps a mechanism built in to allow MPs to appeal to their electoratefor an exemption (perhaps a petition or nominations from a percentage of the local electorate) or for a sunsetclause to be built into this proposal to encourage a wave of new MPs before returning to the status quo.

Research shows it will take another 200 years (or 40 elections) to achieve 50/50 representation in the Houseof Commons and until 2080 for the number of ethnic minority MPs to reflect Britain’s current population.We feel this snail’s pace will test the patience of the British public. If term limits oVer an opportunity to fasttrack reform then we hope the Conference will give the proposal fair consideration.

Recommendation

The Conference should consider a feasibility study into the impact of term limits on the composition ofboth Houses of Parliament. Research could include projections on how term limits would accelerate changeand in the case of the Commons options for building in a mechanism to ensure the democratic will of localelectorates are taken into consideration. The study should include public views and the opinion of politicalparties on this proposal as well as the views of current members.

2.2 House of Lords reform

Achieving a more representative House of Commons needs to be considered in the context of Parliamentas a whole. Members will be aware that the House of Lords has a higher proportion of ethnic minoritymembers than the Commons. Indeed, this unfavourable comparison may have been an impetus for manyMembers to push for accelerated change in the Commons.

The current appointments process for the House of Lords oVers an opportunity to achieve a morerepresentative and diverse second chamber. This has been partially evidenced through the work of the Houseof Lords Appointments Commission, which since its establishment in 2000 has achieved more rapid progressin increasing the number of under-represented groups than is likely to be seen in the Commons for manydecades.

While this progress is to be welcomed an increased rate of change could be achieved if political partynominations in addition to independent nominations to the Second Chamber were considered by the Houseof Lords Appointments Commission so they could take an overall view and refer nominations back topolitical parties if they reduce diversity. This way the background of new appointees are considered as awhole and finding a diverse spread of candidates would not fall to each party individually, but would betaken as a whole and in conjunction with independent nominations.

Recommendation

Future legislation on Lords reform should consider enhancing the role of the House of LordsAppointments Commission to ensure they have responsibility for considering all annual appointments(including those by political parties) with the option of referring back annual nominations which reducediversity in the second chamber.



However we realise there are many opponents of an appointed second chamber and this approach maychange in the long term as calls for more fundamental reforms to the House of Lords remain strong. Wehope any future debates around Lords reform will consider the need to increase representation from morediverse groups.

In considering a move to an elected system for the second chamber it should be noted that majoritariansystems such as “first past the post” are likely to result in the Second Chamber mirroring the slow progresson diversity that has characterised the Commons. The system most likely to achieve a more representativemakeup is a PR closed list system, which has the following advantages:

— International evidence demonstrates that of the 10 highest-ranking countries in terms of women’srepresentation, all use proportional representation electoral systems;

— When parties have to present a whole slate to voters there are strong incentives for them toachieve balance.

— Party lists can support true equality by oVering more opportunities for underrepresented groupsto be included without simultaneously excluding others.

However—in common with most other electoral systems—a Closed List system will only increase thenumbers of underrepresented groups to the extent that parties place such candidates on their lists, andencourage and support a wider range of candidates to come forward.

Some additional mechanisms, as used in many countries to increase the number of femaleparliamentarians, include:

AYrmative action—programmes are aimed at encouraging under-represented groups to stand forelection with special seminars, training, financial assistance and so on.

Positive discrimination—can include four main types of mechanisms:

— legal quotas—laws passed by national legislatures to regulate the selection of candidates;

— party quotas—policies adopted by individual parties to put forward a certain percentage ofdiVerent types of candidates;

— soft quotas—measures that seek to increase representation indirectly through informal targets andrecommendations; and, finally,

— reserved seats for certain groups in parliament.

While quotas have been shown to have significant impact on elections, there may be resistance in the UK,as was seen with “all-women shortlists”.

Recommendation

Any future proposals around an elected second chamber to consider quotas in conjunction with a PRclosed list system of election.

2.3 Public Sector Duty on Political Parties

The public sector equality duties which currently apply to all public authorities in Great Britain (andwhich exist in a diVerent form in Northern Ireland) require those authorities to “pay due regard” to theelimination of discrimination and harassment, and the promotion of equality in all of their functions. Thecurrent duties cover race, disability and gender equality. Proposals in the forthcoming Equality Bill proposeextension to cover age, gender identity, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

Political parties are not currently covered by this legislation, although the recent Councillors Commissionsuggested that they should be. The advantage of the duty is that, unlike previous equality legislation whichdepended on individuals challenging discrimination through the tribunal system or the courts, the dutiesshifts the onus onto organisations themselves to take action to identify inequalities and take action toaddress them.

If political parties were included in the coverage of the duty there would be a clear legal imperative forparties to take action. The duty is legally enforceable by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Ifthe parties were listed as covered by the secondary regulations also (“the specific duties”), they would berequired to collect data on equality gaps and issues, consult stakeholders and set objectives to close the gaps,reporting on progress annually.

Should state funding for political parties become a serious consideration the case for political parties tocomply with public sector duties would be markedly stronger.



Recommendation

Consideration should be given to including political parties in the coverage of the Public Sector Duty.

The Electoral Commission is also covered by the duties and is required to monitor the use of Short fundingfor parties. By attaching equality conditions to the funding it provides to parties the Electoral Commissionwould be ensuring public money was being used to promote equality through the work of political parties.

Recommendation

The Electoral Commission should be asked to attach equality conditions to the funding it provides, inkeeping with the requirement on the Commission to promote equality in all of its functions.

2.4 Ethnic Minority shortlists

The case for ethnic minority shortlists was set out by Operation Black Vote in their oral evidence to theConference on 20 January. As with all-women shortlists the decision to use ethnic minority shortlists wouldfall to political parties and reports suggest the case for this measure has yet to be won internally in the mainpolitical parties. However lack of internal support at this stage should not rule out permissive legislation inorder to allow positive action to be available to political parties should they decide to go down this route.

The case against ethnic minority shortlists centres on the danger of “ghettoising” ethnic minoritycandidates in seats which have significant ethnic minority populations. We accept that this would be a pooroutcome of any positive action measures. The aim is to create steady pressure towards greater diversity incandidate selection.

We consider that one approach would be to give political parties freedom to vary selection environmentsand qualifications during the selection process. How would this work? One way could be for parties tomonitor the diversity of candidates on a regional level, this would allow them as the selection process wentforward, if necessary, to introduce progressively stronger measures to encourage the selection of an ethnicminority candidate.

For example political parties could start with a target for the number of seats across London which shouldbe contested by a BME candidate. This would not focus on particular seats but the region as a whole. Atstages (25% of candidates selected, 50% of candidates selected, etc) the parties could assess progress andconsider measures to increase the number of ethnic minority candidates going forward for selection, makingit onto short-listing panels etc. For example if not enough ethnic minority candidates were selected in theearly stages a party might introduce a requirement to include at least one ethnic minority candidate in eachshortlist during later stages.

Political parties could learn from their sister parties around the world on selections. How to ensureincreased representation from underrepresented groups is an issue UK political parties are not alone inconsidering.

Recommendation

Consideration should be given to legislation to allow political parties to make use of ethnic minorityshortlists should they choose to.

3. Good Practice

Set out below are some good practice proposals for the Conference to consider. Responsibility for takingforward many of these ideas would fall to other organisations. We would welcome the opportunity to workin partnership or oVer advice to any organisation which shares our ambition to see a more diverse andrepresentative Parliament.

3.1 Understanding pathways into politics

Many professions, when starting to consider the lack of diversity in their workforces, start by taking astep back and asking what recruitment path their current workforce followed. A snapshot of the currentHouse would suggest that there are common routes into Parliament from what we will call the “politicalclasses”, with many MPs previously working as:

— Lawyers.

— Journalists.

— Trade unionists.

— OYcials of Political Parties.

— Researchers in Think tanks.

— Researchers to Members of Parliament.



— Special Advisers to Ministers.

— Or serving as councillors.

It is clear that this background gives people a behind the scenes look at how Parliament operates and whatbeing an MP actually entails. This access breaks down any false perceptions that the wider public may haveinto the role of an MP. In addition these roles allow individuals to build up a network of contacts andunderstand the internal machinations of political parties, which make taking the first steps towards standingfor selection less daunting.

Serving as a councillor provides many members with an introduction to elected oYce and leads to manystanding for election to Parliament (or the Scottish Parliament or Welsh Assembly). So the fact that the samegroups are under-represented in our council chambers is therefore not surprising.

The Conference may want to consider the work of the Councillors Commission which reported inDecember 2007 and looked at the role of local councillors and the incentives and barriers to serving oncouncils, there may be some overlap between the findings of the report and the work of the Conference. TheCouncillors Commission recognised the importance of gaining experience through serving on companyboards, as trustees or on Health Boards. If under-represented groups face barriers at this level they will missout on crucial experience which could be the first step on a path leading to Parliament.

In considering our submission to this Conference we revisited research by the Fawcett Society from May2008. Routes to Power is Fawcett’s research on ethnic minority women and decision making. The researchtracked the trajectories of ethnic minority women who are currently active in decision-making positions tolearn how they navigated into their roles. A similar piece of research widened out to include all MPs wouldoVer a clear picture of established routes to Parliament.

While the idea of a political outsider parachuting into the political arena makes for diverting drama—“Mr Smith goes to Washington” and “The Amazing Mrs Pritchard” spring to mind, in fact many MPs haveserved some sort of apprenticeship before entering Parliament. We could bemoan this fact and claim it’s alla stitch up. Or we could accept it is inevitable that people who have had a taste of Parliament may want tocontribute in a more direct way. Accepting this starting point the Conference may want to consider:

— Are groups which are under-represented in Parliament also under-represented in these traditionalroutes? If so how can people from under-represented groups break into these routes to power?

— Can more pathways be opened up to encourage those outside of the “political classes” to getinvolved and gain a better understanding of the political process?

Recommendation

Detailed research into the trajectories of all sitting MPs and historically (perhaps going back 50 years) tobuild a clear understanding of the established routes to Parliament and how these have changed over theyears. Building on this research qualitative research with sitting MPs who don’t fit the mould would oVeran insight into how they established their own path.

Members will be aware of the metropolitan bias in staV employed as researchers. Working for free as anintern for an MP oVers a brilliant opportunity for young people looking for work experience in politics andoften leads to employment in the wider political field. In theory this opportunity is open to everyone willingto oVer their services, but in fact the route is only a realistic option to those who can live with family orfriends for free in London.

In considering the first question the Conference may also want to consider the study into access toprofessions being considered by Alan Milburn MP for the Prime Minister and also barriers to social mobilitybeing considered in the New Opportunities White Paper.

Recommendation

A scholarship fund for MPs to promote to sixth form pupils or recent graduates from their constituencies.Internships, for example gained through winning an essay writing competition, would open up opportunitiesto work in Parliament to a wider audience.

3.2 Progression

Breaking into the political class and being elected to Parliament is just the first hurdle for some members.Their progression, or lack of, once elected is also worth consideration.

The relatively high number of women who were elected in 1997 and stood down in 2001 is presented asanecdotal evidence of how unwelcoming the Commons is for women. Studying the experience of past andcurrent members could oVer a fuller picture of what barriers, if any, members face.



Recommendation

Consider a study into the progression of those from under-represented groups over the past 50 years,including qualitative research with sitting and past members from these groups.

3.3 Learning from other professions

Clearly standing for election isn’t like any other job interview and being a Member of Parliament is aunique role. However it is useful to forget these diVerences and consider the eVorts of other professionswhere they have recognised there is a problem with under-representation from certain groups. For example:

— Police and Armed Forces—both recognise they have a severe lack of women and ethnic minoritiesin their ranks. What steps are they taking to recruit more women and ethnic minorities to theirranks? And what measures are being taken to identify and break down the barriers to progressionfor these groups within their organisations?

— Legal profession—Can we learn from any actions being taken in the legal profession to encouragemore women and ethnic minorities into senior positions including the judiciary?

— Teaching—the absence of male primary school teachers is widely recognised as having an adverseimpact on the educational outcomes of young boys. What is the teaching profession doing tochange the image of primary teaching as a “women’s work” and can political parties learn anylessons in trying to encourage more women to stand for election?

— Science and Engineering—despite doing well in these subjects at school evidence suggests younggirls are put oV studying these subjects at university and progressing into a career in these fieldsbecause they are viewed as male professions. This type of occupational segregation is a major causeof the pay gap. What steps are the science and engineering industries taking to reach out to younggirls at an early stage in their education? Should the curriculum also be proactively promotingelected oYce (to local councils as well as Parliament) as a valid option for women and not merelysomething men do?

Studying the measures these professions are employing to reach out to new groups may spark some ideasfor the Conference to consider. Two common examples are mentoring and understanding the importanceof role models.

Mentoring

This is a well established practice across many professions and a useful tool in career development.Political parties already oVer mentoring to those hoping to stand for election, though this is on an ad hocbasis. It is important that people in senior leadership positions in political parties get involved in mentoringas their increased clout can help to open opportunities for candidates and improve the confidence ofcandidates.

Some parties use mentoring in conjunction with “talent-spotting” potential candidates from non-traditional backgrounds. By matching these new recruits with sitting Members of Parliament this form ofmentoring helps to break down the perceived barriers people from professions outside of politics perceiveas insurmountable.

Recommendation

The Conference could consider oVering guidance to political parties on how to encourage mentoring andpoint to best practice in the private and public sectors.

Role Models

A huge barrier to entering any profession can be the perception that it is “not for the likes of me”.Highlighting existing employees who challenge this perception is a simple way of taking this head on andaddressing the “you can’t be what you can’t see” challenge. So women firearms oYcers and male primaryschool teachers are held up as shining examples of what is possible. Essex Police encourage oYcers who don’tfit the mould to produce pen portraits for use during recruitment so applicants can see a real example ofpeople “like them” who are already in place.

Role models can be a useful way of answering the questions some people may be afraid to ask:

— Is it possible to be an MP and the mother of small children? How do you balance family life andwork? And do you qualify for maternity leave?

— Is Parliament accessible for disabled people? Would I qualify for extra support to help with access?

— Are there areas for non-Christians to pray?



These are fairly standard questions people are permitted to ask in an interview without fear of reprisals.For those considering standing to be a Member of Parliament there is no forum to ask. Pen portraits androle models are a useful way to take these issues head on.

Recommendation

Members of Parliament who challenge the usual stereotype should be approached to act as role models.This could include producing a pen portrait explaining their background and what their role as an MPentails.

3.4 Demystifying Parliament

If the Commons is generally seen as distant and inaccessible then this will have a direct impact on theappeal of standing for election. Similarly the image Parliament as a whole projects to the country isimportant and improving this image will have an impact on the number of people interested in puttingthemselves forward for election.

It is easy for members to forget how far removed people can feel from decision making. Responsibilityfor communicating the work of Parliament and the role of MPs, especially their constituency activity can’tjust fall to members themselves, the House authorities should also build on existing work to promoteParliament.

Visits to Parliament: the Parliamentary Education Service is an excellent resource for schools which couldbe extended to other community groups. Grants could be available for groups to bid for as this wouldovercome the financial barrier travelling to London can present.

Explaining the role: websites such as publicwhip.org.uk and theyworkforyou.com provide an invaluableservice in making the voting records and parliamentary activity of MPs freely available. But this is just asmall part of the job of an MP and overlooks the constituency commitments which make up the vast bulkof many MPs workload.

If the understanding of a MPs role does not extend beyond having to stand up from the green benches todeliver a speech and be shouted at by the opposing parties then it is understandable that a sizeableproportion of the population will be put oV. It’s diYcult to think of another profession beyond stand upcomedy (also not known for its diversity) where being heckled while doing your job is expected.

A fuller understanding of the hugely rewarding constituency side of the role and the detailed campaigningwork MPs undertake in conjunctions with charities and other groups would undoubtedly explain the appealof the job to a wider audience.

Recommendations

Parliament education programme to be open to all community groups with grants available to help withtravelling to London. More thought to be given to promoting the constituency and campaigning role ofMPs.

3.5 Changing Parliament

The Conference may also want to consider the aspects of standing for election which present real andimagined barriers to participation to all potential candidates but to under-represented groups in particular.

Culture

There is a macho and traditional image around Parliament which could be oV putting to a lot of people,not just women. The assumption that you can’t show anything that could be perceived as weakness in aleadership position leads to uncompromising attitudes towards people who can’t or don’t want to matchthese standards. With Party leaders unprepared to be photographed wearing an overcoat even in freezingtemperatures, is it any wonder people have unrealistic views of what it takes to be a politician.

Consider the case of former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. In 1998 Mr Bondeviktook two weeks sick leave due to depression (thought to be brought on by overwork). The Norwegian mediareported that his candour in declaring his depression was met with great sympathy throughout the countryand contributed to his recovery. This supportive attitude to mental ill health is unlikely in British politics.

MPs with young families face a challenge in trying to manage the workload and long hours expected ofpoliticians. Travelling long distances and spending periods in London away from their families can beisolating. And when members live in London with their families they face criticism over their commitmentto their constituencies. While other workplaces are driving towards increased flexibility and improved worklife balance Parliament seems to be completely inflexible.



Polling shows attitudes to sexual orientation across the country are shifting, with overt discrimination nolonger acceptable to most people. However the lack of out gay men and lesbians in both Houses suggests ataboo remains. Do MPs feel the need to keep their sexuality secret for fear of reprisals from oppositionparties or a hostile media? Are MPs unwilling to “out” themselves for fear of having to be the poster boyor girl for gay rights when they want to make their name for other reasons?

The danger of being identified purely by one characteristic is a pressure that a lot of members from under-represented groups face. As constituency MPs and individuals with their own interest and passions it is clearmany members are unhappy to be labelled; the gay MP, the MP who is a young mum, the MP who uses awheel chair or the black woman MP. The solution to this is clearly to reach critical mass across Parliamentso these characteristic aren’t unique.

Accessibility

Westminster could learn from other Parliaments and Assemblies around the UK and internationally onhow the physical environment can send a welcoming message to under-represented groups. Starting with aclean slate the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies have considered all groups inplanning the physical environment, accessibility and working hours. Clear signals around the accessibilityof Parliament could be achieved through:

— Ensuring the Parliamentary estate is fully accessible

— Having a dedicated creche

— Changing working hours to reflect family commitments

— Ensuring prayer facilities consider the needs of all faiths

— Providing facilities and a supportive environment for nursing mothers.

The challenge of overcoming barriers to access is also a consideration for disabled candidates whenputting themselves forward for selection. Travelling great distances and going house to house to canvasssupport at the selection and election stages may seem physically impossible for some. Political parties alsoneed to factor accessibility into their internal party meetings.

Recommendation

Consideration should be given to how the Parliamentary estate can be altered and working hours re-evaluated to improve accessibility. Political parties should be encouraged to consider accessibility for allinternal and local meetings.

4. Summary of Recommendations

— The Conference should consider a feasibility study into the impact of term limits on thecomposition of both Houses of Parliament. Research could include projections on how term limitswould accelerate change and in the case of the Commons options for building in a mechanism toensure the democratic will of local electorates are taken into consideration. The study shouldinclude public views and the opinion of political parties on this proposal as well as the views ofcurrent members.

— Future legislation on Lords reform should consider enhancing the role of the House of LordsAppointments Commission to ensure they have responsibility for considering all annualappointments (including those by political parties) with the option of referring back annualnominations which reduce diversity in the second chamber. Any future proposals around an electedsecond chamber to consider quotas in conjunction with a PR closed list system of election.

— Consideration should be given to including political parties in the coverage of the Public SectorDuty.

— The Electoral Commission should be asked to attach equality conditions to the funding it provides,in keeping with the requirement on the Commission to promote equality in all of its functions.

— Consideration should be given to legislation to allow political parties to make use of BMEshortlists should they choose to.

— Detailed research into the trajectories of all sitting MPs and historically (perhaps going back50 years) to build a clear understanding of the established routes to Parliament and how these havechanged over the years. Building on this research qualitative research with sitting MPs who don’tfit the mould would oVer an insight into how they established their own path.

— A scholarship fund for MPs to promote to sixth form pupils or recent graduates from theirconstituencies. Internships, for example gained through winning an essay writing competition,would open up opportunities to work in Parliament to a wider audience.

— Consider a study into the progression of those from underrepresented groups over the past50 years, including qualitative research with sitting and past members from these groups.



— The Conference could consider oVering guidance to political parties on how to encouragementoring and point to best practice in the private and public sectors.

— Members of Parliament who challenge the usual stereotype should be approached to act as rolemodels. This could include producing a pen portrait explaining their background and what theirrole as an MP entails.

— Parliament education programme to be open to all community groups with grants available to helpwith travelling to London. More thought to be given to promoting the constituency andcampaigning role of MPs.

— Consideration should be given to how the Parliamentary estate can be altered and working hoursre-evaluated to improve accessibility. Political parties should be encouraged to consideraccessibility for all internal and local meetings.

Submission by the British Youth Council (SC–46)

Summary

— The British Youth Council (BYC) welcomes the work of the Speaker’s Conference 2009 to addressthe disparity in representation of certain groups within British society in the House of Commons.Young people from BYC would also be keen to submit oral evidence to the Conference.

— BYC highlights the lack of Members of Parliament aged under 26 and the need for betterrepresentation of young people within the Commons; including young women, young people fromBlack and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups and young people who are disabled.

— BYC outlines how disparity of representation firstly aVects the ability of the House of Commons torepresent the views and concerns of the people of Britain and secondly negatively aVects the Britishpublics’ perceptions of the House of Commons.

— BYC calls on the Speaker’s Conference to consider how a lowering of the voting age, in parallelwith reforms in two key areas—youth engagement and political education—would support andstimulate the representation of young people in the House of Commons.

— BYC calls for a reduction of the age of candidacy from 18 years to 16 years old.

— BYC calls on the Speaker’s Conference to also focus on the representation of young women, youngpeople from BME groups and young people with a disability within the House of Commons.

— BYC recommends that the report of the Speaker’s Conference is relayed to the Youth CitizenshipCommission.

1. Missing: Young Voices in the House of Commons

1.1. The British Youth Council (BYC) welcomes this Speaker’s Conference and the opportunity tosubmit evidence. BYC wishes to demonstrate through this statement how young people see balancedrepresentation in the House of Commons as fundamental to its ability to fulfill its role as the voice of theBritish people. Young people from BYC would also be keen to submit oral evidence to the Conference.

1.2. BYC is a youth-led organisation for young people across the UK. BYC’s Board of Trustees, consistsof 13 elected young people, who are all aged 26 and under. Our vision is that all young people should berespected and able to influence and inform decisions which aVect their lives or upon which they have strongopinions.



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and training activities have faced barriers to volunteering

BYC links up with our community of member organisations and network of local Youth Councils toempower young people to play a role in decision-making at a local, national and global level. BYC enablesyoung people to boost their skills through participating in our training workshops and programmes,volunteering opportunities and campaigns. We work with a diverse range of young people across the UK.One in four young people who have taken part in BYC programme and training activities faced potentialbarriers to getting involved, for example being not in education or employment, a young carer, homeless,or on a low income. BYC also has experience of working to engage young women in decision-making.

Gender of Young People Attending P&T activities during over the last two years

0 100 200 300 400 500

06-07

07-08

Female

Male

1.3. BYC wishes to highlight in this written response the disparity between the representation of youngpeople in the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large. It is vital that allage groups are represented in Parliament including younger people. Young people need to be betterrepresented within the current political systems, as do their views. BYC believes that this is achieved byhaving a proportion of young representatives. As Members will be aware, there are currently no MPs agedunder 26 in the House of Commons. After the last General Election the average age of MPs rose, from49 years in 1997 to 51 years in 2005. After 2005 there were only two MPs under age of 30 (House of CommonsLibrary, 2005 “Social Background of MPs”: 2). The youngest MP now being Jo Swinson MP, aged 28, whois a Member of this Conference and BYC Honorary President. Estimates have found that 18 to 25 year oldsconstitute 10.9% of our population (OYce of National Statistics Population Statistics, 2007). This meansthe faces of a tenth of our population are missing from the Commons’ benches.

1.4. In the announcement on 3 September 2007 to notify the invitation of a a Speaker’s Conference, thePrime Minister told the House that the Speaker should call a conference to: “consider against the backdropof a decline in turnout, a number of other important issues such as registration, weekend voting, therepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in the House of Commons, and that he should also examinein parallel with the Youth Citizenship Commission whether we should lower the voting age to 16”. Within



the Speaker’s Conference BYC would like to see the consideration of representation of young people withinthe Commons; including young women, young people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups andyoung people who are disabled. BYC also recommends that the report of the Speaker’s Conference is relayedto the Youth Citizenship Commission.

2. Wanted: fresh views and public confidence in British politics

2.1. Disparity of representation in the House of Commons impacts on British politics in two deep-seatedways. Firstly, it aVects the ability of the House of Commons to represent the views and concerns of the peopleof Britain. Secondly, it aVects how the British public perceives how the House of Commons represents them.

2.2. Disproportionate representation of certain groups in society means the House of Commons missesout. It misses out on the benefits of diVerent voices and life experiences in its chamber. It is too simplistic tosay that a lack of young MPs means that elected representatives have an “age gap” when discussing certainissues that particularly aVect younger constituents. MPs who thoroughly consult their younger constituents(and there are arguments for an electorate that includes 16 and 17 year olds detailed in this response) canarticulate their opinions. However, it can be strongly argued that more young MPs would bring a greatervariety of life experiences to the Commons, new perspectives, new energy. The consequential benefits ofyounger MPs to the ability of the House of Commons to represent its people and add momentum to its workcannot be taken too lightly.

2.3. We believe that younger representatives would also bring fresh energy to the representation of youngwomen, young BME groups and young people with disabilities in the House of Commons.

2.4. The House of Commons would also have greater public confidence if it was more representative ofBritain. The reassurance of having politicians who can restore confidence to a group that their voices arebeing heard is invaluable. BYC believes that crucial measures need to be implemented to restore youngpeople’s confidence in politicians and the British political system. Research by BYC and YouthNet hasfound that nine in ten young people feel that politicians do not treat young people as equals. Three-quartersof young people also said they lost respect for politicians when they said negative things about young people(2006, “The Voice behind the Hood”).

2.5. At BYC we believe it is too simplistic to label all young people as apathetic. Young people are justas passionate about the world they live in as the rest of society—they care about decisions made on highereducation funding, on deals made to combat climate change, about eVorts to tackle the current financialclimate and to change the society they live in for the better. However, we are calling for steps to counteractthe pervasive disillusionment felt by young people, and the rest of British society, about getting involved inpolitics to make a diVerence.

2.6. A snapshot of these feelings about politics was recently demonstrated by the “Political outsiders: wecare, but will we vote?” report produced by a member of BYC—Girlguiding UK, in partnership with BYCand the Fawcett Society. This research surveyed approximately 1,000 girls who are members ofGirlguidingUK aged between 14 and 25. The report found that although these young women are among themost active citizens in their age groups they felt a real disengagement from both local and national politics.Many were sceptical about politics’ ability to bring about change. A fifth were deterred from getting involvedby feeling politics is not worth the eVort and 17% felt they cannot make a diVerence. Over a quarter of girlsalso ascribed their lack of political engagement to insuYcient information about how and why they shouldtake part (Girlguiding UK, 2008, Girls Shout Out).

2.7. BYC hopes that the Speaker’s Conference considers these problems proliferating from a disparity inthe representation of young people in the House of Commons. The lack of young MPs in the Commons isboth a symptom and stimulus of disatisfaction with the House.

3. Needed: votes at 16, greater youth engagement and inspiring political education

3.1. At BYC, we have been working for over 60 years to support the development of young people’s skillsso that they can confidently participate in politics. In our experience the key way to encourage people tobecome active is through increasing their awareness that taking such action is relevant to their lives,providing targeted activities and developing their confidence that they can take part. We often use themetaphor that this is like us building a young person a platform—we give them a stage through BYC, handthem a microphone through awareness-raising of young people’s views so that they can sing their own song.

3.2. As BYC recently outlined in our response to the Youth Citizenship Commission’s consultation “OldEnough to Make a Mark? Should the voting age be lowered to 16?”, we believe that a vital breath of air needsto be injected into British democracy (Available from www.byc.org.uk). This must occur through a loweringof the voting age to 16 in parallel with reforms in two key areas—youth engagement and political education.BYC would welcome the Speaker’s Conference consideration of how these measures would support andstimulate the election of young MPs.

3.3. BYC has been campaigning for the voting age to be lowered for over a decade and is a key memberof the Votes at 16 Coalition. Votes at 16 is a priority campaign for BYC in 2009. As we detail in our responseto the Youth Citizenship Commission this is due to three key reasons. Firstly, 16 and 17 year olds should



have the right to representation due to the responsibilities they upheld and the contributions they make tosociety. Secondly, this generation are able to make a free and informed choice at the ballot box at the age of16 and 17. Finally, votes at 16 would only encourage younger citizens who are already learning about thevote and British political process, and having opportunities to cast their vote in elections they care aboutsuch as school councils or Local Youth Councils, to get involved in formal politics. Young people withinBYC also support the right of their colleagues from the age of 16 to stand as candidates for local, nationaland European elections. Within our Youth Manifesto 2008–09 BYC details how 16 and 17 year olds havelots to oVer and the decision of their appointment to positions of political authority should be in the handsof the electorate. During the early 2000s, the British Youth Council and other groups successfullycampaigned to lower age of candidacy requirements in the United Kingdom from 21 to 18 in England, Walesand Scotland. On 1 January 2007, section 17 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 permitted candidacyat 18.

3.4. When considering disparity of other groups in the House of Commons such as Black and MinorityEthnic (BME) groups it is also important to consider how reducing the voting age could have a positiveimpact on increasing BME participation in elections. In the 2005 General Election turnout levels amongBME groups were significantly lower than that of the white population (47% to 62%). As among the Britishpopulation as a whole, abstention was highest among younger BME people but it appears that this “young”group includes not only 18–24 year olds but 25–34 year-olds whose turnout was just as low. (ElectoralCommission, 2005, “Election 2005: Turnout”: 25). However, demographically the younger population isincreasingly more ethnically diverse. Research released by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on21 January 2009 detailed how almost 20 per cent of children under the age of 16 are from an ethnic minorityand nearly ten per cent of children live in a family with a multiple white, black or Asian heritage (Availablefrom www.equalityhumanrights.com). It must be considered how engaging young people in formal politicscould be important in also redressing the under representation of BME MPs in the House of Commons.

3.5. BYC does not propose votes at 16 and candidacy at 16 in isolation to encourage youth involvementin politics. Votes at 16 and candidacy at 16 have the potential to act as a central force in challenging, andconsequently changing, young people’s engagement with voting and the British public’s perception of votingas a whole. However, they will need to be supported by a strong commitment to the engagement of youngpeople in civic society and education about British policial process. Specific measures are needed to improve,and embed, young people’s experiences of participating in civic society.

3.6. There needs to be an expansion of opportunities for young people to be active in decision making inBritain—whether this be through supporting youth organisations, Local Youth Councils, school councils,or young people’s involvement in the governance of organisations. In addition to measures to tackle barriersto participation in politics for young people, there needs to be a promotion of “doing” politics in Britain.This would enable a connection between young people’s interest in issues that are political, such as climatechange, the Minimum Wage or higher education funding, and formal democratic activities such as votingor being selected as a Party candidate. As the national Youth Council of the UK, BYC particularlyemphasises the role that Local Youth Councils can play in enabling young people to develop the skills tohave their say. Youth councils are a great forum for appreciate inquiry in decision-making.

3.7. Education is also key to the engagement of young people in formal politics. A core BYC objectiveis to support the development of young people’s skills so that they can confidently participate in decisionmaking and politics. One example is BYC’s “Inform and Influence”, a two year programme funded by theElectoral Commission partnership grant scheme. “Inform and Influence” targeted young people outside ofeducation, training and employment aged 16 to 25, across the UK. The programme worked to increaseyoung people’s understanding of the UK and European democratic institutions and activities—how theywork and how to influence them. Training worked to build young people’s confidence in their ability toexpress their views and participate in discussions with decision makers about what is important to them, inaddition to increasing their knowledge and understanding of the political systems. Over 1000 young peoplewere beneficiaries of “Inform and Influence” training over this two year period. Over 80% of those whoattended training stated that their involvement had made them “more likely to vote.” A key part of “Informand Influence” was “Young People and Your Democracy” events which brought together young people attheir national democratic institution, whether this be the Houses of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament,Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Assembly, to learn about how it works and meet with their electedrepresentatives. Such events work to challenge the image of politics for young people. Moreover, theychallenged the preconceptions young people might hold that politics is nothing to do them. Simply talkingwith their elected representatives allowed young people to speak their minds on issues that they came torealise were political, and which they cared about very much.

3.8. In addition to education to inspire young people to inform and influence politics, there is also a needfor advice and guidance about how to get involved in politics. Lack of information about opportunities isan important barrier to participation. The Speaker’s Conference should consider the role of educationprogrammes in raising awareness amongst the British public about how they can get involved in partypolitics and secure nomination as a candidate. The Conference may also wish to discuss the role of politicalparties for citizens in the 21st century as party membership declines. Only 1% of 18 to 24 year olds gave



money or paid a membership fee to a political party in the last two or three years, whereas 30% paidmembership or donated to charities or campaigning organisations (Hansard Society, 2008, Audit of PoliticalEngagement 5: 18).

3.9. Through votes and 16, greater youth engagement in civic society and an inspiring political education,young people would be more likely to build up the skills, experience, confidence and know-how to putthemselves up for election and demonstrate to the electorate that they have the necessary abilities andinterests for a full time political career. Giving young people a platform is vital to increasing theirrepresentation in the House of Commons.

4. Recommendations

4.1. BYC would like the Speaker’s Conference 2009 to consider:

— The disparity between the representation of people aged under 26 in the House of Commons;

— How votes at 16, greater engagement of young people in civic society and inspiring politicaleducation could both enable more young people to become Members of Parliament and encouragepolitical participation across British society.

4.2. BYC would like the Speaker’s Conference to agree that:

— Increasing the representation of any unrepresented group in the House of Commons should beparticularly targeted at the young who will and can influence the future of the House throughvoting and candidacy.

Submission from John Breach (SC–47)

Whilst still maintaining the “first past the post” system for electing 546 MPs, the proposed system wouldalso mean that every vote cast for a political party would count towards determining the final make up ofthe House of Commons.

The proposal could be modified to help:

“rectify the disparity between the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled peoplein the House of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large “,

by appointing some of the 100 “Select” MPs, referred to in the documents, from “Party Lists” comprisingthe minority groups referred to above.

Suggested Parliamentary Electoral Reform tor the United Kingdom

Background

Recent General Elections have shown a steady decline in the percentage of the electorate voting. Theremay be many reasons for this, including: dissatisfaction with the major parties, and with some of thecandidates; a general feeling amongst many voters that their vote (eVectively) will not count; also, a feelingthat, given a large majority, the Government of the day will do much as it pleases, often ignoring the wishesof Parliament. Clearly some electoral reform is desirable.

It will be diYcult to keep to the present “Party” and “first past the post” system, whilst at the same timereflecting more closely the wishes of the voting population, and achieving more control over the executive.

Perhaps what is needed is an electoral system for General Elections which will:

— Enable voters to vote for the party of their choice.

— Enable voters to vote for the best candidate in their constituency.

— Give voters who feel that their own MP does not reflect their views, the possibility of having a more“in tune” MP who they could contact with their problems.

— Produce a block of MP’s whose main duty would be to scrutinise the work of the Government.

— Give smaller parties, and independents, a voice in Parliament.

Proposals

1. Make boundary changes to reduce the number of “geographically elected” Constituency MPs, by 100.The 100 seats “saved” would then be available to allocate to a new group of MPs (perhaps to be known as“Select” MPs) to be elected as shown below.

2. Use ballot forms which enable the voter to vote (in section 1) for the party of his/her choice, and (insection 2) for the candidate of his/her choice, eg a voter could vote “nationally” for one of the major parties,whilst “locally” supporting a candidate representing one of the smaller parties, or an independent candidate.



3. The candidate gaining most votes in each constituency would, as now, become the MP for thatconstituency—546 MPs would be elected this way.

4. The other candidates in each constituency would have the number of votes which they received at theelection expressed as a percentage of the total electorate in that constituency as shown on the electoral roll.

5. When all votes cast at a General Election had been counted, and results returned to a centraladministration point, one hundred additional “runners-up”, “Select” MPs would be elected by thefollowing system:

(a) The total number of “national” votes for each party (cast in section 1 of the ballot paper) wouldbe expressed as a percentage (rounded up or down to the nearest whole number) of the total votescast. Each party would then be entitled to that number of seats from the 100 seats available. A partycould only be listed in section 1 of the ballot paper if it fielded a candidate in a minimum of (say)10 constituencies.

(b) “Select” MPs would be appointed for each party, to fill the number of seats allocated to that party,starting (for each party) with the candidate who had the highest percentage of the votes of theelectoral roll, and descending in numerical order to the last person to fill the last seat allocated tothat party. The only exception might be in the case where a party leader fails to be elected in his orher own constituency, when (in order to ensure continuity) that party leader (if they failed to beelected as a “Select” MP in their own right) would take the last seat available to their party fromthe “Select” allocation.

(c) In the case of “Others” (assuming that the vote for “Others” was more than 1% of the nationalvote) the seat, or seats, would be allocated in the same way, but to the candidate, or candidates,whose party was not listed in part I of the ballot paper.

6. ”Select” MPs would have no constituency of their own, and would therefore be available to spend moretime on Select Committees, and with taking up the cases of those members of the public who felt that theirown constituency MP was unable to help with their particular case.

Advantages

1. Electors, who felt that, under the present system, their votes did not count, would know that, even iftheir party’s candidate was not elected in that constituency, their vote would nevertheless count towards thenational total (and so help increase the number of “Select” MPs for that party); also, that there could be achance that their local candidate (if they received a high enough vote expressed as a percentage of theelectoral register) could be one of the “Select” MPs elected.

2. The “new style” House of Commons would be more likely to reflect the general voting wishes of theelectorate, eg minor parties (gaining more than 1% of the vote nationally) would be guaranteed at least oneseat in Parliament.

3. Electors could continue to support the party of their choice, without necessarily supporting thatParty’s candidate in their constituency eg they might vote for their chosen party in the top section of theballot paper (see example) but either abstain from voting for the party’s candidate, or vote for anothercandidate perhaps a candidate standing on a particular issue.

4. ”Select” MPs (having failed to gain a parliamentary seat with the “first past the post” system) would(instead of continuing with their normal “day job” employment) be elected to Parliament knowing that theyhad maybe four years to “work their socks off” in order either to impress the electors in the constituencywhere they had previously stood; or, perhaps to attract the attention of selection committees in other areasthat might be looking for a new candidate. The experience that they would gain as a “Select” MP would beinvaluable for their future Parliamentary career. In eVect, all “Select” MPs would need to work extra hardto try to ensure that, at the next general election, they came first in their constituency, ie they would not havethe “luxury” of a “safe seat”, where (as can happen under the present system) they might be tempted to “reston their laurels”.

5. Existing MPs (and all candidates) mindful of the fact that the electorate could still vote for the partyof their choice but not necessarily for them (the candidate) would be more likely to take into considerationthe views and needs of their constituents.

FICTITIOUS EXAMPLE OF BALLOT PAPER

GENERAL ELECTION MARHURST CONSTITUENCY—THURSDAY, JULY X, 2009

SECTION 1—PARTY (YOU MAY CAST 1 VOTE IN THIS SECTION, OR ABSTAIN)

. CONSERVATIVE

. LABOUR

. LIBERAL DEMOCRAT

. PEOPLE’S JUSTICE



. RAVING LOONY

. RESPECT

. UNITED KINGDOM INDEPENDENCE LI VERITAS

. GREEN

. SOCIALIST ALLIANCE

. SOCIALIST LABOUR

. BNP

. LIBERAL

. PRO LIFE

. LEGALISE CANNABIS

. DUP

. UUP

. SCOTTISH SOCIALIST

. SNP

. PLAID CYMRU

. OTHER

SECTION 2—CANDIDATE (YOU MAY CAST 1 VOTE IN THIS SECTION, OR ABSTAIN)

. Arnold, John Peter (CONSERVATIVE)

. Brown, Mary Jane (LABOUR)

. Cross, Ian John (LIBERAL DEMOCRATS)

. Davis, Susan Jean (UNITED KINGDOM INDEPENDENCE)

. Evans, Stewart Richard (GREEN)

Submission from the National Assembly for Wales (SC–48)

1. Executive Summary

This memorandum provides a response to the above inquiry from Claire Clancy, Chief Executive andClerk to the National Assembly for Wales and includes information on the following;

— data explaining the representation of women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled peopleamongst the Assembly Members for each election (section two);

— comparative data on the representation of women by political party at each election and data onthe number of women candidates put forward for election (where available). Candidates includeconstituency and regional Members. Figures on candidates are available in the ElectoralCommission’s 2003 Election Report, but not the 1999 and 2007 Election Reports (section three);

— information regarding ethnic minority representation in the Assembly (section four);

— information relating to disabled people’s representation in the Assembly (section five);

— information regarding initiatives undertaken by the Assembly Commission to increase democraticparticipation (with a by-product of potentially increasing representation) (section six); and

— political parties within the Assembly have supplied information for the purpose of thismemorandum as to what actions they have taken, or not as the case may be, to address thedisparities in representation (annexes 1–5).

2. Summary of Information

2.1 There have been three elections for the National Assembly for Wales: 1999, 2003 and 2007. Table1 below provides comparative data on the representation of women, ethnic minority and disabled AssemblyMembers following each Assembly election.



Table 1

COMPARATIVE DATA FOR THE THREE ASSEMBLY SESSIONS

Assembly Election % Women Assembly % Ethnic Minority % Disabled AssemblyResults Members Assembly Members Members

1999–2003 40.0 0 ***2003–2007 50.0* 0 ***2007 to present 46.7 1.7** ***

Note:* Rose to 51.6 % with the by-election victory of Trish Law AM (Independent)** The election of Mohammad Asghar, a Plaid Cymru regional AM for South Wales East, provided the

National Assembly for Wales with its first ethnic minority Assembly Member.*** We have anecdotal evidence that some Assembly Members may consider themselves disabled or to have

a disability.

3. Assembly Election Results—Representation of Women111

There have been three elections: 1999, 2003 and 2007. The data for women’s representation in theAssembly following each of the elections are provided below.

3.1 1999 Election results

3.1.1. In 1999, elections were held for the first sitting of the National Assembly for Wales. Both WelshLabour and Plaid Cymru operated measures to try to achieve a gender balance.

3.1.2 To produce more equal representation, a method which “twinned”, or paired, constituencies toproduce equal numbers of men and women Labour candidates was used. In Wales, the 40 ConstituencyLabour Parties (CLPs) were sorted into 20 pairs matched for population size, geographical proximity andwinnability. Four constituencies resisted, but the Wales Labour Party imposed pairing upon them and theoutcome was an equal number of men and women candidates for the constituency seats. In the election,Labour won 28 seats, 15 of which were won by women (53 %).

3.1.3 At that election, another nine seats were won by women—three (50 % of the total) LiberalDemocrats without recourse to positive action and six (35 % of the total) Plaid Cymru who took the stepof ensuring that women topped each list for the 20 regional seats. The outcome was that the percentage ofwomen (40 %) in the National Assembly was one of the highest in any legislature, bringing Wales close tothe top of the international league tables of women’s representation.

3.1.4 However, twinning proved bitterly divisive, particularly among the grassroots supporters in theLabour heartlands of South Wales Valleys and Swansea area where support for the newly-formed campaigngroup Members Against Twinning (MAT) was strongest.

Table 2

WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN THE 1999 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES ELECTION

No Women AMs Total No AMs % Women

Labour * 15 28 53.6Plaid Cymru 6 17 35.2Conservatives 0 9 0.0Liberal Democrats 3 6 50.0Total 24 60 40.0

Note:* When First Secretary Alun Michael resigned in February 2000, he was replaced by the next Labour

candidate on the regional list, Delyth Evans, raising the number of women AMs to 25 (41.7 %), andincreasing Labour’s number of women AMs to 16 (57.1 %).

111 Information provided by the Members’ Research Service, Assembly Commission.



3.2 2003 Election

Table 3

WOMEN CANDIDATES FOR THE MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES, WHO STOOD AT THE2003 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES ELECTION112

No Women candidates Total No candidates % Women

Plaid Cymru 26 70 37.1Conservatives 16 81 19.8Labour 47 84 56.0Liberal Democrats 24 70 34.3Total 113 305 37.0

Table 4



Labour 19 30 63.3Plaid Cymru 6 12 50.0Liberal Democrats 3 6 50.0Conservatives 2 11 18.2Independent* 0 1 0.0Total 30 60 50.0

Note:* Labour AM Peter Law resigned from the Labour party in 2005 becoming an Independent AM. Following

his death, Trish Law was elected as in Independent AM in a 2006 by-election, raising the number ofwomen Independents to 1 in 2 (50 %) and the increasing the number of women within the Assembly to31 out of 60 (51.6 %).

3.3 2007 Election

Gender of candidates at the 2007 election113

3.3.1 Of the total 197 constituency candidates, 141 (72 %) were men and 56 (28 %) women. The LabourParty fielded more women than men candidates. Women make up a majority of constituency representativesin the National Assembly for Wales (21 out of 40). In the regional lists, just seven out of 20 were women.The National Assembly elected in 2003 had 50 % women Members; in 2007 the figure was 46.7 %.

2007 Election results

3.3.2 At the 2007 election, 28 women AMs were returned, two down on the 2003 result and three downsince Trish Law’s by-election victory in June 2006. In 2007, the percentage of women AMs fell to 47 %. WhileLabour and Plaid Cymru have decreased their representation of women, Labour to 61.5 % and Plaid to46.7 %, the Liberal Democrats have remained at 50 % while the Conservative party has one woman out ofa total of 12 AMs (8.3 %).

Table 5



Labour 16 26 61.5Plaid Cymru 7 15 46.7Liberal Democrats 3 6 50.0Conservatives 1 12 8.3Independent 1 1 100Total 28 60 46.7

112 The Electoral Commission, The National Assembly for Wales elections 2003: The oYcial report and results, November 2003http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/ data/assets/electoral commission pdf file/0011/13160/WalesElectionReportEnglish-newmap 14696-8855 E N S W .pdf (accessed 8 January 2009).

113 The Electoral Commission, The National Assembly for Wales elections 2007: facts and figures http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/ data/assets/electoral commission pdf file/0010/13204/NAW-Booklet-Eng-Final 26957-19970 E N S W .pdf (accessed 8 January 2009).



3.3.3 Russell et al (2002) have suggested that there were two key factors contributing to the achievementof more equal representation in the National Assembly for Wales:

— Constitutional change provided the opportunity to design new political institutions that were moreinclusive of women, eg the inclusion of equal opportunities and “family-friendly” workingpractices;

— The system of positive action measures which the Labour Party has applied.114

3.3.4 Other factors they suggest are the promotion of women into positions of power. It is also notablethat the National Assembly for Wales has appointed two women as Deputy Presiding OYcer: Jane DavidsonAM 1999–2000 and Rosemary Butler AM 2007-present.

3.3.5 The Welsh Assembly Government Cabinet, which comprises 10 Ministers, has four womenMinisters. Of the four deputy Ministers, two are women.

3.3.6 Each of the contenders in the contest for a new leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Wales werewomen, meaning that the eventual winner, Kirsty Williams, AM became the first female leader of a politicalparty in Wales in December 2008. Another opportunity for women to attain a leadership role and positionof power will present itself when the First Minister and Labour Leader, Rhodri Morgan, retires in 2009.

4. Ethnic Minority Representation

4.1 According to the 2001 census, ethnic minority people make up over 2 % (2.14 %) of the populationof Wales.

4.2 As of the 2007 Assembly elections, the National Assembly has one ethnic minority AssemblyMember, Mohammad Asghar, a Plaid Cymru regional Assembly Member for South Wales East. Prior tohis election, there were no ethnic minority Assembly Members. Mr Asghar’s election means that theAssembly has 1.7 % ethnic minority representation. See Table 1.

5. Disabled People’s Representation

5.1 We do not hold or collect data on whether Assembly Members are disabled or consider themselvesto be disabled. If Members however, have any access requirements or require any reasonable adjustments,the Health and Safety Team and Equality and Access Team are able to respond to Members’ requirements.

6. Assembly Commission’s Initiatives

6.1 Operation Black Vote 2007–08

6.1.1 In October 2007, the National Assembly for Wales and Operation Black Vote launched an AssemblyMember Shadowing Scheme, enabling nine people from BME communities to follow the work of mentorAssembly Members. The Shadows undertook a minimum of eight observational sessions with their assignedmentor Assembly Member, involving both Assembly and constituency work, over a six month period.

6.1.2 The Shadows also undertook three training days, which included the following topics:

— The functions and key roles of the Assembly

— Understanding the legislative mechanisms of the Assembly

— Exploring local, regional and national governance

— The party selection process

— Dealing with the media, presentation skills and public speaking.

6.1.3 The Scheme was a great success and was awarded the Channel 4—Hansard Society “DemocracyAward” which recognised innovative ways to encourage greater public involvement in the democraticprocess.

6.1.4 As part of the Scheme, shadowing participants acted as conduits between the National Assemblyand their local communities, becoming Community Ambassadors. All of the shadowing participants whocompleted the scheme have stated that they are more politically active, and have been informing andinspiring others about democratic engagement, helping party machinery to have a dialogue with BMEcommunities and raising the profile of BME interests and concerns.

6.1.5 Eight individuals completed the cross-party initiative. By the end of the scheme, three hadsuccessfully passed their party’s selection process and made it onto the list of approved candidates.

114 Russell, M., MacKay, F, and McAllister, L. Women’s representation in the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly forWales: Party Dynamics for Achieving Critical Mass, Journal of Legislative Studies, Vol. 8:2, Summer 2002, pp 49–76.



6.2 All-Wales Assembly and Local Government Mentoring Scheme

6.2.1 Following the successes of the Operation Black Vote (OBV) AM Shadowing Scheme (2007–08),staV at the National Assembly for Wales have been working with partners to develop an extended mentoringscheme, based on the OBV model, which is open to under-represented groups across the equality strands,namely Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual people; Disabled people; youngpeople; Transgender people and women.

6.2.2 The pilot Scheme will have two elements: an Assembly Member mentoring scheme and a localcouncillor mentoring scheme.

6.2.3 Politicians will mentor participants for a minimum of 10 days over the course of six months. Thenumber of mentoring participants will ultimately depend on the number of politicians who participate.

6.2.4 The aims, objectives and desired outcomes of the proposed Scheme would be:

— To advance the civic, community and political representation and diminish the deficit in democraticparticipation of under-represented groups.

— To enhance the understanding of and to instil greater confidence in the Assembly and LocalGovernment amongst the public, particularly under-represented groups.

— To give individual politicians, political parties, the National Assembly for Wales and LocalGovernment in Wales, the opportunity to work with and gain greater insight into the experiencesof under-represented communities.

— To give a positive message that under-represented communities in Wales can bring about positivechange by engaging with politicians and the democratic process.

— To improve the political knowledge of mentoring participants to enable them to obtain a varietyof skills so that they can consider further involvement in the civic and political sphere.

— To provide mentoring participants the opportunity to acquire the skills and knowledge to act ascommunity ambassadors, advising and empowering others to become more actively engaged incivic society.

6.2.5 The Scheme will involve selected participants mentored by politicians for a minimum of 10 daysover the course of six months, starting in September 2009. For participants involved in the AssemblyMember mentoring component of the Scheme, this would involve time in both the National Assembly inCardiV Bay and in constituency oYces to enable participants to experience the full breadth of workundertaken by Mentors. Likewise, participants in the local government element of the Scheme shouldexperience the whole range of a councillor’s duties.

Submission from BAME Labour (SC–49)

About Bame Labour

The aims of BAME Labour relevant to the Speaker’s Conference are:

— To increase the number of elected representatives in Parliament and elsewhere

— To make Parliament and other elected bodies more representative of the UK.

— The information that we submit relates specifically to the representation of ethnic minorities inParliament and other elected bodies.

The information we submit is:

1. Following on from 1987 when four minority MPs (Bernie Grant, Diane Abbott, Paul Boateng andKeith Vaz) were elected at the same general election since then 21 years later there has never been a greaternumber of ethnic minority MP’s elected at any one election. To date we have just 15 minority MPs in thewhole House.

2. That it is important that Parliament and other elected bodies reflect the population of the UK becauseit is fair, just and equitable. If we are to reflect the ethnic minority percentage in the country as a whole wewould have 54 ethnic minority MPs.

The main reason the number of women MPs has increased to the numbers it has today is because of theintroduction of all women shortlists with the breakthrough coming in 1997. The introduction of AWS hasnot made the House any less of a place, quite the opposite, we believe it has enhanced the quality of thedebate; it is now arguably more informed and knowledgeable.

3. That we believe Parliament needs to challenge the stereotype that all MPs are white and male. For thisto be done there needs to be a culture shift and a cultural change otherwise we will be no nearer finding orproducing a British “Barack Obama”



4. That we believe it is important for young black or Asian children to be encouraged to take an interestin Parliament, for example through doing work experience and other appropriate Parliamentary work. Thiswill help motivate them to continue their interest in politics at a later life and may encourage them to wantto become MP’s themselves.

5. The political parties need to address the stereotyping in their selection procedures. As an MP is a jobthey should tackle this by first doing an audit of its membership, its elected representatives and makingpublic its findings. It should then consider how to tackle the deficit by taking appropriate advice. Partiesshould address the cost of standing for Parliament and perhaps seek to put a limit. Parties should set strongtargets of the numbers of BAME candidates and use outside agencies to help them meet these targets.

Stereotype in the selection procedure can manifest itself by locals branches not readily accepting a BAMEcandidature—for example losing application forms, holding meetings in culturally insensitive orinappropriate buildings, advertising the meeting at a particular time and then shifting the time sometimeseven the venue!

National parties have got to intervene and perhaps take over the selection process in order to see thatethnic candidates are given an equal and fair chance.

6. That British Parliamentarians look to the American system and learn the examples of the work donethere, particularly on positive action.

7. Parliament will command greater public legitimacy and confidence if it truly reflects the people it seeksto serve.

8. All political parties devise schemes to “talent spot” new members and help, encourage and motivatethem with a view to fast-tracking then through the system

9. All political parties should find ways of breaking down the barriers that sees new black and Asianmembers attend one meeting and not attend again. Parties should be more welcoming. Parties should ensurethe grass-roots structure encourages members to feel safe and able to contribute their talents.

10. Political parties should be encouraged to develop mentoring and shadowing schemes

Final Recommendation:

Whilst we recognise there is no one magic formula that will at a stroke change the make-up of parliamentwe believe our deliberation with various candidates and activists from all over the country leads us to believethat Parliament should legislate to allow for all black shortlists.

This single measure will be the only way to seek equality and fairness for ethnic minority candidates andlegitimise the UK parliament in what is a multi cultural multi religious and highly diverse country in theworld. This will ensure that we get a critical mass and therefore change attitudes forthwith in order to addressan imbalance that persists. We have a serious problem here, not just in Parliament but in regional assembliesand local councils. Everyone will benefit and the symbolism of Barack Obama can be replicated here inthe UK.

Submission from YWCA (SC–50)

Summary

— Unbalanced representation in the House of Commons negatively aVects political participation andvoter attitudes.

— Disadvantaged young women are unlikely to become engaged with the political process if they donot believe their views or experiences are being represented.

— Disadvantaged young women still experience gender stereotyping and are not encouraged to lookat political careers.

— Participation programmes need to reach the most socially excluded young women to help themlearn about engaging with and influencing political processes.

— Lack of confidence, time, money and support are all important reasons why women do not activelyengage in political processes or become MPs.

About YWCA

1. YWCA is the leading charity working with the most disadvantaged young women in England andWales. We run services to support them and campaign with them to combat the discrimination they face.We want a future where disadvantaged young women can overcome prejudice against them and take chargeof their own lives. Our work focuses on the hardest to reach and the hardest to hear. YWCA is committedto young women’s participation being at the heart of all that we do




2. The House of Commons is currently extremely unbalanced with not enough women MPs and very fewblack or minority ethnic MPs. The young women we work with cannot see representatives that reflect theirown lives and experiences. Firstly, this reduces their faith in the House of Commons to be able to representtheir views. Secondly, it reduces their ambition to be involved in political processes as they have not seenanyone go before them and feel it cannot be “for people like us”. This in turn reduces their interest andparticipation in politics and democratic processes because they feel they are unrepresentative and thereforeineVective.


3. As outlined above, if young women cannot see political representatives who reflect their own lives andexperiences, they are far less likely to think that representatives are acting for them and therefore far lesslikely to participate. This creates a distance between the electorate and representatives.


4. The issues outlined above again play a big part. Furthermore, the young women we work with are notencouraged to get involved in political issues. Many young people’s participation projects are gearedtowards academically achieving young people instead of engaging all young people. Disadvantaged youngwomen are still receiving gender stereotypical steers into the lowest paid jobs like cashiering, cleaning, caringetc. They are rarely ever encouraged to look into political careers.

5. Many young women feel it is pointless getting involved in political processes because they feelpowerless. The more socially excluded a woman is the more powerless and disconnected from politicalprocesses she is likely to feel. Many women feel they cannot influence change and so do not want to getinvolved. Young women also often tell us that they cannot get involved because they don’t understandpolitical processes. In a 2003 survey of young people, only one out of 614 mentioned voting as a means toachieve change. This makes it clear that education about political processes and involvement in influencingand campaigning are essential. (See Annexes 1 and 2)

6. There is also a very practical matter of lack of time. Many more young women than young men haveadditional responsibilities in the home for caring and housekeeping. Such roles increase as women get older.These responsibilities reduce women’s free time available to get involved in politics.

Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election? Or, if they do, why aren’t more of themselected? Or, if they are, why aren’t more of them elected?

7. Again, the points outlined above are key to answering this question. Also, standing for electionrequires money. The young women we work with often live in poverty. It also requires confidence, high selfesteem and a high level of resilience. The young women we work with often have very low self esteem andconfidence due to the problems they face in their lives, for example violence and abuse, mental healthproblems, drugs and alcohol abuse or teenage pregnancy. Many of the things that discriminate againstwomen, for example violence against women, also remove their ability to participate as active citizens yetthey are rarely tackled as part of a drive to encourage women into politics.

8. On a practical note, many political processes, from local party meetings to hustings, election eventsand then parliamentary work take part during family unfriendly hours. Many women MPs still speak aboutthe sacrifices they have to make with their families to be MPs. This is not an acceptable situation and is veryoV-putting for many women. In addition, it is a well known fact that the culture of the House of Commonsis still very male dominated and does not necessarily support women in their work. Much change has beencalled for but little has been aVected. This again is very oV-putting for young women.


9. Gender and racial discrimination are still very much live problems faced by the women we work with.Such discrimination first blocks their access to the skills, opportunities and social capital they need to dothese things and secondly such discrimination damages their opportunity to be elected.




10. Women only training and networking events; targeted taster sessions and visits to the House ofCommons for disadvantaged young women; mentors for young women; promotion of work with youngwomen to build their skills and confidence from an early age; further funding for participation work for themost socially-excluded young women


11. All the major political parties have taken steps to address disparities in representation of women andpeople from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. We support schemes that seek to rebalance thenumbers in decision-making institutions, for example all-women shortlists, but we also encourage furtherwork to engage people at a much earlier stage. On top of our existing participation programme (see Annex1), YWCA is currently looking at developing ways to expand this model to support young women to becomecommunity representatives, for example local councillors. We would welcome the opportunity to work withall political parties to develop this


12. YWCA is committed to young women’s participation being at the heart of all that we do. YWCAhas created a participation programme called Wise Up.115 This programme is designed to engage youngwomen in democratic processes both within YWCA and in their communities. As they develop theirconfidence and skills, young women learn about campaigning locally and nationally. They learn tounderstand and use the media and lobbying and influencing tools and practice skills like public speakingand presenting ideas. The young women we engage come to us with complicated multiple problems, manyare NEET (not in education, employment or training) and many are very socially excluded, struggling toaccess support services, let alone their policy makers and MPs. The unique opportunity of Wise Up is thatit allows young women to join it at the entry level that is right for them and to build their skills from whateverstarting point they are at.

13. YWCA has also organised events that promote young women’s political participation116 Again oursuccess lay in making participation available to everyone and oVering a wide range of entry andengagement levels.

14. YWCA deliverers support work in women-only safe spaces. Women-only spaces help young womenbuild confidence and self esteem.117

15. YWCA promotes positive role models for young women. These help raise their aspirations and showthem what is possible. We do this through our own youth workers and through working with local businessesand policy makers to make sure young women see a wide variety of inspirational people.

And how can the success of such actions be measured?

16. Young women’s participation should be measured at a much earlier stage, for example through localauthorities and school participation as this is the point at which confidence and skills need to be established.

17. Participation should then continue to be monitored by government and political parties.

Submission from Equality2025 (SC–51)

1. Introduction

1.1 It is widely acknowledged, agreed and documented that disabled and non-disabled people are notequal. There is a vast amount of evidence that, due to societal barriers, disabled people are more likely tobe unemployed and lower qualified with poorer health and fewer life chances than our non-disabled peers.

2. Evidence

2.1 The disproportionately low number of openly acknowledged disabled people in Parliament bothreflects and perpetuates the inequality between disabled and non-disabled people. In addition, it:

— Perpetuates the myth that disabled people do not or cannot hold positions of power.

— Suggests that disabled people do not or cannot represent non-disabled people.

115 Information provided, not printed.116 Information provided, not printed.117 Information provided, not printed.



— Does not provide a representative range of role models or promote career progression for disabledpeople within politics.

— Does not enable Parliament to reflect the depth and breadth of the society that Members areserving, which cannot lead to rounded debates.

— Does not result in disabled people considering themselves to be adequately represented inParliament, potentially causing voter apathy and lack of engagement with the political systemamongst disabled people, which ultimately impacts on democracy.

— Raises public expectations in the Members who are disabled (or are assumed to be) that they willwork on all issues relating to disability and/or disabled people and that they are “experts” indisability issues.

2.2 There are many reasons why there is a disproportionately low number of disabled people becomingMembers of Parliament, including:

— A disparity between the educational and social opportunities experienced by disabled and non-disabled young people which impacts on political aspirations and skills.

— A widespread, societal assumption that disabled people are passive and without self-determiningpower, which can result in a lack of self-belief and empowerment.

— Negative attitudes towards disabled people lead to low expectations amongst political partyoYcers and staV that result in a lack of support for disabled people wanting to enter and take partin the political process.

— Physical barriers throughout the campaigning process, including political party meetings beingheld in inaccessible venues, a lack of BSL interpreters etc.

— An inflexible and/or inadequately funded support system for potential candidates who requirepersonal assistants, support workers or interpreters (eg the cost of a personal assistants, BSLinterpreters etc. necessary to attend late night debates or the election count may prohibit a disabledperson from attending).

— A lack of portability (being able to move social care funding packages between local authorities)results in many disabled people being unable to move around the country without risking losingtheir support package, therefore limiting their political future to one geographical area.

— The personal financial cost of the journey towards selection (eg training courses, deposits, etc.)

— Consultation fatigue. Many disabled people have considerable experience of being consultedwithout seeing any positive outcome, which does not encourage active engagement in anypolitical process.

— The visible working practices of Members of Parliament are not flexible enough to take accountof a wide variety of impairments, eg people with fluctuating energy levels, people who require asupport worker to assist in the understanding of complex language, people who require physicalassistance on a regular basis.

2.3 There are many actions that could be taken by the Government and/or political parties to address thecurrent disparities in representation, including

— Publish statistics relating to numbers of self-declared disabled people currently sitting as Membersof Parliament, as is current practice around gender and ethnicity.

— Set targets and goals to encourage political parties to challenge their current practices.

— Set up and/or fund training schemes to support and encourage individuals from under representedgroups to engage in the political process.

— Publicise and promote the role of Members of Parliament and other roles within Government andthe political process to de-myth the assumption that under represented groups “don’t belong”.

— Improve physical access to Parliament and particularly the House of Commons.

— Initiatives such as Better Governance for Britain should make explicit reference and have specificregard for disabled people.

— Ensure that the equality duties, both now and under the Single Equality Act once it becomes law,are enforced and used to encourage political parties to practice fair selection and the removal ofdisabling barriers.

— Work with organisations of disabled people to encourage and support disabled people to becomeleaders, increasing skills, confidence and aspirations for a career in politics.

— Employ more disabled people at all staV levels.

— Publish open statements of support for increased representation from leaders across Parliamentand at local and regional level.



Submission by the Labour Party (SC–52)

1. Introduction

The Labour Party welcomes moves to look at the under-representation of diverse groups in the House ofCommons. Labour works hard to reflect the communities we seek to represent and as such has the bestrecord of any UK political party in terms of women’s and ethnic minority representation.

This report looks at:

— Labour’s beliefs and background

— The current state of representation within the Labour Party

— Strategies Labour has adopted to increase the representation of minority groups

— Recommendations for the Speaker’s Conference to consider.

2. Beliefs and Background

Equality is a core value and belief of the Labour Party and we have a proud record of being an inclusive,open and accessible political party.

Labour believes in diversity of representation in all sectors of public life and we have taken measuresneeded to work towards equal representation of men and women in public oYce, as well as public bodiessuch as quangos. Whilst still needing to push further, Labour is the party of equality and diversityrepresenting and delivering for women and for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities atall levels of government and we will continue to work towards the promotion of this diversity. In Parliamentwe have three times as many ethnic minority MPs as the other parties put together; in local government wehave consistently had more ethnic minority councillors than the main opposition parties combined; and wehave the best record of any UK political party in terms of women’s representation.

However, Labour recognises more needs to be done to rectify ensure equal representation at all levels ofgovernment to represent our diverse communities as we believe there is a democratic imperative.

We will continue to tackle under-representation of women and Black, Asian and minority ethniccandidates, and to encourage diversity at all levels. The Labour government has stated its intention of usingthe new Equality Bill to introduce specific provisions to allow for positive action measures to redress underrepresentation and to seek to ensure increased BAME representation in all areas of politics and public life,and specifically in the Westminster and European Parliaments, other assemblies and public bodies.

It should be noted that Labour selects candidates for public oYce in an open and democratic manner,using procedures that are intrinsically fair and that allow for proper political judgement to be made aboutthe suitability of candidates to represent the party.

At the conclusion of any selection, we want to oVer the electorate candidates of suYcient quality andability to carry forward the Party’s agreed programme in that election. We are also committed to ensure thatour candidates are reflective of the communities we seek to represent.

To this end, the Labour Party has embarked on a programme of equality rhetoric, (a commitment to someform of change) equality promotion (measures to help selection) and equality guarantee (such as the use ofquotas, zipping and twinning) to enhance the diversity of our elected representatives. Indeed, Labour is theonly political party in the UK to adopt all three strategies to rectify the disparity of diverse people in theHouse of Commons and their representation in the UK population at large.

3. Current State of Play

Women

Women in the House of Commons

At the last General Election (May 2005), 128 women were elected as Members of Parliament, the highestnumber ever with one in every five MPs now a woman.118

Despite a net loss of seats for Labour, we increased the number of women in the Parliamentary LabourParty, and ensured that for the first time in history there were more women in the new intake than men. (65%of Labour’s 2005 intake were women).

118 Factsheet M4 “Women in the House of Commons” House of Commons Information OYce (October 2006) p2.



Figure 1

NUMBER OF WOMEN MPS BY PARTY (LABOUR IN RED; CONSERVATIVE IN BLUE;LIBERAL DEMOCRAT IN YELLOW

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Labour

Conservative

Liberal Democrat

Figure 2

PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN IN THE PARLIAMENTARY LABOUR PARTY 1979–2005

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

%

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005

Election

Election Number of Number of women Number of male % of women inLabour MPs Labour MPs Labour MPs PLP

1979 269 11 258 4.11983 209 10 199 4.71987 229 21 208 9.11992 271 37 234 13.71997 418 101 317 24.22001 412 95 317 23.12005 355 98 257 27.6



Figure 2 and the accompanying table show the number of women in the Parliamentary Labour Party(PLP) from the 1979 election to date.

It demonstrates how Labour’s policy of all-women shortlists was crucial to increasing the level of women’srepresentation.

At every level of public oYce, Labour has taken the measures needed to work towards equalrepresentation of men and women.

The advent of devolved government presented an ideal opportunity for political parties to start “from aclean slate” and ensure that high numbers of women were elected. Labour seized this opportunity, continuedwith our policy of positive action and a significant number of women were elected.

Women in the Scottish Parliament:

In the first elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, Labour used a policy of twinning to ensure50:50 representation in the first past the post seats and zipped the regional lists.

Figure 3

LABOUR WOMEN MSPs

Scotland

100 Year Women Men Total %age

women

90 1999 28 28 56 50.0%

80 2003 28 22 50 56.0%

70 2007 23 23 46 50.0%

60

50

40

30

20 men

10 women

%a

ge

1999 2003 2007

Year

Women in the Welsh Assembly:

As with the Scottish Parliament, Labour used twinning in the 1999 elections to the Welsh Assembly,resulting in over 50% women Labour Assembly Members.



Figure 4

LABOUR WOMEN ASSEMBLY MEMBERS (AMs)

Wales

100 Year Women Men Total

%age

women

90 1999 15 13 28 53.6%

80 2003 19 11 30 63.3%

70 2007 16 10 26 61.5%

60

50

40

30

20 men

10 women

%a

ge

1999 2003 2007

Year

Figure 5

LABOUR WOMEN GREATER LONDON ASSEMBLY MEMBERS (GLAs)

London 100

Year Women Men Total %age

women 90 2000 4. 3 7 57..1%

80 2004 4 5 9 44..1%

70 2008 4 4 8 50%

60

50 40 30 20 men

10 women

2000 2004 2008

Year

Women in the European Parliament:

In 1999, when a new electoral system for European elections was introduced, Labour adopted the zippingmethod of preference voting to increase representation of women.



Figure 6

LABOUR WOMEN MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (MEPs)

Europe

100 Year Women Men Total

%age

women

90 1999 10 19 29 35.0

80 2004 8 11 19 42.1

70

60

50

40

30

20 Men

10 Women

%age

1999 2004

Year

Women in the Labour Party

Research has shown that political parties act as influential gatekeepers to elected oYce.119 What’s more,the Inter-Parliamentary Union concluded bluntly “It is parties that hold the key to change.”120

In recognition of the link between internal party representation and elected representation, the LabourParty, during the 1990s, adopted internal quotas for party positions. This was carried out with a view itwould enhance the number of women coming forward for selection as parliamentary candidates byproviding greater political experience and better access to the machinery of the Labour party to a greaternumber of women.

National Executive Committee

The National Executive Committee works to a women’s quota of roughly 50%

(a) Division I—Trade Unions. Shall consist of 12 positions, at least six of whom shall be women

(b) Division II—Socialist Societies. Shall consist of one position

(c) Division III—Constituency Labour Parties. Shall consist of six positions, at least three of whomshall be women.

(d) Division IV—Local Government. Shall consist of 2 positions, at least one of whom should be awoman

(e) Division V—Parliamentary Labour Party. Shall consist of three positions, at least one of whomshould be a woman.

(f) Youth representative—a woman at least every other term

Internal Labour Party Gender Quotas

National Policy Forum

The National Policy Forum works to a women’s quota of roughly 40%.

(a) Division I shall consist of 55 members to be nominated and elected by CLPs. Five each shall beelected from Scotland, Wales and the English regions, of which one place shall be reserved for aYoung Labour representative and at least two of the four other places shall be reserved for women.The Young Labour representative must be a woman at least every other election.

119 Norris 1996, Caul 1997.120 IPU 1999, p31.



(b) Division II shall consist of 30 members, at least 15 of whom shall be women, to be nominated andelected by aYliated trade unions.

(c) Division III shall consist of 22 representatives from the Scottish, Welsh and English regionalconferences or regional policy forums. Two, at least one of whom shall be a woman, shall be electedfrom Scotland, Wales and each English region.

(d) Division IV shall consist of nine Labour local government representatives. Four each to be electedby the Local Government Association Labour group and the Association of Labour Councillors,at least two each of whom shall be women; and one representative of the Convention of ScottishLocal Authorities Labour group.

(e) Division V shall consist of three members, at least one of whom shall be a woman, to be nominatedand elected by aYliated socialist societies.

(f) Division VI shall consist of four representatives of the Labour Party Black Socialist Society, at leasttwo of whom shall be women.

(g) Division VII shall consist of nine representatives of Commons members of the PLP, at least fourof whom shall be women.

(h) Division VIII shall consist of six members of the EPLP, at least three of whom shall be women.(i) Division IX shall consist of one member to be nominated and elected by members of Labour

Students(j) Division X shall consist of two Labour members from the House of Lords to be nominated and

elected by Labour peers.(k) Additionally the four oYcers of the Welsh Policy Forum and the four oYcers of the Scottish Policy

Forum shall be members of the National Policy Forum.(l) Additionally the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet in opposition shall appoint eight frontbench

representatives, at least three of whom shall be women and the Co-operative Party shall be entitledto appoint two representatives, at least one of whom shall be a woman, as well as the GeneralSecretary of the Co-operative Party who shall be ex-oYcio.

Annual Conference

Local parties sending one delegate to Annual Conference are required to send a woman at least every otheryear, whilst those sending more than one to apply to 50% quotas.

Local Parties

50% quotas in local parties—at least two out of the four elected oYcers in each branch, at least three outof the seven constituency oYcers and 50% delegations to general committees.

Ethnic Minority Communities

Ethnic Minority Members of Parliament



Figure 7

NUMBER OF ETHNIC MINORITY MPs BY PARTY (LABOUR IN RED; CONSERVATIVE INBLUE; LIBERAL DEMOCRAT IN YELLOW)121

Lab

Con

Lib

15

13

11

9

7

5

3

1

-1

1978 1982 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005

Labour Tory Lib Dem

1997 8 (2%) 0 02001 11 (3%) 0 02005 13 (4%) 2 (1%) 0

Ethnic Minority Councillors

Figure 8

GRAPH DISPLAYS PERCENTAGE OF ETHNIC MINORITY COUNCILLORS BY PARTY(LABOUR IN RED; CONSERVATIVE IN BLUE; LIBERAL DEMOCRAT IN YELLOW)

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Perc

enta

ge

Labour Liberal-Democrat Copnservative

8.8

3.2

2.1

121 NB: In the 2004 Leicester South By Election, Parmjit Gill was elected to represent the Liberal Democrats. However Labourregained the seat at the 2005 General Election.



Labour

8.8%

Lib Dem

3.2%

Tory

2.1%

Local government aVects everyone’s lives and councillors are increasingly in the frontline as communityadvocates and leaders. Therefore, it is vitally important hat local communities are fairly represented onlocal councils.

Labour has an extremely good record in the number of councillors we have from ethnic minoritycommunities. Not only are we as representative as the community at large, we also have more ethnicminority councillors than the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

4. Strategies to Increase Participation

According to Lovenduski122 there are three available strategies open for political parties who wish toincrease the numbers of women representatives and indeed the diversity of their representatives moregenerally: equality rhetoric, equality promotion and equality guarantee.

Figure 9

TABLE DISPLAYS PERCENTAGE OF ETHNIC MINORITY COUNCILLORS BY POLITICALPARTY IN 2006, USING LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CENSUS OF

LOCAL AUTHORITY COUNCILLORS IN ENGLAND IN 2005

Type of strategy Definition Examples Impacts

EQUALITY Public acceptance of Found in party AVects aspirantRHETORIC claims for campaign platforms; candidates’ attitudes and

representation party political beliefsdiscourse; speeches andwritings of politicalleaders

EQUALITY Attempts to bring Special training; Enhances aspirantPROMOTION those who are currently financial assistance; the candidates’ resources

underrepresented into setting of targets and motivation;political completion enhances knowledge

EQUALITY Requires an increase in Party quotas; Creates an artificialGUARANTEES the number of legislative quotas; demand; may increase

proportion of reserved seats supplyparticular candidates;makes a particularsocial characteristic anecessary qualificationfor oYce

The Labour Party has adopted all three strands of the strategy in the following ways:

Training/Mentoring/Networks

The Labour Party nationally, and at a regional level where is suYcient interest, put on specific trainingevents to encourage members from underrepresented groups to come forward as parliamentary candidates.

The Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party has a mentoring scheme which oVers a comprehensivepackage of support to aspiring women candidates.

Building networks is crucial to the support and development of underrepresented groups. By developingour online technologies, party members are now interacting with each other more freely and more often. Itis hoped this technology will enhance aspirant candidates’ resources, information and motivation.

122 Lovenduski, Joni (1997) “Gender Politics” in Parliamentary AVairs, 50:4, 708–719.



Diversity groups and advisors

The Labour Party has many aYliated groups and organisations, which represent women, Black AsianMinority Ethnic (BAME), disabled, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) members andsupporters. We work closely with these organisations to support, encourage and facilitate the representationof their members.

Labour Women’s Network: Labour Women’s Network (LWN) encourages Labour women to comeforward as parliamentary candidates. By oVering knowledge, training and support, LWN has played aconsiderable part in getting more women into Westminster.

For more information, please go to: www.lwn.org.uk

BAME Labour: BAME Labour seeks to empower ethnic minority members within the Labour Party andcampaigns for greater representation of ethnic minority communities in public life. Through encouragingincreased participation in the political process BAME Labour empowers its members to campaign for afairer, more equal and democratic society.

For more information, please go to: www.bamelabour.org.uk

Labour Party Disabled Members Group: aims to co-ordinate the voice of all Disabled people withinLabour; build links between the Labour Party and the Disabled People’s movement; to lobby and adviseLabour to achieve full and comprehensive Civil Rights for Disabled People and to work with Labour toensure its services and meetings are fully accessible

LGBT Labour: The Labour Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Rights (LGBTLabour) is a socialist society aYliated to the Labour Party. LGBT Labour campaigns for full legal and socialequality for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgendered people. Also works to ensure LGBT membersare welcome and can progress within the Labour Party

For more information, please go to: www.lgbtlabour.org.uk

Financial support

Research has shown that support for financing of election campaigns can act as a barrier to standing foroYce. Within the Labour movement, there are many sources of funding available to supportunderrepresented groups stand for oYce.

EMILY’s LIST: EMILY’S LIST UK was launched on February 6th 1993, exactly 75 years after Britishwomen first gained the right to vote in Parliamentary elections—an appropriate date on which to found anorganisation whose purpose was to help Labour women meet the costs of getting selected as Parliamentarycandidates.

For details of grants awarded, please go to www.emilyslist.org.uk

DOROTHY’s LIST: Dorothy’s List is a Campaign Fund established by LGBT Labour to supportLesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans candidates standing to represent the Labour Party in Parliament. There arehuge barriers for LGBT candidates, particularly women, and it is hoped this will go some way to showingsolidarity and support.

BERNIE’s LIST: will help build a representative Britain by electing additional Black and Asianindividuals to oYce. Bernie’s List is committed to a three-pronged strategy to elect Black and Asianindividuals: recruiting and funding viable candidates, helping candidates build and run eVective campaigns,mobilizing Black and Asian voters to help elect progressive candidates across the nation.

54 Group: established by BAME Labour, the 54 Group will work to increase the number of ethnicminority MPs in Parliament.

Selection procedures

The promotion of women and BAME candidates occurs at various stages in Labour’s selectionprocedures—they are highlighted in the table below.

Stage Process Sector

Approval/Endorsement Acceptance on National Parliamentary Panel NECor post selection endorsement

Preparation — publication of timetable CLP under supervision— establishment of member voting eligibility of Regional OYce— invitation to applicants and advertisement

of vacancy— formation of shortlisting committee (SLC)— procedures briefing, including equality

policy of SLC members



Stage Process Sector

Application — application by standard CV to CLP who CLP proceduressupply list of party units and aYliates with secretarynomination rights

— also supply list of eligible members for afee, who can now be directly canvassed

Nomination branches have additional nominations, which CLP unitsthey are required to use, for women and self-identified BAME candidates, thereby providingup to three nominations per branch.

Shortlisting Constituency General Shortlisting Committee General Shorlistingmeets all nominated candidates and elects a Committeeshortlist. Varies by type of seat:

Open seat:Must be an equal number of men and womenon shortlistWhere one of more BAME aspirant applies atleast one must be shortlisted

All Women Shortlist:As above except only women may apply.BAME rule applies.

Selection One member one vote members ballot at Constituency membershustings meeting and by post.

Endorsement If not on the National Parliamentary Panel NEC

All Women Shortlists

It is clear from what Labour has achieved in terms of representation that positive action works. Labourhas the best record of any UK political party in terms of women’s representation. Labour’s success iscategorically due to our policy of All-Women Shortlists (AWS).

All Women Shortlists (AWS)

1993—Labour Party Conference decided to use all-women shortlists to right the inequality inrepresentation between men and women in parliament.

1997—The process of AWS was started in the selections for the General Election—and as a direct resultthe number of Labour women increased dramatically.

This mechanism was later declared illegal under employment law and was not used in the selections forthe 2001 election—where there was the first drop in 20 years in the number of women elected to Parliament.

2002—Labour government then passed the Sex Discrimination (Elections) Act enabling political partiesto legally use AWS.

2005—AWS used throughout the selections (as opposed to 1997 where it was stopped part way throughafter being declared illegal). Despite a net loss of seats, we increased the number of women in the PLP, andensured that for the first time in history there were more women in the new intake than men. (65% ofLabour’s 2005 intake were women).

5. Recommendations

(i) Political Parties to follow Labour’s successful strategies

All political parties have a role to play rectifying the disparity between the representation of women,ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and their representation in the UKpopulation at large. Labour has led in ensuring its representatives are from diverse backgrounds andcommunities and the Speaker’s Conference should recommend other political parties play their part indiversifying the House of Commons.



(ii) All-Women shortlist legislation

In the original piece of legislation in 2002 which allowed political parties to pursue all-women shortlists,a sunset clause of 2015 attached. Labour believes this should be extended and the Speaker’s Conferenceshould recommend other political parties to make use of this legislation.

(iii) Reviewing the law to allow for greater representation of ethnic minority communities

The Labour Party uses every mechanism possible to further the representation of ethnic minority peoplein the House of Commons. After taking legal guidance, we can and do ensure that our shortlists reflect themake up of a particular constituency. Labour would welcome the Speaker’s Conference to debate furthersteps to increase ethnic minority representation. The Speaker’s Conference should also investigate whethercurrent pieces of legislation act as barriers for greater participation.

(iv) Data collection

There is a lack of diversity data at national level—improved information would show where there is needfor greater representation. For example, there is currently no data collected on disabled MPs. There is alsoa lack of evidence on the barriers faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people on entering political life. Laboursuggests the Speaker’s Conference recommends a regular parliamentary survey to establish howrepresentative the House really is. This may consider the diversity of MPs in particular on disability andsexual orientation; the professional background of MPs and how this changes over time; the routes thatpeople take to becoming MPs and any changes over time and a comparison of these results in the contextof the make-up of society itself.

(v) Greater transparency

Political parties are critical to democracy in the UK and ultimately determine how representative theHouse of Commons is. The Speaker’s Conference should suggest that political parties provide informationand monitor selection procedures to establish who is being put forward as candidates and share bestpractice.

(vi) Culture and accessibility of parliament

Nearly all of the research conducted into the barriers underrepresented groups face in getting into publiclife point to the culture of politics. Labour believes the Speaker’s Conference should explore the culture ofParliament, including its sitting hours and facilities. What’s more, making the House of Commons moreaccessible to those with disabilities would remove a major barrier for disabled people.

(vii) The role of education

Working with young people from under-represented groups enables awareness to be raised on both theworkings of MPs and Parliament but also their role in the democratic process. The Speaker’s Conferenceshould recommend MPs are required to devise a programme of work with education institutions in theirconstituencies.

(viii) Speaker’s Conference to extent remit: background

As well as a disparity in the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the Houseof Commons, Labour wants more information on the social background of MPs too. The Labour Partygrew out of the need to represent the concerns of the working person. Therefore, the Speaker’s Conferenceshould commission research into the background of MPs and consider this topic and consider ways oftackling this issue.

(ix) Speaker’s Conference to extent remit: voter under-registration

It is useful to consider how increasing the diversity of voters links to a more diverse group ofrepresentatives. The Speaker’s Conference should consider the degree to which voter patterns and levelsinfluence the makeup of elected bodies, voter under representation and measures to tackle it.



References

Caul, M (1997) “Women’s representation in politics: The Role of Political Parties”.

Factsheet M4 (2006) “Women in the House of Commons” House of Commons Information OYce.

Inter—Parliamentary Union (1999) “Participation of Women in Political Life” IPU Reports andDocuments No 35. Geneva: IPU.

Labour Party Rule book 2009.

Lovenduski, Joni (1997) “Gender Politics” in Parliamentary AVairs, 50:4.

Norris, P (1996) “Legislative Recruitment” in LeDuc, L; Niemi, R and Norris, P (eds) ComparingDemocracies. Newbury Park, California: Sage.

Squires, J and Wickham Jones M (2001) “Women in Parliament: A Comparative Analysis” EqualOpportunities Commission Discussion Series. University of Bristol.

Submission by Unite (SC–53)

Unite—the Union123 strongly welcomes the decision to establish the Speaker’s Conference which willidentify recommendations to address under-representation “of women, ethnic minorities and disabledpeople in the House of Commons”.

We would highlight the following key points for the Speaker’s Conference to consider in drawing up itsrecommendations :

1. The need to include the diversity of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the recommendations,together with the general under-representation of lower paid/manual workers

It will be important that proposals recognise the diversity of women, ethnic minorities and disabledpeople, including the specific under-representation of black women for example, and diversity on groundsof age, sexual orientation and class. As a trade union representing men and women working throughout theworkforce, we would stress the vital importance of addressing in the recommendations the general under-representation of lower paid/manual workers as MPs in the House of Commons.124

2. The important role of positive action in trade unions in encouraging greater diversity of participation inpublic life and in the political process at all levels, including in the House of Commons

Trade union shop stewards and other union workplace representatives, delegates and union oYcers havewide-ranging experience directly relevant to the House of Commons, as has been demonstrated by a numberof key politicians over the years, not least two Labour government ministers who were former GeneralSecretaries of the Transport & General Workers Union : Ernest Bevin and Frank Cousins. The developingrole of union equality representative at the workplace, and specialist Regional and National OYcers forWomen, Race & Equalities are encouraging a greater diversity of union representatives at all levels.

Positive action to ensure the fair and eVective representation and participation of women, black, Asian& ethnic minority members in our union has not only tackled under-representation in the union, it has alsoled to wider involvement in the community, public and political life, eg as school governors, local councillors,MSPs, AMs, MEPs, MPs and public appointees. Government support to assist these importantdevelopments eg. through the Union Modernisation Fund, play an important role.

3. Fair and eVective representation needs to be a requirement—policy commitments and voluntary targets areimportant but not enough

Extensive monitoring of elections to committees in the Transport & General Workers Union in the 1990sclearly demonstrated that a voluntary target was insuYcient to change practice. It was only when the Ruleswere introduced requiring that the proportion of women and black, Asian & ethnic minority union memberscovered had to be reflected, that eVective change happened. Unite—the Union has included these principlesin its Rules from the outset of the new union.

123 Unite, the union was formed on 1 May 2007 from a merger of T&G and Amicus. This consultation is being prepared at theend of the transition period before the new union is fully integrated from 1 May 2009 and the response draws mainly on theexperience of the T&G section of Unite at this stage.

124 Daily Telegraph, “Women face higher hurdle in becoming MP than ethnic minorities”, 6 November 2008 sets out specificbarriers faced, and is also an example of the kind of monitoring that can be carried out



The experience of selections for MPs also demonstrates this point. The significant change in theproportion of women elected to Westminster occurred in 1997, when the Labour Party’s policy of All-Women Shortlists required that women be elected in some targeted seats.

The experience of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly on the basis of acommitment to 50:50 representation, again taken up by the Labour Party, also demonstrates this.

4. Appropriate eVective Equalities structures with suYcient powers to backup the positive action are required

At the same time as rules were introduced in the T&G to address under-representation, the advisory committeesof Women, and of Black, Asian & ethnic minority members were made equal to other union committees, andthe role of Regional and National oYcers for Women, Race & Equalities were enhanced. This has been veryimportant to supporting change and building more diverse participation.

A Ministry for Women, Ethnic Minorities and Disabled People and Equalities generally, for example,would be able to address the policy, legal and cultural change needed to ensure that addressing the disparityin representation is seen as strengthening politics and representative democracy across governmentdepartments (see general points below). While welcoming the co-ordinating role of the GovernmentEqualities OYce, which is increasingly playing a positive role, a Ministry would have greater authority tomake a diVerence.

Within political parties, opportunities through eg Women’s Conferences and committees for women todiscuss policy issues and develop skills have been very influential.

5. A programme of support and funding is needed to address barriers through eg Education, Mentoring/Shadowing, Awareness-raising

The example of Emily’s List and Labour Women’s Network have been important here, helping womenovercome barriers to becoming an MP through providing knowledge, practical advice based on experience,and financial support.

The opportunity for those interested in standing as an MP to meet existing MPs is very important. Whilethis is generally helpful, it is particularly positive where the MP has similar experience eg for a wheelchairuser to meet an MP who uses a wheelchair, for example, provides the opportunity to discuss access issuesthat could otherwise act as barriers, or discussing with an MP who has a young family how they balancetheir responsibilities can also be vital. In supporting the bus industry in increasing the numbers of womenbus drivers, we have supported “Open Days”, when local women can discuss with a woman driver aboutthe role, sit in the cab, and safely experience driving the bus. In this way, we have been able to counter barriersfrom lack of knowledge of the role eg concerns about safety and night driving, shift work and familyresponsibilities, and women thinking they are too short, physically weak, or even too fat to drive a bus canall be addressed.

Targeted awareness-raising events can bring together diVerent groups of people eg Black History Month(October) activities organised in the past by the Women & Equality Unit provided a positive opportunityto encourage the participation of BAEM women who were otherwise under-represented.

Within the union, annual Women’s Week education activities, bringing together large numbers of womenby running a number of courses side-by-side has been both empowering and informative. The exchange ofexperiences and informal networking, as well as the opportunity to disseminate specific information isinvaluable, and leads directly to increased numbers of women active at all levels in the union.

6. Specific Comments in response to Questions to be considered by the Speaker’s Conference follow.

Comments:


The unbalanced representation is both the cause and the result of discrimination. Due to discriminationwomen, ethnic minorities and disabled people are not represented in the House of Commons, and becauseof this there are insuYcient role models to show that it is possible. This does not encourage more to getinvolved at local and national level.

Lack of trust that the state and/or the political system can actually help make a fair society and deliverfor people is another issue. Those women, ethnic minorities and disabled people who get involved have tofight doubly hard, and it has been our experience that many think no one will listen to them or take themseriously, or they become discouraged from the set backs and decide not to even bother.




Additionally, equality for all should be the norm and an accepted part of politics rather than seen as atool at election times, or in response to specific events or issues—eg after the cases of Stephen Lawrence and“muslim” terrorists it appeared at that time to be more important for the political system to address racismand ensure the votes of black and ethnic minorities and the need for political representation; or the activismof disabled people in the 90’s and their campaigns for civil rights raised similar issues. Governments shouldlead and foresee problems, avoid them and create an environment where everyone feels they belong and thereis a benefit for them to be part of the system. This must include for example single mothers feeling they arepart of the political system, not penalised by it; recognition that young black and ethnic minority menconstantly stopped and searched or harassed do not feel they are part of the political system; and the impacton black, Asian and ethnic minority men and women when there is always talk of immigration as a“problem”; or on disabled people fearful of losing benefits or their jobs at Remploy; or on a 16-18 year oldon a lower rate minimum wage or a low paid worker needing many jobs to survive since they need a“living wage”.

Despite all this, there are many eVective and determined women, ethnic minority and disabled activistsbut not enough of them end up in the parliament. It is vital that both politics and the media challenge falsestereotypes about who governs and who is governed.

Historically when women, ethnic minorities, disabled people and young people become politically activedue to national or international events and circumstances, they want to be part of the system to change itfor the better. Also they push for change in government policies. For example, the women’s movement inthe 70’s and 80’s, disabled people’s campaigns around access and public transport in the 90’s, young peopleand older people’s involvement in the anti-war movement in 2000’s, black people’s activities around civilrights, education and anti-racism, and anti-poverty and environmental campaigning which are mobilisingmillions to play their part in political life. This is something that can be built on through therecommendations from the Speaker’s Conference.





Those who are successful in public life are more likely to be well educated, from aZuent families, or both;or they work or have worked particularly in professional roles. Many women, ethnic minorities and disabledpeople will not have had as many of these opportunities, as well as manual and lower paid workers. Societystigmatises and then discriminates resulting in undermining confidence and preventing access to circles,groups and environments that encourage participation in a wider sense.

Discrimination is the main problem and although there have been many positive and important legislativechanges, the cultural change lags far behind. Sweden as a most progressive country on women’s equality isactually a very good example. They have taken positive measures to ensure a high proportion of women intheir parliament but one of the big issues for the government is still unequal pay—because discriminationstill persists.

Having more equality in parliamentary seats would raise the potential to make a big diVerence, but doesnot of itself mean that they can change everyday life for women, ethnic minorities and disabled people. Inorder for this wider change, we need an organised system to encourage people from the time they entereducation to when they get a job. It needs the involvement of trade unions and voluntary sectororganisations to promote participation of all under-represented sections of the population. This should helpwomen, ethnic minorities and disabled people to gain confidence, information, training or the power tomake decisions and become involved.



The government’s emphasis should continue to be EQUALITY—equality of outcome rather than justequality of opportunity, and an environment for this should be created through clear monitoring reports.125


In responding to this question, while recognising there are common barriers, many of which we havereferred to above, we think it would be helpful to set out some specific barriers faced by women, people fromethnic minorities and disabled people, as follows :

Specific issues that are barriers to women getting involved

— Caring responsibilities which do not leave much time or energy for many women to consider extraactivities that can lead to taking up a more political position

— Fixed attitudes about politics being for men rather than for women

— Lack of confidence in pursuing a political role

— Job segregation, part-time working and unequal pay mean that women have less financialindependence

Specific issues that are barriers to ethnic minorities getting involved

— Stereotyping, particularly of BAEM women and young BAEM men

— Institutional Racism

— BAEM women are more likely to be working full-time with caring responsibilities

— Many first generation ethnic minorities have to work extra hard to establish themselves in thiscountry and hold many jobs to survive. This might not leave time to study, train and improve ontheir skills. Also being unfamiliar with the whole political system and not gaining access to therelevant forums, their families too will start at a clear disadvantage

Specific issues that are barriers to Disabled people getting involved

— Discrimination and perceptions about disabled people’s abilities, based on their impairment alone

— Working plays a very important part of making people part of society and when disabled peopleare three times more likely to be out of work then this barrier brings with it isolation and lack ofaccess to usual circles that get you known to other people. While there are active disabled peoplewho don’t work, there are many barriers to prevent this, making them too rare

— Lack of eVective reasonable adjustment at work to retain disabled workers means that they canlose access to a more public and political life, as well, with fewer opportunities to leave their homes

— Lack of Access to buildings, transport, meetings, correspondence, informal discussions

— Poverty faced by many disabled people is an important barrier

125 CRE definition of Equality, Participation and Interaction helpfully emphasises this point :“EqualityEquality means that everyone is treated equally and has a right to fair outcomes, and that no one should expect privilegesbecause of what they are. However, it also recognises that, in some instances, there may be grounds for treating peoplediVerently in order to create a level playing field.Equality is one of the three necessary conditions of integration; people who feel they are second-class citizens cannot beexpected to integrate. As long as unequal treatment and unlawful discrimination continue to be commonplace, no integrationwill be possible.ParticipationIf people from some groups are not involved in the processes of politics, public appointments and other decision-makingstructures, our society will never be fully integrated, and we risk perpetuating the inequality that prevents integration. It istherefore extremely important to take measures to tackle this “democratic deficit”, to encourage greater participation bypeople from under-represented groups in local and national politics, and at lower levels of decision-making, including LocalStrategic Partnerships.InteractionFinding eVective ways to overcome tendencies towards separation and polarisation between diVerent groups is not a simplematter, and there is a need for creative thinking. Much depends on finding a commitment to integration within the aVectedcommunities, and work in the education and sport sectors, and with young people, is particularly important.Crude social engineering measures (such as bussing children to diVerent schools) are neither available, nor likely to work.But through Britain’s education-funding system, there may be possibilities to encourage schools to attract a wide range ofchildren rather than to accept passively a continuing process of separation and division, and this is a question the CRE iscurrently looking at.”




In addition to points raised throughout this submission, we would stress :

— Lack of money acts as a considerable barrier

— Lack of knowledge of the informal as well as the formal procedures

— Assumptions and prejudice of those making selections, whether openly expressed or hidden,conscious or unconscious, need to be challenged through fair procedures and equalities trainingfor all involved

What actions could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation?What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others to addressdisparities in representation?What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom, to address similar concerns?How can the success of such actions be measured?

In addition to the key points we have set out at the beginning of this submission, we would stress theimportance of the following :

— Evident and eVective government action and policies addressing these issues has the potential tomake a huge change throughout society

— Specific positive action is vital, and we strongly welcome the government’s stated commitment toextend the permissive measure which enable eg All-Women Shortlists to be used by political parties

— Recognising the impact of government policies on the opportunity to play a part in political life,including : tackling poverty through a good welfare system, work and education opportunities,equal pay, anti-discrimination and equality duty laws, housing, transport and health, crime andjustice

— Focusing on changing society’s attitude towards equality—a basic right which protects us all

— Specific actions we would recommend include :

— Electing local council women’s rep or similar

— Providing baby-sitting assistance, children’s activities at conferences, and compensation forsalary reduction for those who wish to and are involved

— Mentoring and shadowing

— The Equality Duty should be used for political parties to ensure they actively promote eg raceequality in their selection process

— Building networks of women and BAEM women in particular who are currently playing a vitalrole in many tenants groups, community development, schools and youth activities

— Using the Citizenship module at schools to connect with young people and encourage themto become involved in eg the Youth Parliament, Amnesty International school group. Unitehas a schools programme where we go into school and teach young people about trade unions;other activities could include how to become Councillor/MP/MEP/AM/MSP

— Investing in the Youth Service, with recognition of support for young women’s activities is alsoimportant.

Submission from Unlock Democracy (SC–54)

About Us

Unlock Democracy (incorporating Charter 88) is the UK’s leading campaign for democracy, rights andfreedoms. A grassroots movement, we are owned and run by our members. In particular, we campaign forfair, open and honest elections, stronger parliament and accountable government, and a writtenconstitution. We want to bring power closer to the people and create a culture of informed political interestand responsibility.

Executive Summary

— Unlock Democracy supports a demographically representative Parliament that will not alienatepeople from politics.

— This submission focuses on the under-representation of women in politics, especially localgovernment, but has wider implications.



— Although systemic action can be very eVective in promoting a more representative Parliament—as Labour’s All-Women Shortlists evinced in 1997—Unlock Democracy would not wish to forceparties to adopt such measures and believed the cultures of the diVerent parties should be respected.

— Electoral reform, namely moving to a multi-member constituency system, is the most importantsystemic change to make, which has proved successful internationally. This could be combined withexclusive shortlists, zipping, or quotas, if parties so desired.

— The New Politics Network (now amalgamated into Unlock Democracy) interviewed 17 femalecouncillors about barriers women face at the local level in 2006. The study identified the need forthere to be visible female role models in politics, and better support for female candidates. It foundthat women faced outdated attitudes, and diYculties balancing work and home commitments. Theunpaid nature of local government work, was also found to be more of a barrier to women in lightof the gender pay-gap. Some of the women interviewed noted that parties’ selection process wasopen to discrimination because too informal.

— Unlock Democracy is concerned that All BME Shortlists could lead to an “ethnic faces for ethnicvoters” policy, and warns that discriminating on the basis of ethnicity is a dangerous path to godown.

— Local parties need more members to choose more diverse candidates. Unlock Democracy believesparty funding should be used to incentivise local political activity.

— Political activity should be promoted as a public service and included within Governmentsponsored volunteering schemes.

— Parties should provide financial support for childcare to women candidates standing at election.

— Parties should be proactive in identifying and recruiting women as members and candidates at thelocal level.

— At the national level, state grants could be provided for outreach and training programmes forwomen, and

— There could be a move away from yah-boo adversarial politics in favour of parliamentarycommittee work and case work.

— Unlock Democracy notes that the issue of social/economic barrier to entering Parliament is crucialand perhaps being currently overlooked.

Introduction

1. Unlock Democracy very much welcomes the launch of the Speaker’s Conference to: “consider andmake recommendations for rectifying the disparity between the representation of women ethnic minoritiesand disabled people in the House of Commons”. We believe that Parliament being unrepresentative of thecountry it serves fuels the alienation that many people in Britain feel from politics. It fuels the perceptionthat politics is not something that ordinary people engage in. Our submission focuses primarily on how toincrease the number of women in Parliament as this is the area where we have conducted original research.However the systematic changes we suggest would benefit all under-represented groups.

2. The stark fact that fewer than 20% of MPs are women is a testament to the barriers which women stillface in entering national politics. Even if all the major parties nominated women in 50% of their vacant andwinnable seats until parity was reached, the rate of change would be slow. The year would be 2037 beforeequality of men and women was reached in the Parliamentary Labour Party; 2046 in the Liberal Democratsand 2278 in the Conservative Party.126

3. This is not to deny the progress of recent years. In 1945, there were just 24 female MPs; we now havea total of 126 out of 646. The major leap in this period took place in 1997, when Labour instituted its radicalaYrmative action initiative. The doubling in the number of female MPs from 60 in 1992 to 120 in 1997 wasalmost entirely due to the increase in female MPs in the Labour Party. Ninety-seven of the Labour Party’s355 MPs are women. In the Liberal Democrat Party this figure is ten out of sixty-three, and in theConservative Party it is seventeen out of 196.

4. While there are systemic changes that we would recommend to increase the diversity of Parliament, webelieve it is essential to respect the diVerent cultures of political parties. While All-Women Shortlists haveundoubtedly been an important tool in increasing the number of Labour women MPs we do not think thatthis, or indeed any individual mechanism, should be imposed on a political party. There is no magic bulletfor increasing the diversity of Parliament, it will require both systemic and cultural changes.

126 J. Lovenduski, and L. Shepherd Robinson, Women and Candidate Selection in British Political Parties, (London: 2002).



Party Membership

5. There is a danger when examining issues such as these of focussing exclusively on getting under-represented groups into Parliament, without recognising that they are under-represented in politics moregenerally. AYrmative action can be used to get those who are already politically active into Parliament butthere is a risk that these mechanisms become a fast track for professionals who would have got there anywayrather than bringing new people into politics and Parliament.

6. Political parties choose candidates from among their party members. This pool of activists andpotential candidate has diminished drastically in the last half century. There are now around two membersof the RSPB for every member of a political party in the UK. Unfashionable though it may be to say so inthe present climate, political parties perform important roles without which representative democracy couldnot exist. The lion’s share of this activity continues to take place at the local or constituency level of partyactivity. There is presently no better alternative model for organising democracy. Members of the RSPB dogood work but without active members of political parties, who are willing to deliver leaflets, canvass andstand as candidates then our democracy is in crisis.

7. One of our predecessor organisations, the New Politics Network, published a study of the health oflocal parties in 2004, exploring what campaigning activities the local parties were able to carry out and howmany activists they could rely on. When it came to candidate selection many of the local parties in their studywere unable to field candidates in all wards in local government elections because they could not find suitablecandidates willing to stand. This problem was most acute in safe seats held by another party where, in oneinstance a local party was only able to field candidates in 14% of wards. However even in some marginalseats, which are the focus of a greater degree of party activity and campaigning, some parties are unable tofield candidates in all the available seats. Of the 10 local parties that were able to fulfil this basic criteria,only four were also able to hold a contested selection process. Where there is no or little choice of candidate,there is nothing anyone can do to encourage under-represented groups to take up politics. If we want thereto be more women, ethnic minority and disabled MPs and candidates then we need to ensure theyparticipating in politics at all levels.

8. Unlock Democracy believes that party funding should be used to incentivise political activity at a locallevel. We believe it is essential that urgent action is taken to revive grassroots politics and that increasingparticipation more generally will help to create a wider pool of candidates for political oYce at all levels.For more information on this please see Life Support for Political Parties by Alexandra Runswick whichcan be downloaded from our website here http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/wp-content/Life%20Support.pdf

Women in Local Government

9. Any attempt to increase the representation of women in Parliament is laudable. However, nationalequality measures and targets do not always recognise the interrelation between the diVerent tiers ofgovernment. In 2006, the New Politics Network conducted interviews with seventeen female councillors inorder to discover the specific barriers that women face at local council level. In addition to these seventeencouncillors, we also spoke to two Members of Parliament and four members of devolved chambers.127

10. Local politics is an important pathway to involvement in national and devolved government, and thisis particularly true for women. It is therefore crucial that any steps to improve the representation of womenin politics do not ignore the local level. According to research from the Equal Opportunities Commission,68% of both male and female parliamentary candidates said that previous experience in local politics wasimportant in encouraging them to stand. Of all elected MPs in 2001, 55.7% had local government experience.

11. The lack of women already in politics is often the first barrier that women face as it discourages themfrom seeing themselves as potential politicians. Training was also conspicuously absent as a means to recruitwomen and to encourage them to enter politics. Most of the women thought that support from theirrespective parties could be improved. It is worth noting that all of the women we interviewed thought thatthe experience of local politics was a good “apprenticeship” or “training ground” for national politics.

12. Party procedures governing initial selection were often seen by the women to be lacking formality andtherefore open to discrimination. What is more, most of the women thought that there was not enoughpolitical will from their parties to address these issues and to turn promises of more female candidates intopolicy commitments aimed at increasing women’s participation in government. On this issue we found adivision along party lines. In general, the Labour interviewees were in favour of using equality guarantees;the Liberal Democrats preferred training and support; and the Conservatives opted to let things improveover time with the help of better education to increase general interest in politics.

13. Typically, the women’s experience in oYce was characterised by a culture of direct and indirectdiscrimination. In particular, outdated attitudes about the role of women meant that some felt that theirexpertise had been overlooked when they were assigned roles within the council.

127 This research was published as Linsley, B Marie,A Martin R Stacey L Women in the Chamber barriers to representation inlocal politics New Politics network 2006 and is available for download here http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/?p%418



14. Despite women statistically being less likely than men to achieve the very top positions in localcouncils, in general the women we spoke to were satisfied with the encouragement they received from theirparties when considering running for positions of authority or leadership. However, some interviewees dididentify room for improvement when it came to formalising support networks and finding endorsement forsuch systems within their local parties.

15. Probably the most significant barrier the women faced was the diYculty of balancing council dutieswith home life and a career. The timings and locations of meetings were brought up by some women as aproblem, but the financial strain of taking on a role in local government and possibly missing out on otherpaid employment was the greatest barrier of all. Some of the women also suggested that the loss of earningsinvolved in choosing a career in local government was the biggest disincentive to women consideringbecoming a councillor. The pay-gap between men and women in the workplace means that this is more ofa problem for women than it is for men.

16. By looking at the interviewees’ responses as a whole, it is evident that there are a number of ways inwhich women are prevented from participating equally in local government. Some of the women reportedintentional discrimination, sexual harassment or taunting. These are attitudes and behaviours which areperpetuated by party structures and councils’ institutional frameworks and working practices. The womenalso cited problems such as council decisions being taken “at the pub” and the times of council or partymeetings not taking account of family commitments. This may not be through any particular malice orintention to marginalise women, but it is something to which local authorities and political parties need tobe sensitive.

17. This research focused on the experiences of women in local government but the barriers that they faceare the same as for women trying to enter national politics, the only diVerence perhaps is that as there arefewer seats the barriers to entering Parliament are even higher.

Electoral System

18. There is no single change that would on its own increase the numbers of women, ethnic minority anddisabled MPs but the change that would make by far the most diVerence is reforming the electoral system.They may use diVerent electoral systems but internationally, the countries that have more representativepolitics also have multi-member constituencies. This is the case even where there are no quotas in operation.Where parties have the opportunity to nominate more than one candidate they are more likely to nominatea balanced slate than if they can only nominate one candidate. If only one candidate can be nominated,parties will often choose the white, male candidate as he is seen as the more broadly acceptable candidate.There is a myth that women candidates lose votes has wide currency in constituency parties. Oftendiscrimination was justified by blaming the voters, arguing (incorrectly) that the voters would not vote fora woman and the relevant Party could not risk losing the seat. However the Fawcett Society has shown thatVoters do not penalise women candidates. The problem is that political parties do not select women insuYcient numbers in safe or winnable parliamentary seats.128

19. Multi-member seats also oVer parties the choice of a number of diVerent pro-active measures forselecting candidates from under-represented groups. In the UK All-Women Shortlists are the most wellknown and controversial form of positive discrimination but there are mechanisms for encouraging selectionof women candidates. For example in list electoral systems some parties “zip” the party list so that everyother candidate is female. Other parties use quotas, often thirds, for candidate selection so that at least athird of the list must be male and a third must be female. Of course it is not just getting on the list that isimportant but the position on the list which is why this technique is often combined with a quota for the topof the list so that at least one of the top three candidates also has to be female.

20. Electoral reform is not a panacea; without accompanying changes in the political culture reform willstill be slow. While electoral systems enable the selection of a wider variety of candidates but on its own theelectoral system cannot change the political culture. The experience of introducing the single transferablevote in Northern Ireland has demonstrated this. However it remains the one systemic change that wouldmake the most diVerence to the selection of a more diverse range of candidates.

All BME shortlists

21. Unlock Democracy share the concerns of commentators129 that all BME shortlists would be adetrimental step for British politics. Our main concern is that all minority shortlists would be placed in theseats with most black and Asian voters, and retreat to an “ethnic faces for ethnic voters” argument. ParmjitDhanda was elected to the predominantly white constituency of Gloucester in 2001, if all BME shortlistshad been in place would he have been advised to go to Leicester or Ealing and told to wait for one of “theirseats” to come up? There is also a danger that minority-only contests would focus more on ethnicity—andwhich community’s “turn” it is to win a seat—than the candidate’s qualities.

128 J. Lovenduski, and L. Shepherd Robinson, Women and Candidate Selection in British Political Parties, (London: 2002).129 http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2008/03/minority-shortlists-british



22. Legalising the exclusion of certain ethnic groups from selection processes, albeit with the worthwhileintention of increasing the representation of groups within Parliament, could have very dangerousconsequences. The British National Party already selects its party members of the basis of ethnicity we donot want to encourage this kind of candidate selection. While All-Women Shortlists have cause somedivisions within the Labour Party, most notably in Blaneau Gwent, we believe this is nothing compared tothe balkanising eVect that all BME shortlists would have on British politics.

Other Issues

23. One of the significant barriers to becoming an MP not explored in this Conference is money. For mostpeople the experience of being a candidate involves moving around the country spending time, often manyyears developing a seat. MPs are lucky enough to already live and work in a constituency that is a safe seatfor their party and even if they did they would usually be expected to stand somewhere else first to gainexperience. This is only possible if the type of work you do enables you to move to diVerent areas and if youhave the resources to do so. Even if this is financially possible it is of course a significant proposition forthose with families, particularly children. At a New Politics Network fringe event about the health of localpolitical parties on recently elected MP spoke of having given up his £70,000 a year job and moving into theconstituency to be a full time candidate for two years prior to the election. He was very lucky that he wasable to do that and that his wife earned enough to support them while he did but that simply wouldn’t bepossible for many people. There is a real danger that even as Parliament becomes more representative interms of gender, ethnicity and disability that it becomes less representative in terms of background. It isdiYcult to see how someone like John Prescott would become an MP today not because the public wouldnot vote for them but because they would not be able to aVord the experience of being a candidate.

Reform of Non-Party Institutions

A more modern debating chamber

24. Aggressive “yah-boo” politics not only dissuades many women from putting themselves forward foroYce, it also perpetuates the perception that politicians are ego-driven and disconnected with the realitiesof their constituents’ lives. Parliament is about far more than Prime Ministers Questions and we believe thatthere should be more emphasis on the work of select committees and the case work that MPs do.

Political participation as a voluntary activity

25. This Government has rightly done much to promote the importance of volunteering within society.However politics is very rarely included in any of the schemes encouraging people to volunteer in theircommunities. We need to reintegrate the concepts of political participation and public service and recognisethat people who join political parties and deliver leaflets, organise stalls in high streets and canvass are thebedrock of our democracy rather than being somehow suspect.

Financial help towards childcare whilst standing as a candidate

26. We recognise that political parties have limited resources and that their priority, rightly is to spendmoney on campaigning. However we believe if more women are to be encouraged to become candidatesthere needs to be financial support available for childcare while they are standing for election.

Reform in the Parties

Outreach work

27. Political parties need to be more proactive in identifying and recruiting female community activiststo join their parties and to stand for local oYce. Networking between women’s groups within the partiesand from the local community would be a good first step.

Training for female candidates

28. Many of our interviewees, especially those from smaller parties, mentioned the lack of outreach workand training programmes. Given that the under-representation of women in local politics is also a problemfor the wider democratic process, there may be a case for state grants to be available for recruitment andtraining programmes.



Training for selection committees

29. The importance of training selection committees to make sure that they are recruiting a representativeset of candidates was highlighted by several of the councillors. The major parties all claim that they alreadyhave training programmes for selection committees in place. Parties would be well-advised to ensure thatthese are genuinely eVective measures, and not just token gestures.

Submission by the Electoral Reform Society (SC–55)

Executive Summary

— The Electoral Reform Society is concerned that the chronic under-representation of women, ethnicminorities and disabled people amongst our Parliamentarians is a sign of an unhealthy democracy.We believe that overhauling the electoral system will help address concerns about equal access topower and voter disengagement.

— The Electoral Reform Society believes that a multi-member proportional electoral system wouldenhance the representation of women, ethnic minorities and other non-traditional candidates. Amulti-member single transferable vote system would give greater voter choice and produce fairerresults in terms of party representation. This would enhance the legitimacy of the UK Parliament,build trust and ensure that everyone has fair representation of their views.

— We recognise that the under-representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people withinthe House of Commons and in public positions is a multi-facetted problem that requires a multi-facetted solution. However, a reformed electoral system would be an easily achievable changewhich would help generate broader cultural and organisational reform.

Introduction

1. The Electoral Reform Society is a national membership organisation and one of the UK’s leadingauthorities on democracy and elections. The Society believes in fairness and choice in the electoral processand therefore advocates a change from our current First-Past-the-Post system to a more proportionalsystem, the Single Transferable Vote. The Society is an active member of the Women and the Vote campaign.

2. Our response will consider most of the questions asked in the call for evidence; however, where we feelthat two or more questions are best answered together, we have taken the liberty to do so. We have alsoconcentrated on some questions more than others, not because we feel some of them to be unimportant, butrather because we deem our expertise to lie elsewhere or indeed feel that we would require more space tooutline our comments than given in this short response.

3. We have concentrated in our answers on the representation of women and ethnic minorities rather thanthe disabled. We felt that we would not be able to provide any detailed insights in this area.

4. The Society notes that part of the original discussion around the Speaker’s Conference included awider debate about political engagement as well as young people. We regret that the Conference seems tohave dropped these issues from its remit.

Question 1, 2 & 3: Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerentgroups in society? If so, what are those problems? Is there a relationship between these levels of representationand voter attitudes to Parliament?

5. The Electoral Reform Society subscribes to an understanding of representation in which electedrepresentatives act in the interests of their local communities as a whole. We believe that a woman MP canrepresent a man just as well as a woman and vice versa, and that a White MP can provide good representationto BME constituents. However, we also acknowledge that the identity of one’s representative can beimportant to voters and that who sits in the House of Commons has a symbolic significance that should notbe underestimated.

6. Today only one in five MPs is a woman130 and there are only 15 Members of Parliament who areconsidered to be from an ethnic minority group. This stands in stark contrast to the fact that over 50 percent of the population are women and that the UK has an ethnic minority population of around 7 per cent.This, if nothing else, is therefore an issue of fairness and one that raises questions about the barriers in theway of equal access to political power.

7. The under-representation of certain groups, such as women and ethnic minorities within the House ofCommons exacerbates voter disengagement amongst these groups, partly as voter choice is severelyrestricted. This assumption is confirmed by research conducted by Operation Black Vote and the Electoral

130 Electoral Reform Society research from July 2008 shows that this is unlikely to change much following the next GeneralElection.



Commission in 2002131 which concluded that greater numbers of black and ethnic minority MPs wouldencourage members of ethnic minority groups to become more involved in the political process. In addition,evidence from the 2001 election shows that where a female MP was elected to the House of Commons, femaleturnout was four per cent higher than that of men, which, although small, is statistically significant. Inaddition, the sex of the MP also aVected wider civic participation, with women showing less interest in thepolitical campaigns in areas with a male candidate.132

8. The Society believes that women or ethnic minorities, as well as disabled people, elected into the Houseof Commons will bring in diVerent experiences than for example a white male MP. This experience isessential to ensure that the political agenda and the policies debated within the House of Commons are atleast aware of these varying views and can take them into consideration. A number of studies confirm thata greater proportion of female MPs support eVorts to mainstream the issue of gender and raise women’sconcerns. Looking at the UK, for example, Sarah Childs and Julie Withey in their analysis of Early DayMotions (EDM) and the intake of 65 new Labour Women in 1997 has shown that female Labour MPs aremore likely to sign “women’s EDMs” than their male counterparts.133 In addition, Professor Nickie Charlesin her most recent and still ongoing study of the impact of women in the National Assembly of Wales alsosupport the claim “that a gender balance among political representatives has an eVect both on the waypolitics is done and on the policy issues that are prioritised”.134

Questions 4, 5 & 6: What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled do notbecome members of Parliament? Why don’t more of these groups consider standing for election? Or, if they do,Why aren’t more of them selected? Or, if they are—Why aren’t more of them elected? What are the problemsand practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection and election—by members ofthese underrepresented groups who are looking to become MPs?

9. The reasons why more women or people from ethnic minorities do not become members of Parliamentare manifold and combine issues of political culture as well as the electoral system used to elect our MPs.The problems faced by aspiring politicians to some extent diVer from party to party; however there are anumber of issues that cut across party political lines.

Constitutional Barriers

10. The Electoral Reform Society believes that the First Past the Post electoral system used forWestminster elections is a barrier to equal representation.

11. Single-Member constituencies, characteristic of a First-Past-the-Post system, discourage parties fromtaking a risk at selection time reducing the possibilities for change. For this reason, women, for example,are on average still less likely to be selected for winnable seats than their male counterparts. Analysing thestatistics from the 2005 elections, for example, the Conservatives were four times more likely to choose aman for a target seat than a woman, with less than a third of their women candidates being chosen for the50 most winnable seats. In addition, the 33 seats where the Liberal Democrats had the highest hopes ofwinning, a little over a third of candidates were women. While this is likely to be to some extent a result of toofew women getting through onto the approved lists (only 25 per cent of, for example, the Liberal Democrats’approved candidates in the UK are currently women), the current electoral system does little to encourageparties to reach out to potential non-traditional candidates.

12. The use of First Past the Post has also had an impact on the representation of ethnic minorities withinthe House of Commons. Most of Britain’s BME MPs are from constituencies with considerably aboveaverage BME populations.135 Leading the table is Dawn Butler MP from Brent South, where the percentageof the Non-White population is 64.6 per cent. At the other end of the spectrum is Ashok Kumar MP whorepresents Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, which has an ethnic minority population of 1.3 percent. Overall, there are only two constituencies that are represented by ethnic minority MPs with less thanthe national average of non-white residents, and two more with less than 10 per cent non-white population.This fact does suggest that the demographics of a constituency matters.

13. A recent study in the US suggests136 that the chances of black Representative being elected is one in10 where an area has less than 25 per cent of African-American residents, the chances are even at 40 per centand pretty much guaranteed at over 50 per cent. The politics of race in the US is, of course, diVerent fromthat in the UK; residency is more segregated and politics is more organised on ethnic lines. There is more ofa tradition of seeing political representation as being necessary for a community as a whole to be fairly andequally treated. This has been a factor in the court-mandated creation of “majority-minority” districts

131 Electoral Commission and Operation Black Vote (2002) “Voter engagement among black and minority ethnic communities”132 The Electoral Commission (April 2004) “Gender and political participation”, p.46–47133 Sarah Childs and Julie Withey (2003) “More than Toilets and Tampax? Sex and Early Day Motions in the 1997 Parliament”,

Paper presented to the EPOP Annual Conference134 Nickie Charles (2009) “Gender and political processes in the context of devolution”, ESRC135 The median constituency in terms of the proportion of the White population is Tunbridge Wells, which was 97.5 per cent

White in 2001, according to the 2001 census.136 Silver, Nate “Why are there no Black Senators?”, http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/01/why-are-there-no-black-

senators.html



through creative gerrymandering—recognition that electoral engineering has its role in ensuring areasonable level of representation for particular communities. But Silver’s finding of a steep curve between25 per cent and 50 per cent is certainly consistent with what UK data we have.

14. A local party association in a constituency with a sizable proportion of its population being from anethnic minority community is like to see this community as a more important factor in considering electoralstrategy and may well choose a candidate from this community. In addition, in areas of high BMEpopulation, there will almost certainly be members of those communities who are active in the local politicalparties. Our electoral system determines that there are currently fewer than 60 single-member constituencieswith more than 25 per cent non white-population and only around 20 that exceed 40 per cent. On this basis,the scope for much expansion of BME representation under the current electoral system is limited.137 Theuse of larger, multi-member constituencies would allow a greater number of electoral areas to contain thatcritical mass of BME voters, making increased BME representation more politically attractive to localparties in those areas.

Social and Cultural Barriers

15. Overall, the number of UK residents supporting political parties is diminishing. Only around 1.5 percent of the UK population is a paying supporter of a party.138 Of these 1.5 per cent, only a fraction are whatone would consider party political activists. The potential pool of candidates and those selecting localcandidates is therefore even smaller and traditionally not particularly representative of wider society.

16. A traditional source of national party candidates, local councillors, are also struggling with diversity,with around 30 per cent of councillors in England being women and only 3.4 per cent being from an ethnicminority background. It seems fair to suggest that this, similarly to selection at the national level, is to someextent to do with the fact that political parties like to recruit from within their own ranks and are rarely seento be pro-active about finding new recruits. Local parties generally have high expectations of theircandidates, with anyone selected for a safe seat often having to prove allegiance to the party for many years.

17. Standing as a party candidate requires time and money which may present diYculties particularly foraspiring female candidates. Women still often have to juggle work and caring responsibilities and,statistically, some may be poorer than many of their male counterparts. Members of an ethnic minoritygroup also often lack the resources and connections that are vital to succeed in politics, and although manyare active in community work and campaigning within the voluntary sector, the link to party selectors is notautomatically given.

18. Political culture in the UK is confrontational in its character. One only needs to take a look at Prime-Minister’s questions to understand the extent of the “Yah-boo culture” that prevails within the House ofCommons. The electoral system has its part to play in the creation of this political culture, with “winner-takes-all systems” exacerbating the oppositional nature of politics. This adversarial style of politics seemsto disproportionately aVect women, discouraging them from standing. Research by the Equal OpportunitiesCommission from 2002 shows that women are more likely to be discouraged than men by theconfrontational politics that is the reality of our current political system under FPTP.

Question 7: What actions could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation?

19. Research on how to overcome inequalities in the political representation of minorities and under-represented groups has long considered the electoral system to play an important role. As highly acclaimedacademics as Pippa Norris or Arend Lijphart, to just mention a few, have drawn attention to the impact theway we vote for our representatives has on women and/or ethnic minorities. We therefore believe that anyinquiry into how we can improve the situation in the UK cannot ignore this vital element.

20. In paragraphs 11 to 18 above the Society has outlined the barriers that the current First-Past-the-Postsystem poses to the fair representation of women and ethnic minorities in the UK. We have shown that thesingle-member constituency is detrimental to any eVorts of increasing the representation of hitherto under-represented groups. This is confirmed by the fact that out of the 70 countries that have a better record thanthe UK in terms of women’s representation, only 13 rely on a majoritarian system like First-Past-the-Post(FPTP) or the Alternative Vote.139

21. We therefore believe that a change in the electoral system away from the First-Past-the-Post to aproportional system, the Single Transferable Vote, is something that the Government should seriouslyconsider. Whilst an electoral system itself, cannot be expected to achieve equal and fair politicalrepresentation, it would enable and encourage parties to act diVerently and open up access to political powerfor a wider range of possible candidates. This view is shared by many, including a large proportion of over400 successful and unsuccessful candidates form the three main UK-wide parties as well as the Scottish

137 “There are of course cases where BME candidates have been selected and elected in a majority White constituency and viceversa. However, electoral arrangements matter, as will become even clearer in our answers to question 7.

138 Peter Riddell (2003) “Candidate Selection: The report of the commission on candidate selection”, Electoral ReformSociety, London

139 This comparison is based on data from July 2008.



National Party and Plaid Cymru, who when asked which changes would be most eVective at increasing thenumber of women in Parliament said that introducing a proportional representation system in addition toparty training programmes would be beneficial.140

22. Multi-member constituencies, characteristic of PR systems, would make it a rational policy forpolitical parties to put forward a more balanced sheet of candidates. With parties taking into account thepossibility that two or even three of their candidates may be elected within one constituency, it would seemlogical for local parties to choose candidates that speak to all sections of society. For example, given that,as outlined in paragraph 8, ethnic minorities would be more encouraged to participate in the politicalprocess, ie voting, if there were more ethnic minority MPs, it makes sense for parties to attract this sectionof voters by oVering them a candidate that appears to directly speak for them.

23. Pippa Norris has highlighted that the type of electoral system is also related to patterns of incumbencyturnover. In her book “Electoral Engineering” (2004)141 she highlights that under PR systems around 66 percent of all incumbents get elected again, with this being true for 70 per cent of incumbents under majoritariansystems. Although incumbency is in itself not prejudiced against any particular type of candidate and thediVerence may seem negligible, she argues it is likely to have an impact on opening up more opportunitiesfor challengers under PR systems, as it slows down progress.

24. As discussed in paragraph 18, women are perhaps more discouraged from standing as a politicalcandidate than their male counterparts by our current “Punch and Judy” style of politics. The possibilitythat a party may need to form a coalition government or rule as a minority government dependent onsporadic support from other parties to push through legislation, both not uncommon occurrences underproportional representation systems, is known to create a more consensual style of politics. This mayencourage those women currently put oV by politics to get more involved and put themselves forward.

25. It is also interesting to note that research conducted by M. Anwar in 1998 and quoted in the reporton voter engagement among black and minority ethnic communities142 found that of all the ethnic minorityrespondents questioned in five constituencies who had never voted, 61 per cent noted that they would be“more likely to vote in a proportional representation system”. Should this translate into reality, aproportional representation system would go a long way to re-engage the UK’s BME population withformal politics.

Question 8: What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties, campaigning groups or others toaddress disparities in representation?

26. All-Women Shortlists, as outlined in paragraph 11, have without doubt shown to work in the sensethat they have increased the number of female Labour candidates as well as MPs sitting in the House ofCommons even at a time of falling support for Labour. However, we would consider them a crude short-term measure aimed at overcoming the inadequacies of our current electoral system rather than a long-termsolution. The success of these measures in the short-term should not distract the Government from makingmore wide-reaching changes that would support greater diversity in the long run.

27. We would therefore suggest that in addition to the Government changing the electoral system, thereare also a number of other things that could be done to support a more varied range of candidates beingselected and elected to the House of Commons. All of these would be complementary to a change in theelectoral system.

28. First of all, we would support a move to monitoring the gender, age and ethnicity of local as well asnational party candidates. Although parties are to some extent doing this at the national level, on the locallevel local councils and parties are often unaware of these characteristics of candidates standing for elections.We would consider this to be a vital first step.

29. In addition, given that running as a candidate at the national level is hugely expensive and time-consuming and may particularly for single-mothers or carers mean paying for extra child-care, we couldenvisage there to be something along the lines of a state-funded diversity fund that would provide additionalfinancial assistance to aspiring candidates with limited financial means.

30. Furthermore, selection committees should seek to recruit people from a broader pool than is currentlythe case. Local parties could be given financial assistance to hold open-day events specifically aimed atwomen, ethnic minorities and the disabled, allowing them to develop networks within formal politics. Onewould have to ensure, however, that any money is ring fenced as to avoid it being used for generalcampaigning activities.

140 Equal Opportunities Commission (2002) “Man enough for the job? A study of Parliamentary Candidates”, p.123141 Pippa Norris (2004) “Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behaviour”, Chapter 8142 Electoral Commission and Operation Black Vote (2002) “Voter engagement among black and minority ethnic

communities”, p.26.



31. Last but not least, we would also recommend that parties develop training and mentoringprogrammes for those candidates that may not have had the same educational and social opportunities todevelop the skills needed to successfully win over a selection committee.

Submission by CliV Uney (SC–56)

I see the Speaker’s Conference is looking at ways to increase the number of women in parliament.

My idea is simple, but maybe too radical for the current membership of the Commons, being mostly men,as around 200 of them would automatically lose their seats.

— Double the size of constituencies by merging adjacent constituencies

— Let each new constituency elect two members

— Have two candidate lists for each constituency, one containing male candidates, the other femalecandidates

— Let each elector vote for one person on each list

— Straight away you get a 50/50 male/female parliament.

This maintains the link between members and their constituencies, while allowing voters to vote forcandidates of whichever party they choose. It may mean that some constituencies have members on oppositesides of the house, but any such local diYculty would be insignificant when compared to the overall benefits

Submission by the Prowess National Policy Centre and East Midlands Development Agency (SC–57)

Executive Summary

— The Prowess National Policy Centre (PNPC) and East Midlands Development Agency (emda), onbehalf of the cross-RDA group on women’s enterprise are submitting a joint response to theSpeaker’s Conference to illustrate the similar challenges many women face, not only in public life,but within business as well.

— There are clearly too few women in positions of power. This is a wider symptom of institutions,both in the public and private sectors which are run along traditional models and which do nottake into account the challenges of modern working and living for the vast number of people inthe UK.

This submission arrives at the following conclusions:

— Recognise that to create inclusive polices, all sections of communities need to be engaged. Womenin particular need the advice and role models, networks and mentors which will enable many ofthem to take the next step in terms of public appointments, senior management positions incorporations and into self-employment.

— Better data collection and monitoring is required. The evidence presented above suggests that data,where available, could be collated in more a coherent manner. Public bodies must show that theyare making eVorts to fulfil its obligations under the Gender Equality Duty.

Recommendations:

— Proactive approaches which target both suitable women and address structural barriers whichrestrict women’s progress, can be necessary. A similar two tier approach may help to enable morewomen to enter parliament.

— Ensure that the Gender Equality Duty is adhered to, not only by public bodies. Although it doesnot apply to the House of Commons, its principles should be adhered to and across the privatesector.

— Suggest that RDAs/ Devolved Administrations commission reports similar to emda andimplement recommendations through diversity action plans which form part of organisations KeyPerformance Indicators (KPIs).

— As illustrated in the corporate sector, positive action is being taken to improve the genderimbalance through the establishment of mentoring schemes. The PNPC recommends that aNational Women’s Enterprise Mentoring Network be established to provide top-level marketing,sign-posting and advice, combined with training, development and a best practice forum for thosedelivering mentoring systems. Only by putting in place such networks and schemes will women beable to fully access the type of support they need which will help them to succeed in their chosenfields.



Submission to Speaker’s Conference by the Prowess National Policy Centre and East MidlandsDevelopment Agency

Prowess National Policy Centre

The Prowess National Policy Centre (PNPC) was oYcially launched on 30 October 2008. The Centre, thefirst of its kind in Europe, provides a focal point for women’s enterprise-related research and policy bestpractice and will be a source of expertise for Government, Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and theprivate and third sectors on measures to increase the number of women-owned firms in the UK.

The PNPC is funded by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). Theestablishment of PNPC was one of a package of measures to promote female entrepreneurship announcedearlier this year in the Government’s Enterprise Strategy. The challenge for central and regionalGovernment is to create the conditions which foster female-owned business start-up and growth, and so,contribute strongly to local, regional and national economies.

East Midlands Development Agency

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England,set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development. Our primary goal is to increase theeconomic growth of the region while reducing disparities between the East Midlands and other Englishregions. Our key role is to be the strategic driver of sustainable economic development, which we look toachieve by working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations to deliver the goals ofthe Regional Economic Strategy.The East Midlands Regional Economic Strategy (RES) envisages a flourishing region by 2020 with growinginnovative businesses, skilled people in good quality jobs participating in healthy inclusive communities andliving and thriving in attractive places. This vision is underpinned by three main themes, raising productivity,ensuring sustainability and achieving equality. emda is the lead RDA on women’s enterprise.

The Women’s Enterprise Task Force (WETF), a national body set up to increase the quantity, scalabilityand success of women-owned businesses in the UK, recognise the value and benefits of better representationof women in important positions in public life. WETF has contributed to and supports the PNPC’s workin this area.

Introduction

1. This submission seeks to present some specific evidence on the representation of women in public lifeat regional level, through information obtained from Regional Development Agencies (RDAs). Therespondents generally agree with the premise that there is a democratic deficit in terms of engaging womenin particular in public life. In some cases, the number of women has actually decreased.

2. This paper also suggested that similar issues apply to women in business. For example, women holdjust 11% of FTSE 100 directorships.143 Women are the largest under-represented group in enterprise in thecountry, being half as likely as men to start a business and representing just 27% of the self-employed. Thereasons for such low figures are often quite similar: confidence, lack of advice, role models, mentors andnetworks.

3. Schemes do exist to promote more women into public life and the business world. Encouraging morewomen into public life and business would ultimately benefit UK as a whole, leading to more representativepolicies and inevitably engage more citizens in the decision-making process at local, regional and nationallevel.

4. This paper seeks to make a link between the experiences of women in public life and women in business.Many of the issues they face are similar. The paper is divided into three sections:

1. Women and public appointments (RDAs and Devolved Administrations)

2. Women and enterprise (self-employment and corporations)

3. Conclusions and Recommendations

1. Women and public appointments

5. Comments were invited by the PNPC through the cross-RDA group on women’s enterprise on therepresentation of women in public life. Several responses focus on the level of Board representation andfigures were provided in the timescale available. A brief overview is also provided on the DevolvedAdministrations.

143 Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2008, Sex and Power.



East Midlands Development Agency (emda)

6. Equalities Mapping Work—Women in Public Appointment. Report to emda and Government OYcerEast Midlands (GOEM), Birmingham City University, October 2007144.

7. The aim of the survey was to explore the role of women in public life, via the numbers of womenworking at board level, as part of a diversity profile for the East Midlands.

Key findings:

— 95 public sector organisations formed the study, with 1405 board members, 30% of whom werefemale (UK rate of 35.5%);

— Gender parity on only 3 boards from the sample, with 46% of all organisations below the 30%average level;

— All public sector organisations have women on the board, but men still outnumber by 2:1 or moreon 97% of boards;

— Where women do work at board level they are likely to be over 50 and White British, with onlyone in 10 from another ethnic grouping other than White British.

Recommendations:

— Need better data collection about the boards of public and private sector organisations as a wayto evaluate regional economic progress.

— To support greater participation, the region might explore ways for individuals to transfer fromcommunity organisations and school boards to other types of boards.

— Support regional diversity targets.

— Measures needed to encourage greater transparency in terms of board membership.For example, identification of good role models, special targeting of boards below the regional average, toraise the standard of board diversity, exploration of the voluntary sector as a way for excluded groups toachieve board level membership.

8. South West Regional Development Agency (figures for Cornwall provided by Equality South West).145

Cornwall Authority Members Women % women

Cornwall County 82 (incl. 1 vacancy) 20 25%Caradon District 42 9 21%Carrick 47 13 28%Kerrier 44 19 43%North Cornwall 35 9 26%Penwith 35 12 34%Restormel 11 45 24%

Yorkshire Forward146

9. The Yorkshire Report 2008, published by BDO Stoy Hayward notes that the number of womenattaining Board positions has actually fallen in 2008 in Yorkshire, against a backdrop of rising board levelappointments across the country. Yorkshire Forward has recently commissioned some national research bythe National Local Government Network which will assess the representation of all diverse groups on publicsector boards. The information will be disaggregated regionally, and Yorkshire Forward will use theinformation to develop activity that will address the deficit in the region. In addition, Yorkshire Forward isworking with local partners to establish a high level senior women’s network based in the region. Thisnetwork will be made up of women who are either are CEO or Director level, who maybe self employed, inthe public or private sector. Its aim is to establish a forum whereby women of the same level can share bestpractice and discuss specific issues.

144 Birmingham City University, October 2007, Equalities Mapping Work—Women in Public Appointment. Report to emdaand Government OYce for the East Midlands (GOEM).

145 Equality South West website.146 BDO Stoy Hayward, 2008, The Yorkshire Report.



Devolved Administrations

Northern Ireland

10. 17% of the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) (18 out of 108) are women.147 Thisrepresents the lowest number of women in an elected institution across all national administrations. At locallevel, 21% of councillors are women. Interestingly, 47% of the judiciary are women, although this numberdrops significantly to 23% when one excludes lay magistrates.

Scottish Parliament

11. In 2007–08, female representation of the Scottish Parliament was 34.1%.148 This represents a decreasefrom a previous high of 39.5% from 2003–05.

Welsh Assembly

12. The latest data shows that there is 34% female representation in the Welsh Assembly. This does nottake into account January 2009 appointments.149 As with the Scottish Parliament, this represents a declineas between 2003–06, when representation was steady between 50-51%.

Conclusion:

13. Overall, across the English Regions and the Devolved Administrations, the representation of womenis low, especially within those areas where participation rates have decreased in recent years. What comesacross strongly when one reads such figures and publications is the patchy information available and a lackof a common approach in terms of measurement. There appears to be scant analysis as to why this situationexists and how it can be addressed.

2. Women and enterprise

14. Women are the largest under-represented group in enterprise in the country, being half as likely as mento start a business and representing just 27% of the self-employed.150 In contrast, there are 20% more peoplein enterprise in the US than in Britain, and the majority of that gap is made up of women. Getting morewomen entrepreneurs is an economic issue not just an equality issue. If the UK were to match US levels ofwomen’s enterprise there would be 900,000 new businesses in the UK.151

15. However we should not underestimate the positive impact Government’s support to women inenterprise. Programmes which target women and adapt support structures to meet their needs have beenessential to increasing numbers of women starting and growing businesses.

16. In times of economic uncertainty, supporting businesses and developing new opportunities remainsa priority. Women are under-represented in the business world, and if we can encourage more femaleentrepreneurship at this time, a stronger and more diverse foundation for the country’s future economycould arise.

Women and business: self-employment

17. Women enter self-employment for a number of diVerent reasons. These cover the wish to work foroneself, pursue a particular ambition or achieve a better work-life balance. Whatever the reason, one couldsay that they face challenges similar to those in public and corporate life.

18. Challenges:

— attitude to risk;

— advice;

— lack of networks;

— lack of role models; and

— lack of mentors.

147 Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, 2007, Statement on Key Inequalities in Northern Ireland.148 Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2008, Sex and Power.149 Figures provided by cross-RDA/ DA group on women’s enterprise, January 2009.150 Prowess National Policy Centre, 2008, Key Facts about Women-Owned Businesses.151 Quote by Gareth Thomas MP, 2008, at launch of Prowess National Policy Centre at No.11 Downing Street.



Attitude to risk

19. A key issue for many people wanting to set up a business, but particularly for women, is their attitudeto risk. For example, women often tend to underplay the importance and value of their business, particularlywhen looking for finance. As an example, women use only one third of the starting capital that men do,irrespective of size or sector.152 Women, especially during this period of economic downturn, could bedescribed as being more risk aware. The nature of the way in which some women start and grow andbusinesses supports this argument as they often start oV small-scale and part-time. This approach, one couldsuggest would not appeal to banks which like to see businesses grow and expand rapidly—such supportstructures therefore do not assist the way in which women start businesses which can often lead tomisunderstandings when women approach banks for funding. One could make comparisons to women inparliament in so far as traditional models of working have not been reviewed and adapted in line with thedemands of modern work practices.

Advice

20. The choice of targeted female-focused business support is important to women. The National Councilfor Graduate Entrepreneurship (NGCE) reports that 98% of women chose to participate in their Women’sFlying Start Programme because it was women-only.153 Similarly 98% of women involved in the pioneeringEnterprising Women initiative said women specific support was either important or very important to them(NGCE and Enterprising Women).154

Networks

21. Women entrepreneurs often do not have access to the sort of networks from which many businessmenbenefit—whether they are professional, or, for example, through attending certain schools or participatingin certain sporting activities. So women entrepreneurs have had to create their own. In addition to this,networking events at local and regional level, established by business clubs or supported by RDAs addressthis gap and often form a key part of any conference aimed at women entrepreneurs.

Role models: Women Ambassadors

22. In 2007, the then BERR Minister of State for Industry, Margaret Hodge launched a “WomenAmbassadors” programme. Known as “Spark” the aim of the programme, was to recruit up to 1,000 femaleentrepreneurs with RDAs and Enterprise Insight. These volunteers would then go out into theircommunities and inspire other women to set up in business. The presence of successful role models isrecognised as an important issue for women in the early stages of the start-up process and can often providethe confidence and self-belief which is often seen as a barrier for women in enterprise.

Mentoring

23. In September 2008, the PNPC published a report “Women’s Enterprise Mentoring 2008”.155 Thereport was a direct outcome of the Government’s Enterprise Strategy “Enterprise Unlocking the UK’stalent” published in March 2008.

“Access to quality mentoring is particularly valued by women starting and growing an enterprise.Mentoring helps them to build belief in a positive vision for the development and growth of theirbusiness and provides a conduit to business support and information”.

BERR subsequently established a steering group to champion a National Women’s Enterprise MentoringNetwork (NWEMN) and to develop proposals for how it could integrate and add value to existingmentoring provision across the English regions.

Women and business: the corporate world

24. A recent report by Gavurin Intelligence156 states that when women represent 30% of the Board ofDirectors the profitability of the company increases threefold. Yet a study by McKinsey & Company157 inEurope states that women represent only 11% of membership of governing bodies of listed companies. Amere general increase in the number of female graduates employed will have little eVect on the gender gapat senior level. Many countries agree that more needs to be done, but lack the political will to put in placeeven temporary measures to address the issue. Norway leads the field in taking proactive measures toincrease the number of Board level positions to 44.2%. Women often face a “double burden” of work and

152 Prowess National Policy Centre, 2008, Key Facts about Women-Owned Businesses.153 Prowess National Policy Centre, 2008, Key Facts about Women-Owned Businesses.154 Prowess National Policy Centre, 2008, Key Facts about Women-Owned Businesses.155 Prowess National Policy Centre, 2008, Executive Summary—Women’s Enterprise Mentoring.156 Gavurin Intelligence, 2008, Women Executives in the UK.157 McKinsey & Company, 2007, Women Matter: Gender Diversity, a corporate performance driver.



domestic responsibilities. The McKinsey study suggests that women fail to promote themselves and also donot tend to assert their ambitions, abilities, contribution and performance. This combined with a lack offemale role models at senior level creates a serious set of obstacles for women to overcome when seeking toclimb the corporate ladder.

25. Yet, many large companies recognise these challenges and are taking action. For example, the FTSE-100 has a Cross-Company Mentoring scheme which brings together female high-fliers and the heads of largecompanies for mentoring and discussions on new career prospects. A similar scheme operates in France forthe CAC-40.

26. Undoubtedly there are numerous schemes in operation across the corporate world, however theymust be fully supported at CEO level in order for them to be truly eVective and rectify the gender imbalance.

3. Conclusions:

— Recognise that to create inclusive polices, all sections of communities need to be engaged. Womenin particular need the advice and role models, networks and mentors which will enable many ofthem to take the next step in terms of public appointments, senior management positions incorporations and into self-employment.

— Better data collection and monitoring required. The evidence presented above suggests that data,where available, is not collated in a coherent manner. Public bodies must show that they are makingeVorts to fulfil its obligations under the Gender Equality Duty. For example, the RegionalKnowledge System in Yorkshire & Humberside will help provide more accurate information byproviding disaggregated information on specific sectors such as women and BME groups.

Recommendations:

— Proactive approaches which target both suitable women and address structural barriers whichrestrict women’s progress, can be necessary. A similar two tier approach may help to enable morewomen to enter parliament.

— Ensure that the Gender Equality Duty is adhered to, not only by public bodies. Although it doesnot apply to the House of Commons, its principles should be adhered to and across the privatesector as a whole.

— Suggest that RDAs and Devolved Administrations commission reports similar to emda andimplement recommendations through diversity action plans which form part of organisations KeyPerformance Indicators (KPIs).

— As illustrated in the corporate sector, positive action is being taken to improve the genderimbalance through the establishment of mentoring schemes. The Prowess National Policy Centrerecommends that a National Women’s Enterprise Mentoring Network be established to providetop-level marketing, sign-posting and advice, combined with training, development and a bestpractice forum for those delivering mentoring systems. Only by putting in place such networks andschemes will women be able to fully access the type of support they need which will help them tosucceed in their chosen fields.

References

BDO Stoy Hayward, 2008, The Yorkshire Report.

Birmingham City University, October 2007, Equalities Mapping Work—Women in Public Appointment.Report to emda and Government OYce for the East Midlands (GOEM).

Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2008, Sex and Power.

Equality South West website www.equalitysouthwest.org.uk

Equality Commission of Northern Ireland, 2007, Statement on Key Inequalities in Northern Ireland.

Figures provided by cross-RDA/ DA group on women’s enterprise, January 2009.

Gavurin Intelligence, 2008, Women Executives in the UK (attached as pdf).

McKinsey & Company, 2007, Women Matter: Gender Diversity, a corporate performance driver.

Prowess National Policy Centre, 2008, Executive Summary—Women’s Enterprise Mentoring.

Prowess National Policy Centre, 2008, Key Facts about Women-Owned Businesses.

Quote by Gareth Thomas MP, 2008, at launch of Prowess National Policy Centre at No 11 Downing Street.



Supplementary submission from the Equality and Diversity Forum (SC–58)

EDF has submitted its response to the Speaker’s Conference158 but could I feed in an additional concernraised by Friends, Families and Travellers—one of EDF’s members—see below:

“I was interested to see the EDF submission to the Speaker’s Conference and note that on theagenda for the Conference is to: ‘Consider and make recommendations for rectifying the disparitybetween the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House ofCommons and their representation in the UK population at large’. I wonder if, in this discussion,some thought could be given to the extent to which Gypsies and Travellers are involved (or ratherare not involved) in democratic processes. So far as I am aware there are no Members of Parliamentfrom the Gypsy and Traveller communities and among the tens of thousands of local authorityCouncillors I only know of Councillor Candy Sheridan from North Norfolk, who is an IrishTraveller. This is social exclusion at its most extreme and until positive action is taken to encourageGypsies and Travellers to vote and to participate in local democratic structures and mechanismsI fear that they will remain a marginalised and largely overlooked minority. Best wishes, ChrisWhitwell”

I understand that the remit of the Conference is at present limited to race, gender and disability butwonder whether taking a broad view of race and ethnicity would allow the Conference to include theseconcerns.

Submission by the Leonard Cheshire Disability (SC–59)

Summary of Response

— In putting together this response we sent a survey to our Campaigns Network and other interesteddisabled people asking for their views. We received 57 responses, 46 from disabled people. Theirviews and experiences inform this response.

— There are over 10 million disabled people in the UK. Disabled people are twice as likely to live inpoverty, twice as likely to be out of work and significantly less likely to go on to further and highereducation. All three of these can be barriers to involvement in politics.

— An increase in the number of disabled MPs in Parliament would lead to an increase in theaccessibility of Parliament and its processes; legislation that better serves disabled people;legislation that benefits from an increase in the diversity of views, opinions and experiences of lawmakers; and the negative attitudes that many disabled people face about their abilities would bechallenged.

— The low numbers of disabled MPs, the problems with accessibility, the lack of understanding aboutdisability amongst current MPs, and the policies and attitudes of all political parties andgovernment towards disabled people create a feeling of alienation. Many disabled people simplydo not feel welcome by the political system.

— Despite being active in their communities many disabled people do not consider standing forelection because they do not have enough information about how to do so, what it costs, thequalifications they need and the responsibilities of elected oYcials. They worry that theirimpairment would provoke a negative reaction from voters. And where they are members ofpolitical parties they do not feel they would get the support they need to stand for election.

— It seems that it is both deciding to stand and being selected by your party that are the key barriersto election, more than the attitudes of voters.

— The government should both address wider inequalities disabled people face within society, andactively promote standing for oYce to disabled people.

— Political parties should do all that they can to recruit and support disabled members, includingmaking sure that they and their meetings are fully accessible and mentoring potential candidates.

— Success should be measured through the number of disabled MPs.

Q1: Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of diVerent groups insociety?

1. A majority of our respondents felt, and Leonard Cheshire Disability agrees, that there are problemscaused by the low number of disabled MPs.

158 Submission SC–26.



Q2. If so, what are those problems?

2. Our respondents highlighted the following as problems that would be solved if there were a greaternumber of disabled MPs:

3. Accessibility: Accessibility is not just about access to buildings but also access to information,published materials and often the attitude of non-disabled people who can make it easier or harder fordisabled people to be included. Currently there are a number of barriers to disabled people moving aroundthe Parliamentary Estate. Others pointed to the sometimes arcane language and obscure parliamentaryprotocol which can make Parliamentary business and government legislation diYcult to follow. These leavemany people, not just disabled people, adrift from the parliamentary process. By making Parliament moreaccessible, more disabled people could visit, work in and be elected to House of Commons. This increasedinterest and engagement could in turn lead to more disabled people wanting to stand for Parliament.

4. Our respondents felt that if there were a greater number of disabled MPs these access issues would beresolved, and they would be resolved much sooner.

5. Policy Making: many respondents feel that government policies and legislation do not adequatelyunderstand many disabled people’s experiences:

“If there were more disabled MPs, disabled people would have a stronger voice. I don’t think non-disabled MPs really understand the challenges we face in our daily lives”.

6. There was a general view amongst respondents that an increase in the number of disabled people wouldlead to better laws, not just for disabled people, but also the wider population.

“I think that diversity in any group strengthens that group and would be more beneficial than not”.

7. Other respondents pointed out that simply electing a disabled MP does not mean that he or she willfocus on disability issues. There was anger amongst some that those disabled MPs who had been elected,were not seen to have done much for disabled people.

8. Leonard Cheshire Disability would agree that disabled MPs wouldn’t necessarily reflect, work on, oreven support wider disability issues. Each MP has his or her own priorities and it would be a mistake toassume that a disabled MP’s views and opinions would be defined by their impairment. Disabled peoplehave strong views and opinions on issues other than disability.

9. However we believe that it is essential for the number of disabled MPs to improve, regardless of theirpolitical views, to increase the pool of expertise, talents, experience and diversity in Parliament.

10. Representation: Some respondents pointed to the negative attitudes that they face:

“I think too many non-disabled people regard us as either deserving of pity or getting too much—free parking etc. We are bullied, shouted at in the street, some of us even murdered.”

“We are often made to feel like we have no brains because our legs don’t work, also we havenothing positive to say or anything productive to say”.

11. They argued, and Leonard Cheshire Disability agrees, that with more disabled MPs in positions ofresponsibility, and clearly trusted by a majority of their constituents, these negative attitudes would bechallenged.

“Having elected representatives who reflect the disabled community can not only help ourcommunity but also educate the wider able bodied community”.

Q3. Is there a relationship between these levels of representation and voter attitudes to Parliament?

12. Amongst our respondents there was a strong sense of disengagement from the political process, somesaid they didn’t feel welcome to participate in politics because they were disabled, others that they saw nopoint in engaging.

“It would be a total waste of time as far as I can see the disabled are at the bottom of the list ofgovernment priorities”.

13. Many of the problems outlined above have contributed to this sense of alienation. The ParliamentaryEstate itself remains diYcult for many disabled people, acting as both a physical and a symbolic barrier totheir participation. Some disabled people are actively disenfranchised by inaccessible polling stations. In the2005 General Election, 68% of polling stations were found to be inaccessible.159

14. Many of our respondents feel that MPs and government do not seem to understand disability andappear to have negative attitudes towards disabled people.

“They tend to consider all disabled people as uneducated, no skills, and physically or mentallyderanged which is so insulting.”

15. Where there is disability related legislation it is viewed as ineVective, in the case of the DisabilityDiscrimination Act, or actually harmful to disabled people, in the case of some measures of welfare reform.

159 “Polls apart campaign”, www.pollsapart.org.uk/2005/docs/Polls%20Apart%20report%20final.pdf



“I find it hurtful when the government criticizes disabled people for being on benefits, and takingthem away unfairly, when there is no help or support.”

16. All of this leads to a view amongst many respondents that Parliament and politics is not for them.

“A lot of disabled people do not think they would ever get the chance to “stand” in the hallowedhalls of Parliament.”

17. This feeling was expressed in a number of ways. Some respondents felt that all politicians, whetherdisabled or not, were only out for themselves. Others had been disappointed when they had visited the Houseof Commons only to find parts of it inaccessible. It simply hadn’t occurred to others that they could run foroYce, because they didn’t see disabled people doing so.

18. We asked in our survey whether an increase in disabled MPs would make respondents more or lesslikely to vote in elections. About a third always voted, another third said it wouldn’t make a diVerence, butone third would be more likely to vote if there were more disabled MPs.

“I would have more confidence that my vote would count.”

Q4. What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomemembers of Parliament:

Q4a. Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election?

19. Almost all of our respondents had campaigned on issues at local and national levels. Others hadachieved change through their community involvement including, advising the local hospital on disabilityissues, or being Chair of their Community Liaison Board. Yet only a few had ever considered standing foroYce and almost all of those had decided against.

“I feel that my disability wouldn’t help because of the way it aVects my life and because I thinkpeople wouldn’t believe in me so much if they were aware of my disability.”

“I did not feel that there would be enough support in terms of access to buildings and equipmentI may need or physical assistance to fulfil a role of local councillor”.

“I thought it was going to cost a lot of money to stand in an election and it is only for the wealthy.”

“I was unsure of being able to get around, and whether that would be a disadvantage to mypolitical group, and supporters, I would not want to let them down.”

“Costs—I have no way of being able to fund any campaign as I’m on benefits, Plus I’m unsure ifthat was a barrier to entitlement to stand as I need help. Plus being a scrounger doesn’t help”

“Late meetings and unsuitable venues”

“Don’t think I know enough about the system”.

“Can’t make my mind up what political party to stand for!”

“I have always thought of entering parliament due to my passion for disabled people, but, wouldit be worth it and do they listen to people like me!”

“Terrible access for wheelchairs to almost all venues… Unable to reach an alarmingly largemajority of house front doors… ”

“I am not sure of the process I would need to go through to stand for election either locally ornationally.

“I cannot accept oYce in any capacity as there is no access to work entitlement and as a full timewheelchair user and someone who requires a hoist for my wheelchair to be put into my adapted car,I would require reasonable adjustments and the local town hall replacing and making accessible forme to take part in any committee meetings or enter council chambers.”

“Would love to but—mobility problems and financially I’m trying to survive on incapacity benefit”

Q4b. Or, if they do,Why aren’t more of them selected?

20. Of the three respondents who had put their name forward to be selected, only one was successful. Theother two reported a very negative selection experience, with their local party not understanding and notmaking adjustments for their impairment during the process itself, and the negative attitude of other partymembers:

“There was a distinct lack of awareness for participation of people with disabilities. Access forwheelchair users was covered, but no thought was given to people with mobility needs orsupportive seating needs. When it came to hidden disabilities, we might of well not existed, therewas a complete lack of understanding of flooring & acoustics of hearing impaired people. Peoplewith sight impairments fared no better as they were no priority places at the front of the meetingfor anyone apart from dignitaries or press or contributors. Signers etc, could not operate as thepeople they were supporting were generally spread all over the place and in the back areas, which



meant that the communicators and signers were struggling to hear or see what was going on….[As]a result, I have not been interested in any further involvement as taking part required so much hardwork, personal eVort and expense.”

Q4c. Or, if they are,Why aren’t more of them elected?

21. Of our respondents only one has been elected to oYce and now serves as Borough Councillor.

“I enjoyed the experience of being a candidate, and received a great deal of support from my localparty… I got a very positive reaction from the voters, with one exception…A middle aged manactually came up to me, put his hand on my arm and asked if he really thought I could do the job.I politely assured him that I felt I was as good as anyone for the job.”

22. Of the other respondents, there were two or three who stood for other posts, such as chair or theirlocal residents association, and they too were elected.

23. On this anecdotal evidence, Leonard Cheshire Disability would suggest that there seems no reasonwhy disabled people wouldn’t be elected, once they’d been selected. Instead the sticking points for disabledpeople being elected are having the knowledge and confidence to put their names forward and then beingselected by their political party.

24. Other respondents voiced concerns that voters wouldn’t vote for a disabled candidate, or that adisabled candidate would be subject to particularly negative attacks during the campaign. One respondentexpressed the fear that the opposition and the media would “draw out maggoty slurs” against disabledcandidates. These fears may also be a reason why disabled people are reluctant to stand for election in thefirst place.

Q5. What are the problems and practical diYculties encountered—at any point in the process of selection andelection—by members of these underrepresented groups who are looking to become MPs?

25. See paragraph 20.

Q6. What actions could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation?

26. A range of actions have been suggested by respondents as ways in which the numbers of disabled MPscould be increased:

“The government should encourage disabled people to stand for oYce, make them feel welcome”

27. There was some support for a quota for disabled MPs, reserving some seats as seats for disabledpeople, or establishing all-disabled short lists. There was also some strong opposition to “positivediscrimination”.

28. One respondent suggested a job share so that two part time MPs could do the job of one full time MP,this may involve the election of a joint ticket. Another suggested the introduction of a “trial period”.

29. Other respondents looked at more radical solutions such as allowing MPs to vote when they are awayfrom the Commons through a virtual lobby. This would circumvent the problems of an inaccessible publictransport system, the diYculties of finding accessible accommodation whilst in London and the problemsof access at the Palace of Westminster.

30. Another idea was to move Parliament outside of London so that it would be easier to get to. This toowould tackle the diYculties of travelling to and from, and staying in London.

31. One respondent called for there to be “a disability ministry staVed totally by disabled people andtheir carers”.

32. ”Disabled people would actively become more involved if they could see the government enforcingthe DDA. The DDA should be taken as seriously as Health and Safety Laws.”

This would demonstrate to disabled people that the government listens to them rather than simply“paying lip service to them” and in making society more accessible, ensure that disabled people would beable to take part on an equal basis in politics and the political process.

33. Leonard Cheshire Disability would argue that the government must show disabled people thatgovernment is there for them, if disabled people are to consider standing for oYce. It can do this boththrough not acting in ways that lead to disabled people feeling excluded, and acting in ways that activelylead to disabled people’s inclusion.

34. At the broadest level this will mean reforming the way the Disability Discrimination Act is enforcedso that the burden of ensuring service providers and others comply in making their services accessible doesnot fall on individual disabled people, but rather the state. It is hoped that this will remove the accessibilitybarrier that many disabled people face in deciding whether or not to stand for oYce and in their day today lives.



35. The government should also instigate a public information and publicity campaign to promotestanding for oYce, targeted at under represented groups, showing them that Parliament and elected oYceis for them. Information about what standing for oYce entails and what the responsibilities and roles ofelected representatives are should be freely and easily available.

36. The government should also review what support is available for disabled MPs. For instance is Accessto Work, which pays for reasonable adjustments in the workplace, available to disabled MPs? Or coulddisabled MPs have an extra parliamentary allowance to pay for the adjustments they will need to be ableto fulfil their role as an MP?

Q7. What actions have been, or could be, taken by political parties, campaigning groups and others toaddress disparities in representation?

37. One of the main barriers to disabled people standing for oYce is a belief that it is not for them andthey are not wanted. Very few respondents were members of political parties and the low numbers ofindependent elected representatives suggest they would find it diYcult to get elected any other way.

38. Respondents to the survey suggested a number of actions political parties could take that could leadto an increase in the number of disabled MPs:

— 39. Actively recruit new disabled members by “advertising more and put disabled members in thepublic eye to let people know there are active disabled members and what they do.”

— 40. ”Get their access issues sorted out (conferences, premises) and advertise more widely, makingit clear that disabled people are welcomed and will be considered, just the same as everyone else”.

— 41. Be flexible and imaginative in their approach to disabled members, and work with them toovercome any barriers they face to full and active party membership. Ensure their policies andpractices are accessible and that opportunities to act as local party oYcials are open, fair andaccessible.

— 42. Provide equality training for local branches to ensure that disabled members are treated fairly.“Sometimes [the party made adjustments] but often there was a lack of knowledge about howdiYcult it might be to get to meetings or take part in events that are often held in venues withoutdisabled access. Ignorance really.”

— 43. Provide training and support for disabled members whishing to stand for elected oYce,including mentoring by current elected representatives and work shadowing schemes.

— 44. “Actively encouraging and supporting people and aiding them to overcome issues such ascanvassing where access can be a real issue—especially on house to house calling”. Our respondentwho was successfully elected to her borough council, switched from door-to-door canvassing tophone canvassing.

— 45. “I think that what would really make a diVerence would be changing the electoral system tosome form of proportional representation. This might allow political parties of and for disabledpeople to compete eVectively with the established parties.”

— 46. “Disability Organisations put forward candidates across the country”

47. Leonard Cheshire Disability supports the recommendations above which are focused on making thecurrent political parties more accessible and more welcoming to disabled people.

48. Without more disabled people joining political parties, being encouraged to put their names forwardfor selection and then being selected there will not be an increase in the number of disabled MPs. Politicalparties must show disabled people why joining is relevant to them and then ensure that disabled people aremade to feel welcome, and support and encourage them to take part in public life. Political parties shouldalso recognise that being fully accessible and open to disabled people will allow them to engage with animportant and active group of voters.

49. The emergence of new political parties as a strong elected force is rare. It may be that over time smallerparties, such as the Green Party or UKIP or a new disability party will emerge to become more powerfulinfluences at Westminster. However this is something that will be determined by voters.

Q8. How can the success of such actions be measured?

50. The first measurement will be the number of disabled MPs in Parliament. This will require MPs todeclare their disability, either openly or through an anonymous survey.

51. Becoming an MP doesn’t take place over night, there are several “feeder routes” along which manyaspiring MPs travel. It would be useful to know how many disabled members of political parties there are,how many disabled local councillors there are, how many MPs employ disabled staV, and how many staVemployed by the political parties are disabled. An increase in the number of disabled people in thesecategories over time, would hopefully lead to an increase in the number of disabled MPs in the long term.



Leonard Cheshire Disability supports over 21,000 disabled people in the UK and works in 52 countries.We campaign for change and provide innovative services that give disabled people the opportunity to livelife their way.

Submission by London Councils (SC–60)

Summary

— London Councils has been running a campaign to encourage more women and people fromminority ethnic backgrounds into local politics

— Local politics is the feeder pool for national politics, therefore, some of the evidence from the “Bea Councillor” campaign may usefully be applied to the disparity of representation in the House ofCommons

— Our experience shows that for people not in contact with their local constituency party, there is alack of awareness that (a) there is a local constituency party oYce and (b) it is through this structurethat candidates are selected by parties to represent them. This includes people who are paid upmembers of the national party.

— There is a pool of people active in their community and willing to stand as candidates who aremotivated primarily not by politics but by a desire to improve their community in some way.Although such people may say they want to be an “independent” political representative, thereality is that they are undecided as to which party they would want to represent and/or they donot perceive themselves as “politicians”. This pool is an untapped resource for the political partiesparticularly as it includes a large proportion of women and people from an ethnic minoritybackground

— The way that the local party treats people who are encouraged to enquire at their local constituencyoYce about getting involved in political life is really important. Many women and people from anethnic minority background lack confidence in their own abilities and might easily be discouragedby an indiVerent response

— An issue with which physically disabled candidates in particular contend is the emphasis ondoorstep campaigning and delivering leaflets. In addition, local parties often meet in inaccessiblepremises such as back rooms of pubs, village halls or clubhouses

1. Introduction

1.1 London Councils is submitting this statement of evidence to the Speaker’s Conference based on theintelligence it has received as a result of running a campaign to encourage more women and people fromminority ethnic backgrounds to become councillors.

1.2 Local politics is the feeder pool for national politics with many councillors going on to become MPs.Therefore, some of the evidence from our “Be a Councillor” campaign may usefully be applied to thedisparity of representation in the House of Commons.

1.3 Many of the reasons for women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds being under-represented in council chambers are the same as the reasons for under-representation in the House ofCommons.

1.4 London Councils is a cross-party organisation, primarily funded and run by the capital’s 33 councilsto work on behalf of them all, regardless of political persuasion.

2. About the “Be a councillor” campaign

2.1 London Councils launched the “Be a Councillor” campaign in the capital in June 2008. The campaignuses the website www.beacouncillor.org.uk, a telephone hotline and accompanying printed information todisseminate information. The campaign has received 1,500 enquiries from members of the public andthousands of information booklets have been requested by the London boroughs for distribution to theirresidents.

2.2 The key to the success of our Be a Councillor campaign has been the involvement of councillors fromacross the political spectrum throughout London who have spread the message by talking to their localmedia and residents about why they became councillors and their own experiences. Advertisements andstories in local newspapers and council magazines have also helped to generate interest in being a councillor,as have the very popular information seminars organised by the Be a Councillor campaign and variousLondon boroughs.



3. Understanding of how to get involved in local politics

3.1 Our experience shows that providing detailed information about being a local councillor is notsuYcient. A large number of people who received our information and, most importantly, subsequentlydecided that being a councillor was something they want to commit to, got back in contact with thecampaign asking what their first step should be. Indeed, one of the most common questions asked by peopleattending our seminars is “ok, I’m interested—what do I do now?”.

3.2 For people not in contact with their local constituency party, there is a lack of awareness that (a) thereis a local constituency oYce and (b) it is through this structure that candidates are selected by parties torepresent them.

3.3 Frequently, people who have come into contact with the campaign say their motivation is a desire toimprove their local community and that they want to be an “independent” councillor. When furtherquestioned they often reveal that their desire to be an “independent” candidate is based on an indecision asto which party they would want to represent rather than a desire to be truly “independent” of any politicalparty, and/or because they do not see themselves as “politicians”. This should be of concern to those of usinvolved in encouraging participation in local democracy and to the political parties themselves who maystruggle to identify local people who are willing to stand but who are not motivated primarily by politics.

4. Buy-in from the parties locally

4.1 The way that the local party treats people who are encouraged to enquire at their local constituencyoYce about getting involved in political life is really important.

4.2 People may make an approach to their local oYce but, because of their lack of confidence in the way“politics” works, become disheartened if the reception they get is lukewarm or indiVerent. While tenacity isa trait a good potential politician will display, many women and people from an ethnic minority backgroundlack confidence in their own abilities and might easily be discouraged by an indiVerent response.

4.3 There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that some local party members are not prepared toconsider people who are diVerent from their norm. To some extent this is always going to be the nature ofthe world and there is a degree of self-preservation that is perhaps unavoidable. However, the level of publicinterest in the Be a Councillor campaign suggests that if local selection committees are outward looking,they may find the pool of potential candidates bigger than they expected.

5. Disabled people

5.1 An issue with which physically disabled candidates in particular contend is the emphasis on doorstepcampaigning and delivering leaflets. Marie Pye, a councillor in Waltham Forest, explained to us that: “Mymobility goes up and down so getting out and knocking on doors can wipe me out. Physically it can be veryhard going… There is no formal assistance for when I need to canvass, it’s not like being in work—there isno “access to work scheme”. I rely on my fellow councillors a lot, and we work things out locally”.

5.2 In addition, local parties often meet in inaccessible premises such as back rooms of pubs, village hallsor clubhouses.160

6. Actions being taken elsewhere

6.1 A sister project to the “Be a councillor” campaign, called Project 2010 has been run by the PoliticalSkills Forum and the Leadership Centre for Local Government. This project has been examining howpolitical parties select candidates. The project has involved working with local party groups (in Londonconstituencies) examining how they can identify local talent to serve and highlighting examples of goodpractice in encouraging a wider range of the local population to become councillors.

6.2 London boroughs themselves have undertaken some action to encourage under-represented groupsto come forward and stand in local elections. For example, Kensington and Chelsea and Ealing councilsrecently ran information events illustrating the role of councillors as part of the annual “Local DemocracyWeek” in October. The events, at which serving councillors spoke about how they first got involved and theirexperiences as councillors, were well attended—Kensington and Chelsea saw over 60 borough residentsattend and Ealing had around 90 attendees.

6.3 In addition, there is the work of the Government BAME Women Councillors Taskforce which hasbeen holding workshops educating and encouraging BAME women to become councillors. Theseworkshops have been held around the UK attracting 80 to 100 women to each event.

160 Points also made by national disability organisation Scope in their response to the Councillors Commission, July 2007.



7. How can success be measured?

7.1 An evaluation of the campaign will take place later this year with a sample of 1,000 Londoners whocame into contact with the Be a Councillor campaign (either ordering booklets or attending a seminar). Thesurvey will ascertain whether they went further in their ambition to be a councillor, if so what actions theytook and if not why not etc. It will also collect some of the missing ethnic/age/gender data.

Submission by the Minister for Women and Equality (SC–61)

Foreword

The House of Commons is the heart of our representative democracy. But to represent the British people,the House of Commons must reflect the British people. This means not just reflecting our geographicdiVerences, but also our diversity in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and social class.

If the question for the Speaker’s Conference is, “How eVectively does Parliament reflect our nation?”,then the answer must be not very well. There are five times as many male MPs as women MPs. Black, Asianand minority ethnic citizens are four times less likely to become MPs as white citizens.

Our belief in equality, fairness and justice does not stop at the entrance to the House of Commons. Wewill tackle discrimination and prejudice and discrimination wherever it is found, and this includes on ourown doorstep.

Fairer representation will help to promote confidence in our democratic institutions and could help tacklevoter apathy. The election in 2008 of the first black US President reaYrmed, renewed and reinvigoratedAmerican democracy, even before Barack Obama set foot in the White House.

A more representative House of Commons will also help inform debate and improve decision making. Itwill also ensure we are examining the real issues which concern the British people. It was the 1997 intake ofwomen MPs which put issues like childcare on the political map.

For these and other reasons, a more representative House of Commons is not just a nicety, it is a necessity.

The Government has already taken steps to improve representation. We have brought forward legislationto allow women-only shortlists. We outlawed discrimination on the grounds of disability, sexual orientationand religion or belief. As announced in the New Opportunities White paper, we are considering legislatingto tackle the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage.

But Government action alone is not enough. In agreeing to convene this conference, Mr Speaker has takenan historic step forward in the drive to bring Parliament into the 21st century. For hundreds of years, everysingle MP in this country was white and male. We have come a long way but there is still much further togo. There are diYcult issues for this conference to face, but I hope they will be tackled head on. For thereis a huge prize at stake: securing the democratic mandate of the House of Commons for many hundreds ofyears to come.

Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP, Minister for Women and Equality

Executive Summary

Democratic institutions exist to represent the British people. But to represent the British people, they mustreflect the British people. This document explores the reasons behind under-representation, examines theexisting barriers to diversity and exposes the various actions already being taken to address these problemsby the Government.

1. The benefits of more diversity in public and political life

More diversity in public life will bring three important benefits:

— Fairer representation: our democratic institutions will mirror the communities they serve whichmeans they will be more able to debate issues with the full range of views represented;

— Better decision making: our democratic institutions will be more able to make decisions that benefitthe whole community; and

— Wider participation: a wider range of individuals in the community will become involved in publicor political life, contributing their thoughts, views and ideas on issues which aVect them.



2. The barriers to getting involved

Operation Black Vote, Fawcett Society, and the Councillors Commission have published reports citing anumber of factors limiting the involvement of underrepresented groups in political life, including:

— Personal barriers— many people want to participate but don’t have the confidence either to putthemselves forward for election, or to deal with the media scrutiny that comes with a public role;

— Cultural barriers—including the lack of role models for under-represented groups

— Practical barriers—work and family commitments can be diYcult to juggle with the long hourskeeping Council meetings or in Parliament. Infrastructural issues, such as transport are aparticular issue for disabled people;

— Institutional barriers—including the selection and election processes, and the ways in whichParliament and Councils operate;

— Financial barriers—lack of investment from political parties, and lower economic levelsexperienced by underrepresented groups

We are aware that socio-economic background impacts on an individual’s ability to overcome thesebarriers. It is not surprising that under-represented groups including women, Black, Asian and disabledpeople are amongst the least well-oV in society. Individuals from better-oV backgrounds can feel moreconfident about taking the financial risks associated with standing for election, are in a stronger position toraise the finance required, and better able to aVord childcare or to reduce the hours they work.

To increase the number of women, disabled and Black, Asian and minority ethnic MPs, socio-economicdisadvantage as a root cause of under-representation also needs to be addressed.

3. Government action

The Government has taken a number of steps to increase diversity in public life:

— We introduced the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 so that political parties can,if they wish, take special measures to boost the number of women candidates in elections;

— We gave the Commissioner for Public Appointments new powers to take steps to promote diversityin the appointments procedures within her remit;

— We established a cross party Taskforce to increase the numbers of ethnic minority women localcouncillors;

— We announced that we will set targets on gender, race and disability in public appointments;

— We published a white paper on Lords reform and are considering measures for increasing diversityin the second chamber.

In addition, the forthcoming Equality Bill will:

— Extend the time available to political parties to use women-only shortlists;

— Include a broad range of positive action provisions that will allow political parties and publicbodies to take a range of steps to encourage involvement amongst under-represented groups.

Government is also taking more wide-reaching action:

— The New Opportunities White Paper was published on 13 January 2009. As a part of this, we areconsidering legislating to tackle the inequalities associated with socio-economic disadvantage;

— We established the National Equality Panel chaired by John Hills, which is exploring how familybackground interacts with characteristics like your race, age and gender to impact on life chances.

— We are committed to launching the “Take Part” programme to develop the skills and self-confidence of would-be councillors; taking forward new powers to allow more flexible ways ofattending meetings and more financial support to take on senior councillor roles;

— Introduced a new strand in the secondary curriculum so students learn about how modern Britainhas been shaped by, and continues to be shaped by, political, social, economic and cultural changes;

— published the “Review of Voting Systems: the experience of new voting systems in the UnitedKingdom”;

4. Action taken internationally

There is much we can learn from other countries on how to tackle under-representation. With 125 womenMPs, the UK is ranked 60th out of 189 countries by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and 16th out of the EUmember states. This document therefore examines the range of interventions used. These include quotas,reserved seats, and involvement of women’s organisations.



1. The benefits of more diversity in public and political life

(i) Better quality debate on issues that aVect everyone

Democratic institutions which mirror the diversity in society will be better placed to make decisions thatbenefit whole communities. That is why we need to ensure that all groups—ethnic minorities, disabledpeople, women, lesbian, gay and bisexual people and others—are properly represented in our local councilsand in Parliament. But in Parliament alone, to achieve that balance, there would need to be around 65 ethnicminority MPs and approximately 330 women MPs. There are currently 15 ethnic minority MPs and125 women MPs.

It is a first principle of any democracy that every individual must have the same right to be involved inpublic life. Unfair barriers not only deprive certain individuals of their human rights, it undermines ourdemocracy and weakens our society. A more diverse House of Commons which taps the nation’s talents willensure that decisions are made which benefit everyone.

If elected representatives are not as diverse as the populations they represent it is likely to “reducethe quality and variety of debate and to reduce legitimacy in the eyes of constituents” —(ProfessorJean Hartley and Professor John Benington of the Institute of Governance and PublicManagement at Warwick Business School , Hartley and Benington, 2006)”.1

(ii) Better decisions that benefit the whole community

A more diverse Parliament has the potential to change the culture of political life and improve the qualityof policy and decision-making. A report by Hansard Society “Women at the Top:2005” showed that it wassenior women ministers who championed key policies on childcare, the extension of maternity and paternityrights, flexible working, equal pay and domestic violence.

The Councillor’s Commission, set up by the Department for Communities and Local Government,reported in December 2007 and argued strongly that there would be benefits for society as a whole if councilsbecame more representative.

The Councillor’s Commission report said that:

“councils benefit from having a range of age, background and human experience among theirelected membership which reasonably reflects their population, on two broad counts: symbolically,for notions of fairness, the importance of role models of resemblance, and enhancing trust andlegitimacy in the political process; and substantively, diVerent core interests and concerns can befed directly into the democratic process, be reflected in policy-making and can be important forsocial cohesion.”

The Councillor’s Commission report said that: “councils benefit from having a range of age, backgroundand human experience among their elected membership which reasonably reflects their population, on two broadcounts: symbolically, for notions of fairness, the importance of role models of resemblance, and enhancing trustand legitimacy in the political process; and substantively, diVerent core interests and concerns can be feddirectly into the democratic process, be reflected in policy-making and can be important for social cohesion.”

(iii) Greater involvement

There is also evidence that more diverse democratic institutions encourage greater involvement in publicand political life.

Research from the Electoral Commission showed that, in seats where a woman MP was elected in 2001,voter turnout was 4% higher amongst women than men. Evidence from two diVerent Hothouse reportssuggests that having more ethnic minority candidates would increase ethnic minority turnout in Britain. Itis certainly clear that the recent election of a black President in the US has galvanised interest in politics inthat country.

2. The barriers to getting involved and standing for election

The Fawcett Society, Operation Black Vote, OYce of Disability Issues and the Councillor’sCommission161 have published reports citing a range of factors that could limit the involvement of under-represented groups in political life. These include:

— Personal barriers—Confidence plays an important role in determining whether people move onand up the political ladder. There is a lack of role models for women in general and ethnic minoritywomen in particular. According to a Fawcett Society report, many ethnic minority women onlystep forward as councillors because someone asks them.

161 Haberis and Prendergrast, Research Report 1: Incentives and Barriers to Becoming and Remaining a Councillor—A Review ofthe UK Literature



— Cultural barriers—The political environment is less appealing to some groups than others.Councillors and party politics have negative connotations for some groups. Political debate isfrequently portrayed as needlessly aggressive and confrontational. There may also be a lack ofinterest and awareness of local government.

— Practical barriers—It can be hard for some people to oVer the time associated with the councillorrole. Civic duty has an impact on their work and family responsibilities. There is not always fairrecompense. Many women come to politics later in life. It can be diYcult to juggle caring with otherresponsibilities; and infrastructure issues such as access can act as barrier to disabled people.

— Institutional barriers—There are a number of institutional procedures and rules which caninadvertently distort representation. There are restrictions on council employees becominginvolved in politics. There is legislation that prevents political parties adopting aYrmative action.There are issues about the way political parties recruit and select election candidates.

— Financial barriers—there can be a lack of investment from political parties in women’scampaigns.162 This is particularly an issue for ethnic minority women. Income levels are loweramong some ethnic minority groups than they are for the rest of society— 55% of Pakistani andBangladeshi households are in the bottom layer of income distribution.

Research from the Councillor’s Commission identified that some of these barriers “disproportionatelydisenfranchise specific groups. For example, women often face additional time-related barriers because ofcaring responsibilities, employed people find it diYcult to balance being a councillor with work life, peoplefrom ethnic minority communities may be disproportionately aVected by barriers related to deprivation andsocial exclusion, and people with disabilities may face additional access and mobility-related barriers.”163

(See Annex B for a summary of the barriers faced by specific groups as identified in the research)

Socio-economic background impacts not just on women, but on anyone who is considering standing asa councillor or MP. Individuals from better-oV backgrounds can feel more relaxed about the financial risksassociated with standing for election. They are in a stronger position to raise the finance required to launcha successful campaign. They are more likely to be able to aVord childcare or to reduce the hours they workto attend engagements. It is therefore unsurprising that the most socially disadvantaged groups are the mostdemocratically under-represented groups.

Disabled people are also held back from participating in civic life by time pressures. A study by the OYceof Disability Issues showed that ten per cent of disabled people mentioned at least one attitudinal barrierto them getting more involved in clubs, groups and the local community. In addition, nine per cent ofdisabled people said that issues related to access prevented them from getting more involved, includingtransport or travel problems.164

3. Government action

The Government has taken a range of measures to address under-representation at national and locallevel.

(i) Legislation and institutional reform

— The Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 enables political parties, should they wish,to take special measures to boost the number of women standing in local, national and Europeanelections. This helps all women, including ethnic minority and disabled women. The legislationallows for positive measures including training and mentoring, techniques known as “twinning”165

and “zipping”,166 and women-only electoral short-lists. Before 1997, women made up just 9% ofMPs. The use of women-only shortlists in the lead up to the 1997 election resulted in this figuredoubling to 18.2%. There are currently 94 women Labour MPs (27%), 17 women ConservativeMPs (8.8%) and 9 women Liberal Democrat MPs (14.3%).

— The Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament have made great progress in achieving fairer genderrepresentation. 46.7% of Welsh Assembly Members are women. To a great extent, these results canbe attributed to the Welsh political parties using special measures to select female candidates, suchas twinning and women-only shortlists. In Scotland, Labour used twinning in 1999 and women-only shortlists in 2003. Women currently make up 34.1% of MSPs.

— The forthcoming Equality Bill will extend the right for political parties to use women-onlyshortlists, covering a minimum of five further national elections. This could lead to a critical mass

162 http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/The four Cs(1).pdf163 Haberis and Prendergrast, Research Report 1: Incentives and Barriers to Becoming and Remaining a Councillor—A Review of

the UK Literature164 The OYce for Disability Issues study into the Experiences and Expectations of Disabled People 2007165 Twinning: Constituencies with the same likelihood of being won by a political party are paired and then a male candidate is

placed in one constituency and a female candidate in the other.166 Zipping: Where a “list” electoral system is used, parties alternate male and female candidates on their list.



of approximately 200 women MPs. The Equality Bill will introduce similar positive actionprovisions for political parties to use across all protected grounds, excluding the shortlistprovisions. This will allow parties to:

— carry out an audit of political party membership to identify where there are gaps inrepresentation;

— set targets for recruitment drives;

— carry out general, specific or targeted recruitment drives;

— run mentoring and leadership programmes;

— set targets for increasing the proportion of politicians and staV from under-represented groups;

— establish and support in-house forums for under-represented groups;

— reach out to community and faith organisations;

— support local young Mayors and youth parliament;

— support non-partisan voter registration initiatives and democracy week.

The Government has announced that it will consider legislating to make clear that tackling socio-economic disadvantage is a core function of key public services. Further work is ongoing to determine thebest way of tackling this disadvantage.

(ii) Wider Representation

In July 2008, the Government published a White Paper on Lords reform. We are considering how farmeasures designed to increase the diversity of representation in the House of Commons might be relevantto elections to the reformed second chamber.

The Government also provides direct funding for Operation Black Vote to support MP shadowingschemes for people from ethnic minority backgrounds, and their work in encouraging more ethnic minoritypeople to register to vote.

The Ministers for Women have made it a priority to increase the representation of ethnic minority womenin public life. In May 2008, the Government launched a cross-party taskforce to take practical action. TheTaskforce, made up of 16 former and current Black, Asian and minority ethnic women councillors, is leadinga programme of outreach events in communities. They will raise awareness of the role of local councillors,provide information on the benefits of taking up such a role and encourage more women to step forward.The Taskforce is working with organisations such as the Local Government Association, political parties,Operation Black Vote and the Fawcett Society.

In response to the Councillors Commission report, the Government is also launching the “Take Part”programme. This will develop the skills and self-confidence of would-be councillors. We will also be takingforward new powers to allow for more flexible ways of attending meetings and more financial support totake on senior councillor roles.

(iii) Children and Young People

It is particularly important to provide children and young people with positive role models. Citizenshiplessons are helping to develop young people’s knowledge and understanding of their roles, rights andresponsibilities within the democratic process. There are many opportunities for young people to engage inpolitical activities, such as in school councils and the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP). It is encouraging thatin 2006, 53% of UK Youth Parliament’s Members were female.

In January 2007, Sir Keith Ajegbo published a review of Diversity and Citizenship in the Curriculum. Oneof his principal recommendations was that a new element “Identity and Diversity: Living Together in theUK” be introduced to the secondary curriculum for Citizenship Education. The new strand wasincorporated during a recent review of the entire secondary curriculum and taught for the first time inSeptember 2008.

This new strand explores the multiple identities that may be held by groups and communities in a diversesociety, and the ways in which these identities are aVected by changes in society. For example, students couldlearn about how life in the UK today has been shaped by, and continues to be shaped by, political, social,economic and cultural changes.

Parliament is supporting this work and recently launched the Parliamentary Education website. TheParliamentary Education Service aims to inform young people about Parliament, thereby engaging them inour democracy and empowering them to take part.



(iv) Gathering evidence

Socio-economic disadvantage is a root cause of under-representation. People’s life chances can beadversely aVected by their background. The Government established the National Equality Panel, chairedby John Hills, to gather more evidence on these links. Interim findings of the panel will be available in lateSpring 2009, and will inform Government’s thinking on future actions to tackle inequality.

The OYce for Disability Issues (ODI) has commissioned the OYce for National Statistics (ONS) todevelop a new longitudinal disability survey of Great Britain, called the “Life Opportunities Survey” (LOS).The survey will explore the barriers disabled people experience in a range of life activities, including socialand civic participation. Survey fieldwork will begin in summer 2009, with first results available before end2010.

(v) Public Appointments

In the Comprehensive Spending Review, the Government made a new commitment to address under-representation in public life with a new equality Public Service Agreement (PSA) covering the period April2008 to March 2011. The Government announced the intention to set targets on gender, race and disabilityin public appointments. We have given the Commissioner for Public Appointments a stronger diversity role,with the power to take steps to promote diversity in the procedures for making public appointments withinher remit.

In addition the Equality Bill will include a broader range of positive action provisions that will allowemployers and public authorities to take a range of steps to encourage those who are under-represented inpublic life to get involved. For example, these measures could be used to encourage more lesbian, gay andbisexual people to apply for a public post.

(vi) Voter registration

The Electoral Commission has carried out extensive research into voter registration. This suggests thataround 3.5 million eligible citizens were not registered to vote in 2000. The Electoral Commission examinedwhich groups are least likely to register. There is little disparity on the basis of ethnicity (or gender). Thereis however a significant gap between the rich and the poor. Non registration is highest among private renters,the unemployed, those without qualifications and those in non permanent employment.

People from some minority ethnic groups had a relatively high likelihood of non-registration, but ratesamong Asians (those from Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities) and black Caribbean peoplewere similar to those for white people. The level of non-registration among Asian people fell between1991 and 2000.

4. Action taken internationally

It is useful to consider the range of actions used in countries outside the UK to address diversity ofrepresentation in democratic institutions.

Sweden introduced “Zipper Lists” in 1994. This is where a list of male candidate names is “zipped” oralternated with a list of female names. 47% of Swedish MPs are women. There is one woman in every otherpolitical position.

Rwanda has the highest proportion of women in its parliament in the world, with 48.8%. A commitmentto gender equality has been enshrined in the Rwandan constitution. Women’s organisations and NGOs fedinto the drafting process. However, these high figures occur in the context of a new democracy operating ina post conflict situation. They are consistent with other similar scenarios across the world.

Canada, which uses the first past the post system, achieved a relatively high level of representation ofethnic minorities in its lower house in the 2000 election. This has been attributed to a number of factorsincluding the candidate selection process used by the major parties which “allows for the participation ofresident non-citizens” and the “mass recruitment drives to sign up as many new party members as possiblebefore the candidate selection meetings begin”167

Argentina has raised female representation to over 30% in its lower house because of new constitutionaland statutory provisions. This includes a quota system known as “Women’s Share” which ensures that atleast 30% of the names on party lists are women.

The allocation of reserved seats in national parliaments is another important means of ensuring female[Rwanda] and ethnic minority representation [New Zealand]. In Pakistan, there are “three categories of seatsin the National Assembly”: 272 general seats; 60 seats reserved for women; and 10 seats reserved for non-Muslims. The last two are elected on the basis of a proportional representation system.

167 The Political Representation of Women and Ethnic Minorities in Established Democracies: A Framework for ComparativeResearch [McMaster University 2003]: Karen Bird.



The type of electoral system can also contribute to the diversity in representation and there are a rangeof views on this subject. For example, the Inter-Parliamentary Union asserts that, according to research,there is a link between electoral systems and women’s representation, such as the link between proportionalrepresentation and women’s representation. However, others view that this is not necessarily the case forethnic minorities.

Annex A

Statistics on representation in Political Life

— Women now account for just under 20 per cent of the House of Commons, more than double thanin 1996 when they made up just 9 per cent.

HOUSE OF COMMONS 1983—2005 (UK PARLIAMENT WEBSITE)

Year 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005

Total No. MPs 650 650 651 659 659 646Total No. Women MPs 23 41 60 120 118 128% Total Women MPs 3.5 6.3 9.2 18.2 17.9 19.8

— There are currently:

— 148 Female Peers (20% of the total)

— 5 women Cabinet Ministers (21.7%) compared with 30.43% before the recent reshuZe (fullmembers)

— 46.7% of the Welsh Assembly are women

— 34.1% of the Scottish Parliament are women

— 20 women MEPs (25.6%)

— 15 MPs are from BAME communities

— The Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly each have only 1 BAME politician.

— One in three of those who live in the nation’s capital are from BAME communities, yet thereare only two BAME Assembly Members out of a total of 25, and again no Asian women.

— In the whole of Great Britain, there are only two BAME Chief Executives of a local authorityand only one BME Council Leader.

— At the European level, there are only 5 BAME MEPs, only one of whom is a woman.

— Women in general are under represented as councillors; despite making up 51% of the populationthey represent 30.8% of seats in England. However, for BAME women there is even a greaterimbalance.

— There are around 149 female councillors from ethnic minority backgrounds in England whichrepresents under 1% of all councillors.

— There are about twice as many councillors aged over 70 (2778) as there are under 40 (1417)

— There are 1222 councillors in Scotland, 22.6% of them are women. There are currently between nineand 11 BAME male councillors but no BAME women councillors.

— In Wales, 21.8% of councillors are women (2004 data).

European Comparisons

The UK is ranked 16th within the EU by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Member State % of Women MP’s

Sweden 47.0Finland 41.5Netherlands 41.3Denmark 38.0Spain 36.3Belgium 35.3Germany 32.2Portugal 28.3Luxembourg 23.3Lithuania 17.7Bulgaria 21.7Italy 21.3Estonia 20.8




Poland 20.2Latvia 20.0United Kingdom 19.5Slovakia 19.3France 18.2Czech Republic 15.5Greece 14.7Cyprus 14.3Ireland 13.3Slovenia 13.3Hungary 11.1Romania 11.4Malta 8.7Austria 27.3

(As of 30 November 2008, Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union).

International Comparisons

The UK is ranked 60th out of 189 countries listed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in terms of thepercentage of women holding oYce in the lower or single House of the national Parliamentary body. Thetop ten are:


Rwanda 56.3Sweden 47.0Cuba 43.2Finland 41.5Argentina 40.0Netherlands 41.3Denmark 38.0Angola 37.3Costa Rica 36.8Spain 36.3

(Data as of 30 November 2008, source: Inter-Parliamentary Union).

Annex B

Research carried out for the Councillors Commission on the incentives and barriers to becoming councillorsfaced by under- represented groups

Haberis and Prendergrast, Research Report 1: Incentives and Barriers to Becoming and Remaining aCouncillor—A Review of the UK Literature

Summary of Key Findings

Female councillors

— The single-member simple-plurality First-Past-The-Post system in operation in many localelections in Britain acts to discourage female representation.

— Women are also discouraged from participating in local politics by competing time commitmentsoften related to domestic and caring duties.

— Women have a weaker sense of political eYcacy than men and are further put oV by the male-orientated ethos of local government.

— Women are less likely to be involved in traditional forms of campaign orientated party politicalactivism which impacts on their selection.

Ethnic minority councillors

— The success of ethnic minority councillors is tied to population concentration and geographicallocation.

— People from BME communities may prefer to participate in non-traditional political structuresoutside the formal public sphere.



— Disengagement related to deprivation and social exclusion may disproportionately aVect peoplefrom BME communities.

— Modes of mobilisation diVer amongst ethnic communities, for example the Indian community ismore engaged with mainstream political institutions than some other ethnic Asian communities.

— BME councillors are sometimes considered representatives only of people from ethniccommunities; this is resisted by some councillors.

— Evidence about ethnicity-based barriers to selection is mixed, with some studies suggesting ethniccandidates face selector hostility and others suggesting that ethnicity is an advantage rather thana disadvantage.

— There is some evidence of diVering motivations; in particular, only 16.7 per cent of ethnic minoritycouncillors report that they were motivated by being asked to do so, compared to 30.0 per cent ofwhite councillors.

Young councillors

— Many young people lack an awareness of and interest in local government, butsome of those whoappear disengaged from formal structures are participating on non-traditional political spheres.

— The time commitment associated with the councillor role appears to be a very important barrierto participation for young people; competing demands on time associated with careers, familiesand social lives are regularly cited in the literature.

— Young people commonly have negative and stereotypical perceptions of councillors and considerlocal government to be disinterested in their views.

— Party membership by young people is very low and this impacts on their selection as candidates.

— Those young people who are councillors tend to be motivated by strong political beliefs, a desireto change things, and a commitment to community service.

Councillors with a disability or limiting long-term illness

— Disabled people face barriers related to access and mobility, both in terms of physical andinformational accessibility.

— Barriers related to deprivation and social exclusion may disproportionately aVect people withdisabilities.

— Disabled people may face additional financial costs for being a councillor.

— Disabled people may suVer due to discriminatory or ignorant attitudes.

— Disabled people may find it harder to partake in traditional campaign orientated activism whichimpacts on their selection chances.

Submission from Julie Morgan MP (SC–62)— The House of Commons should be more family friendly

— This should include better facilities and sitting hours

— Attempts should be made to widen interest in becoming an MP to people in groups not widelyassociated with the role.

— Women only shortlists and “twinning” are eVective and should be further encouraged.

Submission

1. I believe that much can be done to make the House of Commons more representative. Whilst a greatdeal must rest with the individual parties, we cannot compel people to become MPs. They must volunteerfor the role, and we can help make that easier for them by making conditions at the Houses of Parliamentas conducive to maintaining important aspects of their personal lives as possible. I will talk mainly of myexperience as a female MP and how I believe matters could be improved.

2. My first concern would be the diYculties faced by those members with young families and other caringresponsibilities. I am aware that all members have to make sacrifices to be MPs, and being away from thefamily hits both male and female members hard, However, I know from talking to women who areconsidering standing to become MPs that this aspect particularly aVects them.

3. To begin with, Parliament needs a creche or some other means of supplying day-care to members andstaV alike. A creche that provides day care for MPs whose families live with them in London, and short termcare for visiting children. Some years ago when I was on the Administration Committee I and other womentried to get a creche started but it proved almost impossible due to the split of responsibilities in Parliament.But without this we will find it incredibly diYcult to get women with young families to become MPs. Wealso need a proper Children’s Room, the arrangements for the Family Room are very inadequate and there



is a shortage of space and equipment—especially for older children. It is a tragedy that the needs of familiesand children were not taken into account when Portcullis House was built. More family friendly hours wouldalso be helpful. As a purely party matter, earlier access to the Whip and no sudden surprises in terms of lastminute changes to schedule (regarding, for example, Delegated Legislation Committees) would ensure thatMPs from constituencies away from London and the Home Counties would be able to attend events withtheir children that they had planned long in advance. Changes to more family friendly hours would also bewelcome, I know that it was a real blow to MPs with families when the more humane sitting hours introducedearly in this government were partially rescinded. Even for those MPs whose families are not with them inLondon the late night culture is not conducive to many MPs or potential MPs.

4. I also believe that becoming an MP is sometimes seen as too great an aspiration for people outside theprofessional classes and without a long commitment to political work. Ways to make the aspiration ofbecoming an MP more widespread might include deliberately inviting people from outside the normal socio-economic groups to shadow an MP in Westminster, to see the role from the inside. Many MPs have earlierbeen active in local politics, I was a Councillor, so it may be helpful to not only encourage women to enterlocal politics but also to encourage those who are already Councillors to consider becoming MPs. Againthis could be encouraged via local work or national schemes. The representation of women on Councils ispoor and in Wales I believe there is no ethnic minority woman councillor or Assembly Member.

5. Finally, I believe that it would be wise to support women only shortlists and minority ethnic shortlists.In Wales, the twinning mechanism which ensured equal representation among Labour candidates was verysuccessful and was mainly responsible for producing the first gender-balanced legislative assembly in theworld. In my opinion these schemes are both eVective and help to encourage women who might not normallythink of working in politics to do so. Enshrining such procedures in law, and encouraging parties other thanLabour to participate in them, would be a huge step forward.

Submission by the Women’s Local Government Society (SC–63)

The Women’s Local Government Society (WLGS) welcomes the establishment of the Speaker’sConference to: “consider, and make recommendations for rectifying, the disparity between therepresentation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons and theirrepresentation in the UK population at large.” Please find enclosed a short submission. This consists of asummary including some information about our organisation followed by more detailed views.

At this stage WLGS do not wish to give oral evidence. However we note that the Speaker’s Conferenceis empowered to consider other associated matters. We consider there is a strong association between thenature of elected representation at a local level and that of representation in Parliament. If at any stage theSpeaker’s Conference does consider making recommendations of direct relevance to levels of representationof women in local government we would welcome the opportunity to contribute further.

The attached evidence has been considered by our management committee, and builds on views of thewider membership as expressed through our meetings and networking. We are happy for the informationto be made public

About the Women’s Local Government Society.

Women’s Local Government Society (WLGS) was active from the late 1880’s until the mid 1920’scampaigning and supporting the representation of women as elected members throughout localgovernment. Their lobbying resulted in the 1907 Qualification of Women (County and Borough Council’s)Act, which allowed some women to stand as candidates for County, County Borough and London councils.The Women’s Local Government Society was revived in 2007, recognising that in the 100 years since thatAct, equal representation of women in Local Government had not been achieved. As with its predecessor,WLGS has membership from all three main political parties and those without political allegiance. It issupported by three presidents in the House of Lords who reflect that cross-party approach.

The aims of the revived Women’s Local Society relevant to the Speaker’s Conference are:

— To raise the profile of past, present and future achievements of elected women in LocalGovernment.

— To secure a greater representation of elected Women in Local Government in England, Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland through positive action, promotion, support, mentoring andlobbying.

— To encourage the return of real power to women in their local communities through elected localgovernance and to support the development of meaningful local democracy



The scope of our evidence.

The evidence we submit relates specifically to the representation of women, building on the three aimsabove. There is both a direct relationship between representation at a national and local level, at commoncauses of under-representation. We also suggests that part of the solution may lie in devolving appropriateactivity from Parliament to a community level, where a greater number of individuals can participate morefully in the process of government. A comprehensive approach to tackle the practical and cultural causesof under-representation of women in all spheres of government will also break down some barriers to therepresentation of other under-represented groups.

We have not tried to answer all the question set out in your request for evidence, as others experts will nodoubt focus on the problems caused by under-representation and the relationship with attitudes to voting.

You ask what actions have been taken to address similar concerns. In submitting evidence, we have beeninformed by a number of surveys and publications, and by the experiences of our members. We consider inparticular the Speaker’s Conference could and should revisit the findings of the Councillors Commission“Representing the Future”, published 10th December 2007.(http://www.communities.gov.uk/councillorscommission/publications/representingthefuture/).

The chair of that Commission, Dame Jane Roberts, stated in her foreword that: “There is inevitably noone magic bullet that will encourage more able, talented and representative people to become councillorsand for the work of councillors to be better recognised and valued”. That principle, we consider, relates alsoto membership of the House of Commons.

Summary of our evidence.

— Throughout recent history, women who achieved as local councillors went on to achieve asmembers of both Houses of Parliament. We can all learn from their example and build on theirexperiences. Women need good role models, and failure to disseminate positive pictures ofsuccessful women politicians past and present serves to both strengthen and perpetuate the realityof under-representation.

— The reasons more women are not involved in political activity at both a national and a local levelare both practical and cultural. We accept political parties and others need to address culturalbarriers inherent in selection processes. However, those processes will only attract a wider varietyof candidates from a larger pool if practical issues are also addressed. For the MP, needing to splitactivity between Westminster and the constituency, those practical constraints can make lifeimpossible. Disparity in Parliamentary representation can only be achieved if Parliamentary lifeadapts to suit the needs of those it seeks to involve.

— Devolution would increase the involvement of the wider community in decision taking, strengthenthe role of local councillors who share the experiences of their communities on a day-to-day basisand lessen the burden on the Parliamentary system. It could therefore contribute to tackling issuesof representation at a range of levels.

Because the issues underpinning representation are wide ranging, we believe the findings of the Speaker’sConference should be too. Previous Speaker’s Conferences have heralded significant milestones in theparticipation of women in the democratic process. We hope this conference follows suit.

The relationship between local and national representation

Throughout recent history, women who achieved as local councillors went on to achieve as members ofboth Houses of Parliament. We can all learn from their example and build on their experiences. Women needgood role models, and failure to disseminate positive pictures of successful women politicians past andpresent serves to both strengthen and perpetuate the reality of under-representation.

1.1. A limited number of women were able to stand for local elected oYce from 1907. When womengained the right to stand for Parliament from 1918 a small number already had experience as localcouncillors. Dr Ethel Bentham, Dr Marion Phillips and Susan Lawrence are examples of early women MP’swho benefited from local government experience. That trend continued, with well known names like DrEdith Sumerskill and Barbara Castle being elected local representatives.

1.2. The 1997 intake brought about the biggest single increase of women in Parliament, almost doublingnumbers to 120. A significant proportion of the women elected at that time had experience as councillors.We estimate this to be almost 50%. It is interesting that this increase follows on from a period when therepresentation of women at a local level had improved significantly. Work by local election experts based atPlymouth University found there was an increase from the early 1970’s “with a particularly rapid increasein the second half of the 1980s, and that all parties recruited an increasing number of women candidates inthe period.”168 There are several explanations for both increases. Not unconnected was the positive focusgiven to issues of concern to women in that period through local women’s committees and units.

168 Paul Lambe, Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher and Lawrence Ware; Gender Imbalance in Representative Democracy: Womenand Local Government in London and Birmingham 1918—2003. (Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, School ofPolitics and International Studies, Queens University Belfast Occasional paper 10) November 2004.



1.3. More balanced representation in local government should therefore help improve the representationof women in Central Government. We welcome the consideration given to the findings of the Councillor’sCommission, and in particular the potential implementation of one aspect of this currently being consideredby Parliament as part of the “Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill”—namelycontent of Part One, Chapter One of that Bill, the “Duties Relating to the Promotion of Democracy”.

1.4. In our view the best mechanisms for implementing the duty promote democracy will require asystematic approach already being established in other areas of public life through the introduction of theintroduction of the Gender Equality Duty as established by the 2006 Single Equality Act.

As part of the development of a duty to promote democracy, we would therefore wish to see localauthorities undertaking audits of gender, age and ethnic representation at a local level, considering theimpact, setting objectives, promoting good practice and then monitoring and reviewing outcomes.

1.5. Parliament has a role to play in promoting positive images of Local Government, and that shouldinclude promoting positive and non-stereotypical images of local elected representatives. Ministers cancontribute on a practical day to day basis, perhaps requesting the presence of newly elected or a cross partyrepresentative group of councillors on visits, or arranging discussions on topics of relevance to a specificlocality with diverse groups of councillors.

1.6. Informal activity between Members of Parliament and their local elected representatives takes placeat a variety of levels. Some of that activity could be formalised and given Parliamentary support. Surveyshave established that women are more likely to stand for local government if they are invited to do so.Women members of Parliament are well placed to provide mentoring, support and encouragement topotential local government candidates. Many do so already, but practical support, training andencouragement from a cross-party source may help, and would be especially beneficial if MP’s wereencouraged to help recruit and mentor local government candidates from under-represented groups.

1.7. WLGS has identified a real need to improve the images of elected representatives in thosepublications most commonly read by younger women and women from diverse ethnic backgrounds.Networking sites and Blog diaries have increased the ability of elected representatives to communicate witha wider audience, and given women MPs in particular the opportunity to illustrate their need to meshdomestic life with their Parliamentary one. Councillors have benefited when common facilities or systemshave been developed to support their use of technology. Some Local Authority PR departments also makea point of promoting women councillors in local publications. Parliament could benefit from a moreproactive PR role, and one that develops the use of technology. Promoting the work of non-ministerial MP’s,their daily lives, their backgrounds and the routes by which they entered Parliament should be theresponsibility of a specific and dedicated team of civil servants.

1.8. Current women MP’s could be encouraged to discuss their routes into oYce more generally, but thereis also a role for Government in helping disseminate and encouraging discussion of the life experiences ofearly women pioneers, and those who have left Parliament more recently. Because of the timing of equalfranchise legislation (and we would argue as a direct result), many of the early women MP’s were involvedin developing community provision that is still vital to women today—the shape of our education and healthservices, the design of housing. Equally vital, and more recently, women have played crucial roles in peaceinitiatives such as that in Northern Ireland. Their stories should be an integral part of all aspects ofeducation, from the formal school syllabus to museum content.

The Speaker’s Conference should consider a range of practical measure to encourage the promotion ofpast and present elected representatives, local and national as role models for future generations. Parliamentshould recognise and value Local Government as a means of encouraging democratic participation.

2. The cultural and practical barriers to representation

The reasons more women are not involved in political activity at both a national and a local level are bothpractical and cultural. We accept political parties and others need to address cultural barriers inherent inselection processes. However, those processes will only attract a wider variety of candidates from a largerpool if practical issues are also addressed. For the MP, needing to split activity between Westminster andthe constituency, those practical constraints can make life impossible. Disparity in Parliamentaryrepresentation can only be achieved if Parliamentary life adapts to suit the needs of those it seeks to involve.

2.1. The Councillors Commission has already undertaken a valuable and detailed research into theincentives and barriers that encourage or deter people from standing for election at a local level. We considerhere both the issues they identified which we consider of relevance and some of the potential solutions. Indoing so, we have been selective, looking particularly at those issues of most relevance to women. As statedin our summary, we consider all members of the Speaker’s Conference would find it useful to visit this recentpiece of work, Representing the Future.

2.2. The Councillors Commission report did discuss organisational culture. In doing so it highlighted thereducing membership of those political organisations that act as gate-posts to political representation, andto their often “club-like” atmosphere. As an organisation with membership from all three main politicalparties we recognise the cultural picture collected by the Commission. We have had examples presented tous at seminars and on an informal level of how those cultural attitudes in political parties impact on the



participation of women, both in formal selection processes and informally, including attitudes to womenonce elected. The Speaker’s Conference would also do well to re-iterate that in terms of gender at least, theelectors themselves do not appear to be a barrier to eVective representation.

At a Parliamentary level, we consider tackling the formal and informal culture of selection will be centralto the success of the Speaker’s Conference.

2.3. Although we recognise “selection culture” is important, from our perspective looking at the morefrequent and numerous local selection mechanisms we do not consider political parties should be held fullyresponsible, or able independently to put matters right. It has to be recognised that at a local level politicalparties are primarily volunteers, have little training or practical support, and often have numerous otherjobs to do (including, very often, being a local councillor). We have some disappointment at those responsesto the report of the councillors commission that charged local political parties with increasing anddiversifying their membership base without identifying how resources and support could enable them todo so.

We would suggest any recommendations of the Speaker’s Conference directed at political parties shouldlook again at how local political activity can best be funded and supported.

2.4. As the Councillors Commission and our own organisation have identified, the culture of anorganisation can also be a barrier to membership. For women, we consider this to be far more relevant toParliamentary representation than to local representation. The image, and to some extent the reality ofParliamentary life is still dominated by the “ya-booh” politics that characterises the cross chamberexchanges at the despatch box. For many women, including some women who have chosen to take part in localelected political oYce this image is very counter productive. The Speaker clearly has a direct role to playin curbing the worst excesses of this behaviour, but individuals may also need to review, and structures donot help.

2.5. Coupled with the point above, Parliament could consider how far it can take a more positive imageof other aspects its work to the community. We welcome recent Cabinet meetings in other settings, but moremeaningful would be a concerted eVort to take the work of the select committees to other locations, withlocal authorities assisting in ensuring some evidence presented has local community input.

2.6. There are other area where Central Government could learn a great deal from local government inimproving public perception of their work—requirements to publicise cabinet agendas and minutes beingjust one example. For women however, the greatest practical barrier to becoming an MP must be the timefactor. Although some steps have been taken to improve these aspects, we suspect from local governmentexperience more will need to be done.

2.7. Some structural aspects of Parliament itself limit the ability to achieve a more representativedemocracy. WLGS has not taken a view on proportional representation or voting/ candidacy age, and nodoubt evidence from others will be substantial. However there is one aspect of structure has concerned us,and that is the size and nature of the ward or constituency. We are disappointed that recommendation 19 ofthe Councillors Commission report, favouring multi-member wards for local councillors has not beenadopted, and particularly that it is being wholly ignored in the development of new Unitary LocalGovernment. Whilst we recognise that the re-introduction of multi-member constituencies for MPs is asignificantly greater step for Central Government than Local Government, we concur with the view of theCouncillors Commission that:

“single member wards provide a strong incentive for political parties to select the sitting member,or someone who resembles a retiring member. With multi-member wards there is an incentive forthe parties to maximise their appeal to voters by fielding a more diverse range of candidates; thisincreases the likelihood of people from under represented groups being selected. Multimemberwards also oVer councillors the possibility of balancing their skills across the ward or division,possibly to some degree specialising and the chance of reducing time pressures by sharing thework.”169

If Parliamentary life is to appeal to women, the Speaker’s Conference will need to consider some boldoptions about the culture, structure and practical working arrangements of the organisation, and above alltackle the image of “ya-booh politics”.

3. A greater devolution of responsibilities.

Devolution would increase the involvement of the wider community in decision taking, strengthen therole of local councillors who share the experiences of their communities on a day-to-day basis and lessen theburden on the Parliamentary system. It could therefore contribute to tackling issues of representation at arange of levels.

3.1. A report sponsored by the Local Government Association and released today compares English localgovernment with others on an international basis and highlights the extremely centralised nature of thecurrent central—local balance. It identifies key functions where responsibilities could be transferred,

169 Representing the future—The report of the Councillors Commission—December 2007 P42.



including “skills, employment, infrastructure and economic development.”170 For women, we consider theissue of where decisions are taken to be a vital one. It is a sentiment expressed well by one of our presidents,Baroness Patricia Hollis, when speaking at our inaugural meeting. She said: “If more women are to enterpolitics, then surely we should take power to them, into the locality, rather than just seek to bring womento where power currently resides, Westminster, though we need that too. Devolving more power to localgovernment would both strengthen local government and strengthen women’s participation in politics.”171

3.2. The pressure on Parliamentary time and thus the eYciency of Members of Parliament has been welldocumented, and improvements made partly through the work of the Select Committee on theModernisation of the House of Commons. It is also recognised that devolving responsibility to a local levelis “work in progress”, and our suggestions are not new. The dimension we consider could be added byattention to this issue by the speaker’s conference is in developing a firm constitutional relationship betweencentral and local government as a basis for a co-ordinated programme of devolution, designed specificallyto ensure local communities are involved in decision making through their local council.

3.3. Previous Speaker’s Conferences have resulted in significant change to the nature of Government asa whole. It is our belief that all women would benefit from a new vision for government at all levels, whichallows the greatest possible participation. Our predecessors demonstrated that women were not “toohysterical”172 to participate in decision making at a local level. This Speaker’s Conference can give womena real opportunity to participate in politics in a meaningful way, encouraging more interest in the House ofCommons as s result.

A new constitutional settlement which recognises the potential of enhanced participation through morelocalised decision taking should be at the core of a visionary outcome for this valuable Speaker’sConference.

Submission from Lesley Abdela (SC–64)

Introduction

I have campaigned, lobbied and worked as a professional journalist and Consultant on equalrepresentation of women in politics in 40 countries, including the UK, over decades.

For a Democracy, the British House of Commons currently rates very poorly, at 69th in the global leaguetable of women in politics.

Countries globally with over 30% women in their legislatures

Rwanda 56.3%, Sweden 47.0%, Wales 47%, Cuba 43.2%. Finland 41.5%, Netherlands 41.3%, Argentina40.0%, Denmark 38%, Angola 37.3%, Costa Rica 36.8%, Spain 36.3%, Norway 36.1%, Belgium 35.3%,Mozambique 34.8%, New Zealand 33.6%, Iceland 33.3%, Scotland 33.3%, Nepal 33.2%, South Africa 33%,Germany 32.2%, Belarus 31.*%, The FYR of Macedonia 31.7%, Uganda 30.7%, Burundi 30.5%,Tanzania30.4%, Guyana 30.0%.

Countries with over 30% women in parliament share three things in common:— All countries with over 30% women in parliament have introduced equalising strategies such as

gender-balanced quotas as a “break-through” (ie short-term/temporary) measure.— In all these countries, women (often with supportive men) inside and outside political parties

mobilised and campaigned for quotas. Women’s groups also provided training for women inpolitical participation.

— The electoral system is some form of Proportional Representation.*

* the exceptions are Scotland and Wales—see section on quotas

Governments and political parties have often been reluctant to introduce quotas.

1. Obstacles

The obstacles break down broadly into two categories: institutional obstacles, and obstacles caused bycultural stereotypes and attitudes. Any person or commission seriously seeking to increase women’sparticipation will have to consider the extra challenges faced by women from ethnic and religious minoritiesand women with disabilities. Women are not a homogenous category. Issues which impinge on women arecross-cut by other particular factors aVecting their status: marital/widowhood status, parental background,religious grouping, ethnic minority/race, class and economic ranking (millions of women are on low pay, no

170 Local Government Association and Localis, With a Little Help From our Friends, International Lessons for English LocalGovernment, 2009 http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/1542751 p50.

171 http://www.womeninlocalgovernment.org.uk/files/070310%20patricia%20hollis%20speech.pdf172 The learned Earl of Halsbury, 12 June 1907, Hansard col 1355.



pay, or up to a third less than men doing the same job), urban/rural. It is important to discuss strategies andactions to enable them to have full participation in politics. There are, nevertheless, common challenges toovercome. (See annex 2).

As an aside—Parliamentarians on the Speaker’s Conference may be interested to note that violence inpolitics and elections is a main challenge in a considerable number of the countries where I have worked,including Nigeria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Happily this is not a major issue in British politics.


2.1 Introduce Temporary Special Measures

From these many years campaigning and working professionally to increase women’s politicalparticipation I can state that if the Speaker’s Conference members were truly committed to increasing thenumber of women in Parliament from a diverse range of backgrounds (as I believe you are) there is only oneway to achieve it, full stop—that is by introduction of Temporary Special Measures in the form of quotasfor a period of 4 elections. Everything else may be seen as a cynical eVort to avoid a real increase in women’snumbers.

2.2 The most democratic choice of Quota

At least 122 political parties globally use some form of quota for women when selecting their candidatesfor elections. There are diVering types of quota systems—some are more democratic than others. The typeI believe has the greater merit for the United Kingdom are Gender-balanced quotas with equal rules for bothwomen and men and in which everyone has to stand for election. Examples are “zipping” and “twinning”.(see Annex 1 for explanation of zipping and twinning).

Another example of a Gender Balance quota is to stipulate that at least 40% candidates have to be menand at least 40% candidates have to be women, with the remaining 20% either. This means there can be nomore than 60% representation by the one sex.

A variety of diVerent quota systems has been used successfully for elections at all levels: regional, national,local, district, provincial, and municipal.

Gender Balanced Quotas with equal rules for women and men retains democratic credibility because oncethey have been chosen to be candidates by their political party, both female and male candidates still haveto get elected by the voters. A Gender Balance quota with equal rules for men and women cuts down therisk of the “Quota Queens” syndrome in which women elected on a quota system are somehow perceivedby colleagues and the media as “second class” representatives.

2.3 Rationale for introducing quotas as a Temporary Special Measure

Introduction of quotas can be attacked on some theoretical ground, but practice demonstrates their trueworth. The principal feature in every country in the world where there are at least 30% women in the primarylegislature, starting in Sweden, followed by other Nordics, and most recently Rwanda is some sort of quota.

Back in 1980, I was totally opposed to any form of quotas, but after some years working on the issue ofwomen’s participation in politics in the UK and overseas I became convinced that training, lobbying andsimilar activities on their own are helpful but are not enough. Progress is too slow. I have seen that in countryafter country in Europe, Africa, Asia, and it has been documented elsewhere that other actions without someform of quota will not succeed.

Introduction of these Temporary Special Measures (endorsed and shortened in UN-speak to “TSMs”) isdesigned to introduce a level playing field enabling women to compete fairly at the candidate selection stage.Women make up over 50% of every nation, more in post-conflict regions, and yet, under current politicalsystems in which selection processes are controlled by political parties, it is unlikely that women will benominated as candidates for winnable seats in suYcient numbers, let alone reflecting their number in thepopulation. Until hidden systemic barriers to women are removed, or overcome by special if short-termmeasures, women do not, in reality, have equal opportunity. Equalising action is required to make thebreak-through.

In an ideal world Quotas/Equalising Action would not be needed, but people opposed to quotas in politicsendlessly attack this remedy but never seem to have any answers on how to change things, except the sameold “slowly, slowly, patience, patience” argument that has been used for centuries.Lacking Equalising Action, it is like waiting for fish to grow feet. More generations of excellent women willcome and go, as they have over the past 90 years.

In support of my recommendation I have attached a Question and Answer briefing on using quotas inpolitical candidate selection as Annex 1.



The Q and A is excerpted from a Trainers Manual for Women in Politics I wrote in 2005 titled“Communication Skills for Women In Politics”, sponsored by the Research Centre for Gender Equality,funded by the EU. The manual was targeted at Greece, Italy and the newly-emergent democracy Hungary.I was Consultant to the project aimed at increasing women’s representation in politics. These three countrieshad some of the lowest representation in the European Parliament.

2.4 Three Ways to legitimise quotas

There are 3 main ways to legitimise quotas:

Permissive quotas

In the UK we have “permissive” legislation which allows political parties to use quotas if they wish to doso. Other countries with “Permissive” legislation include Norway, Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

Mandatory Quotas

1. Other countries have passed legislation to make quotas mandatory.

These include:

Belgium, France, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Costa Rica,Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Jordan, Macedonia,Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Sudan, Serbia, Montenegro, Tanzania,Uganda, Venezuela.

Quotas enshrined in the Constitution

Some countries have enshrined quota procedures at national or local level in their Constitutions.

These include:

France, China, Eritrea, Guyana, Kenya, Nepal, Philippines, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Argentina,India.173

3. Further Issues impacting diVerentially on women—Access To Funding

3.1 Rationale

In the Canadian Royal Commission study on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, women saidfinancial factors were the biggest obstacle to electoral success.174

At first sight it may look as though the funding challenges are the same for women and men. The realityis that women generally have far less access to funds than men for political participation and seeking oYce.Election campaigns and building a track record in politics can be expensive. In research for my book“Women with ‘X’ Appeal” in which I interviewed over 30 women in British politics I established that evenas far back as the 1980s that costs in extra personal expenses incurred by being a political activist andprospective candidate can easily amount to several thousand pounds per year—and women historically havefound it much harder to raise these sums for personal political activism.

Costs include:

— travelling to meetings and conferences.

— the cost of participating in regular Party social and political events

— the cost of taking part in internal party nomination and competitions as part of the political partycandidate selection process

— clothes to wear in public life

— child-care or elder-care if needed when attending political meetings

— membership fees to political party and other political groups

173 International IDEA and Stockholm University Global Database of Quotas for Women.174 Ballington paper on party Funding for International IDEA



3.2 Suggestions for Funding Reform

1. Make provision for childcare expenses to be included in the personal expenses of a candidate innomination and election expenses.

2. Provide incentives through public funding: the amount of funding a party receives could be linked ordependent upon the number of women candidates it puts forward for election.

3. Provide “early money” to women contestants. Establish networks for the financing of women’selectoral and nomination campaigns. This is particularly important for women in systems where there is noaccess to public funding.

4. Conduct more research into the eVects of campaign financing on women, and explore more avenuesfor reform.

3.3 Funding. Case examples

1. The Canada Elections Act makes provision for childcare expenses to be included in the personalexpenses of a candidate for election contest but not for the expenses incurred in the initial campaigning toget the nomination by the party. The Royal Commission in Canada noted that the cost of childcare imposesan unequal burden on many women seeking elected oYce. It proposed that childcare is a necessary expensein seeking nomination by a candidate and should be considered a legitimate tax deduction.175

2. In French elections, including those to the Lower House, parties are required to put forward a gender-balanced slate of candidates or pay a financial penalty. The balance does not need to be mathematicallyexact—a party putting forward 49% of candidates of one sex and 51% of the other sex pays no penalty. Ifthe discrepancy is any greater than this, the party’s State funding will be cut by an amount equaling half thepercentage diVerence. A party which puts forward 45% women and 55% men—a diVerence of 10%—willlose 5% of its state funding.

3. EMILY’s List in the UK (based on the American EMILY’s LIST) is a special fund which raises seedmoney for prospective Labour Party women candidates at the time they seek party nomination. This moneycan be put towards clothes, petrol, telephone bills, training courses, or any other items a woman feels willhelp her to win her seat.176

4. Britain’s Liberal Democrats set up a diversity fighting fund to help more women and ethnic minoritycandidates.

4. Networks of women and campaigning groups inside and outside parties need funding to be eVective.

Politics has been a traditionally male domain. Because of this history, in most countries women lack anunderstanding of the political system. They may even perceive politics as “nothing to do with us”.

NGOs, Networks, and campaigning groups in the UK and overseas have played a role in increasingwomen’s participation in politics. With suYcient funding women’s NGOs (such as Fawcett) and politicalparties can:

— lobby for the introduction of gender-balanced parity quotas

— encourage more women to come forward and take an active role in decision-making at all levelsin politics and public life

— train women candidates and their campaign teams

— create a market demand for women as a new fresh force politics and public life at all levels ofsociety—village, province and national. At the same time, satisfy this new demand with well-prepared and trained women, equipped with the necessary skills for active leadership roles inpolitical life

— help to change the culture in public life, politics and the media to become more inclusive and“woman-friendly”

— raise awareness among the nation’s women about their rights and responsibilities as citizens

— raise funds for women candidates

The all-party 300 GROUP UK

The 300 GROUP had over 40 branches across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Members andSupporters were from diverse ethnic backgrounds and across the political spectrum. During the five years1980–85 when I founded and developed the all-Party 300 Group for Women in Politics, we conducted usefulactivities, including debates on major subjects in Committee Rooms of the House of Commons;familiarisation meetings between prospective Party members and representatives/prospective mentors of

175 Ballington Paper on Party Funding for International IDEA176 www.emilyslist.org.uk



those Parties; skills-learning sessions, often in association with entities such as the Industrial Society,Women’s Institutes or major magazines like Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan (of which later Ibecame their first Political Editor).

The all-party 300 GROUP formed from a grouping of women from about 10 women’s organisations plusthe women’s wings of political parties. They met to confront the fact that at that time, in the UnitedKingdom’s Parliament men outnumbered women 97% to 3%. The campaign developed a twin-trackstrategy. In marketing terms, it created a market demand from the public (ie voters) for women candidates;at the same time it prepared and provided good products by training potential women candidates and helpingthem to raise their public profile in the media.

The 300 GROUP pioneered a full range of activities for its members, from debates in committee roomsof the House of Commons, to annual workshop-conferences, “Town Hall meetings”, Saturday skills trainingthroughout Britain (sometimes sponsored by major women’s magazines), and a quarterly newsletter whichwent to 5000 people.

Through this activity, the 300 Group laid the ground for several thousand women to participate fully inBritain’s political life. It pressured the political Parties to encourage more and more women to seekcandidacies rather than only play a traditional supportive role. It also encouraged women to lobby hardwithin their parties for a better gender balance.

The activities we conducted in the 300 GROUP were very successful—indeed a number of women whostarted out in the 300 GROUP went on to become MPs, Peers, Ministers, Mayors, Local Councillors andfront-bench spokespeople and to hold other senior posts in public life. After 20 years the 300 GROUP ceasedactivities because of lack of funds.

Groups such as the all-party 300 GROUP in the UK in the 1980s widely succeeded in mobilising andactively encouraging women to step forward and participate in the political arena. Women should haveaccess to training in the skills and understanding of democratic politics, their civic rights and responsibilitiesas voters, activists and representatives. There are now a number of new groups dedicated to increasingwomen’s participation in politics. They need and deserve proper funding.

A group of well-organised women activists within a political party can make a diVerence. In the early1990s, women’s networks inside the British Labour Party mobilised, lobbied, and used their voting strengthwithin the party to get a quota introduced. The Labour women’s networks analysed which seats their partyexpected to win at the following election and groomed individual women candidates to apply for each ofthose vacant winnable seats.

Women in the Labour Party formed the Labour Women’s Network. They persuaded the party tointroduce all women short-lists for half the winnable seats in which there was no sitting incumbent. The leapforward in 1997 was mainly due to the big swing to Labour combined with the fact that Labour introducedtheir then-controversial all-women short-lists. This was about the only type of quota system available in ourfirst- past-the-post electoral system.

The pressure from outside the parties and inside the parties meant that within 4 elections the number ofwomen in the House of Commons went from 19 to 122.

But that was and is still only 18% of the British House of Commons. There are 4 men to each woman MP(and as bad a ratio in the Lords). The real break though came when Labour introduced quotas for electionsto the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament.

Women activists and supportive men in the Labour Party seized the chance and lobbied hard for quotasto be introduced into the Party candidate selection system for the new legislatures in Wales and Scotland.Until recently 50% of the Welsh Assembly Members were women and half the Ministers were women, butuntil the late 1990s only one in 20 Welsh local councillors had been a woman.

The British Liberal Democrat Party introduced a zipper quota for their party lists in the 2000 electionsto the European Parliament with the result that five women and five men were elected.

5. Future actions needed by British Political Parties

Party Leaders have taken a few steps in the right direction to increase women’s representation atWestminster. They need the courage to go all the way in both the Upper and Lower Chambers.

The big challenge (and my question) is—do Party Leaders and the Speaker’s Conference have the politicalcommitment and courage to deliver equality for women in Parliament and a more democratic politicalsystem? There is only one way most of us will live to see gender equality in the British Parliament—reformof the electoral system to a more representative voting system combined with a gender balance quota, or byintroducing a gender balance quota within the first-past-the-post system.

David Cameron’s first promise when he became Conservative Party Leader was to increase the numberof Tory women from the current 17 MPs out of 180 Conservative MPs. Conservative Party Chair TeresaMay has been touring the country working hard to carry out her Leader’s pledge but at the current rate ofcandidate selection even a major swing to Conservatives would most likely result in at the most a handfulmore Tory women MPs.



Lib Dems slammed the door on equal representation of women and men MPs at a Party Conference afew years ago when they voted against introducing gender-balanced quotas into their candidate selectionsystem, despite the open advocacy of almost every senior Party member, including Shirley Williams and thethen-Leader. To try to compensate for this set-back a few Party activists upped the amount of training andencouragement for women budding politicians and targeted extra cash and resources at constituencies withfemale candidates. The results have not been encouraging. Out of the present 63 Lib Dem MPs, nine arewomen. At the next General Election Liberal Democrats are likely to deliver little or no increase in women—given a fair wind they might increase their number of female MPs by a couple to 10 or 11.

6. Transform and Reform

Even beyond the quest for justice and fairness for women, the purpose of increasing women’sparticipation in politics is not simply to increase numbers. It is also to support the creation of a newdemocratic agenda in politics that changes the lives of all people for the better.

UK and the world faces daunting challenges: the Credit Crunch, climatic changes, terrorism, a resurgenceof racism, sex traYcking (now estimated to be the fourth-largest “industry” in the world), growingunemployment, wars and endless conflicts, many involving the UK directly. If we are going to overcomethese challenges, our future leaders need to be chosen from the full pool of talent—women as well as men.

See also Guardian Comment is Free http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/07/women

Annex 1

Quotas/Equalising Action—Question and Answer Briefing

Q. Surely quotas are not democratic?

A. Democracy is representation of the people by the people, and it cannot be real democracy when thelargest proportion of the population—women—has little or no representation in the fora where laws arediscussed and voted on. Unless hidden systemic barriers to women are removed women do not, in reality,have equal opportunity. Women make up at least 50% of the population of most countries. And yet, underthe current political systems, in which nominations are controlled by political parties which are largelydominated by men, it is unlikely that women will be nominated as candidates in reasonable numbers.

Quotas may be the only way to democratise political systems. Gender-balanced parity quotas with equalrules for women and men and in which everyone has to stand for election are a democratic type of quotasystem.

Q. Surely women elected as part of a quota will be just Political Party puppets?

A. It is true that in some countries the first wave of women to get into parliament or local councils as partof a quota were run as “fronts” for male interests in power. This problem can be overcome by training womencandidates and training newly elected female local councillors and parliamentarians in skills and their rightsand responsibilities as democratically elected representatives.

Q. What do you mean by Gender Balanced or Equalising Action?

A. The most successful systems are “Gender Balanced” (sometimes called introducing EqualisingAction) in which the rules are the same for men as for women. For example, one system states that at least40% candidates have to be men and at least 40% candidates have to be women, the rest either. This meansthere can be no more than 60% representation by either sex. It avoids the trap of women appointed by aquota being perceived and treated as some sort of second class “quota queen” representative.

Gender Balance also retains democratic credibility because once they have been chosen to be candidatesby their political party, female and male candidates still have to get elected by the voters.

Q. What examples are there of the use of Gender Balance?

A. The Zipper is one example of a Gender Balance procedure. The zipper can be used with PR electoralsystems in which each party puts up a slate of candidates. Political parties in Sweden, Germany and Norwayhave zipped candidate lists.



Q. How does the Zipper work?

A. Under the zipper system the names of women and men alternate equally in the critical top positionsof the Party list of candidates in the election:

1. Woman

2. Man

3. Woman

4. Man etc

Or

1. Man

2. Woman

3. Man

4. Woman etc

If, for example, a Party gains suYcient percentage of the vote for the top four names on the list to getelected, two will be men and two will be women.

The precise operation of the system can vary. In the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), the executiveof the State Party proposes a list to a meeting comprising delegates of local Parties. The 40% rule requiresthat the lists should be zipped, but with freedom to allocate every fifth place to someone of either gender.

In the Swedish Social Democrat Party, candidates are selected at a delegate conference for each of26 electoral districts. In some districts members vote for a male list and a female list. The candidates whoget most votes from each male and female list are merged to produce a female/male zipped list. If a womanis selected for top of the list, a man is placed second, followed by a woman, then a man etc.

The Swedish Green Party uses a similar system. The English Liberal Democrats used this system for theEuropean Parliament Election in 2000. The result was Liberal Democrats had five women and five menelected to the European Parliament.

Q. Are there any problems with zipping?

A. After the November 2001 elections in Kosovo, some of the female candidates were “persuaded” tostand down and were replaced by men in their Party. To safeguard against this unacceptable deceit, newelectoral rules in Kosovo include procedures to be followed if a woman leaves oYce prematurely for anyreason. She will be replaced by the next woman on the candidate list.

Q. The zipper can be used with a PR “closed list” electoral system in which candidates have a fixed andunmovable position on the party list. Is it possible to use a zipper with an “Open List” PR electoral system inwhich candidates can be promoted up or demoted down their party list according to the number of votes theyreceive at the election?

A. Finland uses an open list electoral system and it has not seemed to hinder women. Voters have ensured36.5% of the seats in the Finnish Parliament are held by women. A 1991 poll indicated that 57% of womenvoters and 25% of male voters voted for women.177

Q. What gender-balanced system can be used with a “First Part the Post” election system where an individualcandidate is elected to represent an individual constituency?

A. ”First-past-the-post” is like a horse race, the one candidate who gets the most votes wins the seat, evenif he/she has received well under 50% of the total vote. History shows this type of voting system presentsdiYculties for women trying to make a break-through in traditional politics.

Twinning, which is another example of Gender Balance procedures, has been used in countries with a first-past-the-post electoral system to help balance women’s chances.

Twinning is extremely appropriate where a new legislature or new electoral system using first-past-the-post is being introduced or where there have been major boundary changes to create new constituencies andso there is no existing incumbent. Even so, negotiations between constituencies to agree on the twinningformulas can be robust!

Twinning was used by the British Labour Party for the first elections to the Scottish Parliament, the WelshAssembly and the Greater London Assembly. As a result, 48% of Labour Party Members elected to theScottish Parliament and 54% elected to the Welsh Assembly were women.

In total across the parties in 1999, 37% and 40% women Members were elected to the new ScottishParliament and Welsh Assembly.

177 Kuusipalo, Jaana Katriina, Report from Finland by European Databank, August 2000.



In the subsequent 2003 election in Wales 50% women (30 men and 30 women) were elected without theneed to re-use the twinning quota. The parity quota mechanism used in the previous election had alreadysuccessfully broken down the gender barriers and entrenched women as legitimate politicians.

Q. How does Twinning work?

A. In an electoral system in which one person is elected to represent one constituency, a party “twins”two (usually nearby) constituencies to select their political candidates. The Party in one of theseconstituencies chooses a female candidate, the Party branch in the other constituency chooses a malecandidate. However, it is really only feasible to use twinning in a situation where there are no previousincumbents.

In 1999, the elections held for a Scottish Parliament were the first since Scotland and England came underjoint rule 300 years ago. The Labour Party twinned pairs of constituencies where there was a reasonablyequal chance of winning. Party Members from each pair of constituencies came together to select thecandidates. Members had two votes—one for a woman and one for a man. The man with the most votesbecame the candidate for one of the two constituencies, and the woman with the most votes became thecandidate in the other constituency.

Q. Surely quotas are demeaning to women?—women do not need quotas because women will get there ontheir merit.

A. This argument is put forward by women as well as men but if this was true, why aren’t there manymore women in the world’s legislatures? Does anyone deny the thousands of willing and capable women inevery country? Merit just does not seem to be suYcient for women.

Clearly Quotas are needed. This is not because women are unable to succeed in politics on merit, butbecause, all too often, women are rarely given the opportunity to try. The system may not be selectingcandidates “on merit” at all. There are plenty of able women in all Parties who are not getting selected forwinnable seats or winnable positions on Party Lists. It is not unknown for a woman applicant to be told“You were the best person for the candidacy but we felt we should choose a man”.

If women really were being oVered the chance to succeed on merit, Equalising Action would not be needed.

Equalising action is designed to introduce a level playing field so women can compete fairly at thecandidate selection stage. Women make up 50% of the population of most countries. And yet, under currentpolitical systems, in which nominations are controlled by political parties largely dominated by men (whatin the UK is often called “the old-boys’ network”, it is unlikely that women will be nominated as candidatesin suYcient numbers. Until hidden systemic barriers to women are removed, women do not, in reality, haveequal opportunity. Equalising action is therefore required to make the break-through.

Q. Surely you should not counter discrimination with more discrimination against men?

A. Equalising action is not designed to discriminate against men as some sort of revenge for thediscrimination suVered by women. It is designed to introduce a level playing field so women can competefairly for selection. It gives women the opportunity to compete on merit, which is not currently happening.

Q. Surely with positive action we will end up with low-quality MPs?

A. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that women selected under positive action mechanisms areany better or any worse than the rest of their political colleagues, whether male or female.

Q. Surely the law should not interfere with how political Parties operate?

A. Laws can certainly be used to create a just and fair society. Legislation can be permissive (you can) orprescriptive (you must). Permissive legislation makes it legal for a political party to introduce quotas on avoluntary basis. Norway, Denmark Germany, and Sweden have permissive legislation. An increasingnumber of NE European political Parties have chosen voluntarily to introduce quotas. In 1988 the DanishSocial Democratic Party introduced a 40% quota for local and regional elections. In 1983 the NorwegianLabour Party introduced a 40% quota.

In Germany the Green Party introduced parity quotas in 1980, the Social Democrats in 1988 and theChristian Democratic Party in 1996.

Five Swedish political parties have now made the choice to introduce a quota.(v)

(See Greek and French and other systems below).



Q. Are there any disadvantages to a permissive system in which parties can choose whether or not to have aquota?

A. The disadvantage is that unless every party introduces Equalising Action processes, there is noguarantee of the “critical mass” of at least 30% women continuing if there is a change of government, if thein-coming party or parties did not use equalising action.

Q. What other models are there for introducing quotas?

A. In Greece the quota law which has been implemented (Law 2910/01, number 75), provides that at leastone third of each sex must participate in the ballot lists of the candidates of each political party. The quotalaw made a great impact on the results of the Greek elections. In 2002 the percentage of the women’sparticipation in the ballot lists of the political parties in the municipal elections increased from 14% in1998 to 34% in 2002 and the percentage of elected women in the municipal elections rose from 11% in 1998 to18%!! In the prefectural elections, the percentage of the elected women increased from 7% in 1998 to 12%by 2004.

In Italy the Law on the election of Members of the European Parliament specifies that on any politicalparty constituency list there must be at least one third women and at least one third men and no more thantwo thirds of either sex. Any movement or party which presents a list that does not respect this genderbalance will be fined a portion of their state-subsidised election funds. Italian women activists believe newlaws are needed in order to achieve a system capable of ensuring parity in Italian politics. The percentageof women in the European Parliament increased from 11.5% to 20.5%.178

France has enshrined gender-balanced parity quotas in the French Constitution.

Since 2000, French electoral law states that in all elections using PR list systems (including local andregional elections, some elections to the Senate, and European elections) the parties must put forward listswhich are gender-balanced—at least 40% male candidates and at least 40% female candidates.

This was first applied in the municipal elections in March 2001. As a result, the number of womenrepresentatives in the cities increased from 22% to 47.5%. In other French elections, including those to theLower House, parties are required to put forward a gender-balanced slate of candidates, or pay afinancial penalty.

A number of other countries have passed legislation to make quotas mandatory.

These include:Belgium, France, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Costa Rica,Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Jordan, Macedonia,Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Sudan, Serbia and Montenegro,Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela.

Some countries in addition to France have enshrined quota procedures at national or local level in theirConstitutions. These include:

China, Eritrea, Guyana, Kenya, Nepal, Philippines, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Argentina, India.179

Q. What are the advantages of enshrining quotas in the Constitution or by introducing legislation?

A. A basis in law provides a basis for enforcement. In France, if a party submits a list which is not gender-balanced, it is declared invalid. This rule was first applied during the municipal elections in March 2001.

In other French elections, including those to the Lower House, parties are required to put forward agender-balanced slate of candidates or pay a financial penalty. The balance does not need to bemathematically exact—a party putting forward 49% of candidates of one sex and 51% of the other sex paysno penalty. If the discrepancy is any greater than this, the party’s State funding will be cut by an amountequaling half the percentage diVerence. A party which puts forward 45% women and 55% men—a diVerenceof 10%—will lose 5% of its state funding.

This system oVers a strong incentive for Parties to comply

Q. Are quotas legal?

A. European Member States belong to international bodies which have passed resolutions to support theuse of aYrmative action.

178 (8 of April 2004, n.90).179 International IDEA and Stockholm University Global Database of Quotas for Women.



UN CEDAW supports the use of special measures.

CEDAW—The Convention for the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, to whichthe UK is party, states:

“adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures (TSMs) aimed at accelerating the defacto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination.”—(CEDAWArticle 4.1).

European Commission recommendation (84/635/EEC) urges Member States

“to take steps to ensure that positive action includes as far as possible actions having a bearing on thefollowing aspects . . . encouraging women candidates and the recruitment and promotion of womenin sectors and professions and at levels where they are under-represented, particularly as regardspositions of responsibility . . . active participation by women in decision making bodies.”180

The Inter-Parliamentary Council (the plenary policy-making body of the Inter-Parliamentary Union)agreed a “break-through” plan of action to correct imbalances in the participation of men and women inpolitical life at its meeting in Paris in April 1994. Section III(4) stated that -

“On a strictly interim basis, aYrmative action measures may be taken.”

The Council of Europe agreed a Resolution at the European Ministerial Conference on Equality betweenwomen and men which stated “Special legislation should be passed to make it easier for women to get involvedin politics and eventually create a gender balance (positive action).” Skopje—22–23 January 2003

The Council of Europe

The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly adopted a recommendation on Equal Representationin Political Life on 22 June 1999 (no. 1413).

Point 12 (ii) of this recommendation states

“The Assembly invites its national delegations to urge their parliaments to introduce specific measuresto correct the under-representation of women in political life, and in particular… to institute equalrepresentation in political Parties and to make their funding conditional upon the achievement of thisobjective.”

45 countries belong to the Council of Europe including new democracies in SE Europe and other formerCommunist countries.

Q. Surely the Parties will not be able to find enough suitable women candidates?

A. This argument is a serious indictment of political parties which have remained entrenched in narrowand often undemocratic methods of working. By introducing quotas, political parties necessarily reach outinto a wider pool of talent from the community than solely the previous “old boys’ networks”.

When a party decides to take a fresh look at the way it recruits and selects its candidates it can result ina more inclusive and thus more democratic—and modern - political party.

In France, during the first local elections held under the Parity Law in 2001, the need to find suitablewomen candidates forced Parties to rethink their recruitment strategies. It was reported that in Paris theSocialists went from department to department at the top universities. The Gaullist Rally for the RepublicanParty turned to the Internet.

Annex 2

DiYculties encountered—by women looking to become MPs

In the UK progress has been made for women in politics since the early 1980s but old habits die hard. Insome areas of our political parties, party members at candidate selection meetings and in primary electionsstill view men as “a safer bet” to win elections. Women entering the political arena have to overcomethousands of years of discrimination in politics and public life. With mostly men at the top, political cultureis irradiated top-down by the outlook and attitudes of one gender. The culture changes needed are ofteninvisible. Discrimination (possibly unconscious and indirect) is deeply rooted. This is especially evidentduring political party selection processes.

180 Ellis, E. (1998). EC Sex Equality Law, Oxford: Clarendon Press.



Attitudes of “nearest and dearest”

Spouses, partners and family can be a major block or they can form a valuable support system for womencandidates. In workshops, my organisations Shevolution and Project Parity asked aspiring womenpoliticians to make a list of everything they viewed as an asset to their career in politics and everything theythought to be a liability. In some workshops approximately 50% of participants rated their husbands orpartners a supportive asset. The other 50% described their husbands as unsupportive or even, in some cases,actively opposed to their participation in politics.

Women in a number of countries with a strong Muslim culture (from which some of the British ethnicminorities originate) said husbands and other male relatives directly prevented them from attending politicalmeetings or entering the political arena.

Cultural stereotypes and attitudes

Women face preconceptions that are essentially cultural which have become accepted as “the norm” andhave become institutionalised. This results in both open discrimination and hidden discrimination againstwomen. The hidden gender discrimination can be more pervasive than obvious discrimination. Stereotypedassumptions are often behind decisions not to include women as equal partners (indeed, to sideline women)and not to restructure the way things are done to enable women to participate eVectively.

Challenges faced by women prospective candidates for winnable seats

Party Candidate selection processes are a major block preventing a much larger percentage of womenfrom diverse backgrounds getting elected to Parliament. In theory, a citizen whether male or female, shouldhave an equal opportunity of getting elected to parliament or local government. However, the reality is that85% of parliamentarians in the world are men—80% in the UK . When it comes to elections, women are notplaying on a level playing field with men. Hundreds of open or covert discriminatory practices impactagainst women candidates. The obstacles are partly a consequence of cultural attitudes and partly aconsequence of processes.

It can be diYcult for those who have not attempted to contest an election to fully appreciate the extentof the incredible extra obstacles which women have to overcome in addition to the usual challenges facedby any political candidate, or the courage women show in participating as political candidates in elections.The obstacles are partly a consequence of cultural attitudes and partly a consequence of institutionalprocedures.

Women are less likely than men to have money and resources, they may have family responsibilities thatdemand their attention. They may face sexism and ridicule from the media.In many societies women’s low status results in low self-esteem and this lack of self-confidence prevents themfrom stepping out into the political arena to speak up for what they believe in.

Women are not a homogenous category. Issues which impinge on women are cross-cut by other factorsaVecting their status: marital/widowhood status, parental background, religious grouping, ethnic minority/race, class and economic ranking, urban/rural.

The following summarises the main factors that in practice work against women’s election to parliaments:

The Six “Cs”

1. Cultural tradition and attitudes: stereotyped attitudes and preconceptions have frequently been used asan excuse for not including women. Religious traditions are in reality often cultural practices rather thantheological strictures. Women are perceived as caretakers of the home, nursers of the sick and bearers andrearers of children rather than as political leaders.

2. Cronyism: men’s networks have created strong bonds of mutual help into power positions which bydefinition exclude women. Women find it diYcult to break into inner circles of power created by men’snetworks for men, or to create a viable alternative.

3. Cash: a shortage of financing for women. Election campaigns and building a track record in politicscan be expensive. In general women have less access to spare cash than men.

4. Confidence: women often lack the confidence to participate as candidates for election.

5. Chronic lack of time: women often have to juggle family responsibilities, paid work and political actionshould they become active, often referred to as the “double-” or “triple-burden”.

6. Career impediment: the influence of traditional leaders or religious leaders, discouragement even fromfamily members, intimidation and the masculine nature of many political parties all act as career blocks towomen in politics.181

181 IDEA.



Political party Candidate selection processes can be a block to women.

Once a person is chosen by their political party as a candidate, she/he can compete in an election againstcandidates from other political parties in a constituency or on a party list. Few candidates succeed in gettingelected to parliament without the support of a political party.

A person who wants to get elected by the voters first has to get past her/his “party gatekeepers”.

A former British Member of Parliament described the candidate selection process as follows:

“Getting elected to Parliament is quite simple:

1. First you join the political party of your choice

2. Next you work hard in your party and become well-known in your party

3. Then you apply to stand as an election candidate

4. Get selected by your party to fight a winnable seat

5. Then obtain suYcient votes to win the election!”

Her description of the stages is pretty accurate. The reality is more complex. A great deal of wheeling-and-dealing takes place within political parties. Rules and methods for selecting prospective candidates tocontest elections vary from country to country and from party to party. Political parties are like tribes orclans with their own customs, traditions, values and procedures. During the candidate selection process thepower of male networks—secular and/or religious—cannot be over-estimated. This is a tough nut foraspiring women to crack. Party candidate selection processes often lack transparency or accountability. Asmall inner clique of party apparatchiks comes together behind closed doors and decides who they want asparty candidates.

The Iron Law Of Incumbency—almost every elected Member can remain in Parliament for the rest of his/her life. Incumbency is a serious block against new people—ie women candidates—getting into the Houseof Commons. If there is no space, no new people can get in. All too often, even when an MP steps down/dies, the Constituency tends to go for the customary “safe” candidate, from ignorance of the public (andParty) interest, and that can mostly be a male in his 30s, with a support system (partner) to help him in hispublic life moves.

Constituencies need to be educated on the benefits of gender and diversity. For example, there is psephologicalevidence that women candidates can gain up to 5% more votes than neighbouring male candidates.

Even in political parties where the candidate selection processes are reasonably democratic and each partymember is entitled to a vote for the candidate of their choice, women meet sex discrimination. There areParty members on candidate selection committees and at candidate selection meetings who still view men“as a safer bet” to win elections. This perception is often disguised under other excuses. On a Burns nightdinner this year (2009) I sat next to a political candidate who told me she was initially turned down becauseshe might decide to start a family. It would seem that in some constituencies not much has changed intwo decades.

Annex 3

Lessons identified globally

Countries globally with over 30% women in their legislatures

Rwanda 56.3%, Wales 50%, Sweden 47.0%, Cuba 43.2%. Finland 41.5%, Netherlands 41.3%, Argentina40.0%, Scotland 39.5%, Denmark 38%, Angola37.3%, Costa Rica 36.8%, Spain 36.3%, Norway 36.1%,Belgium 35.3%, Mozambique 34.8%, New Zealand 33.6%, Iceland 33.3%, Nepal 33.2%, South Africa 33%,Germany 32.2%, Belarus 31.%,The FYR of Macedonia 31.7%, Uganda, 30.7%, Burundi, 30.5%, Tanzania30.4%, Guyana 30.0%

Countries with over 30% women in parliament share three things in common:

— All countries with over a “threshold” level of 30% women in parliament have introduced equalisingstrategies such as gender-balanced quotas as a “break-through” (ie temporary) measure.

— Women (often with supportive men) inside and outside political parties mobilised and campaignedfor quotas. Women’s groups also provided training for women in political participation.

— The electoral system is some form of Proportional Representation. The exceptions are Scotlandand Wales—see section on quotas

Quotas have usually been introduced as a result of strong lobbying campaigns by women both inside andoutside political parties. Governments and parties have often been reluctant to introduce quotas.



Women’s representation in Parliament is not a question of whether a country is rich or poor

Wealthy countries such as Italy, the United States and Japan have a lower share of parliamentary seatsthan the women in 13 developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Rwanda, a financially poor country, andSweden, a rich country, have among the highest representation of women in parliament in the world.

Political literacy does not depend on a high rate of educational literacy

Many countries with a highly educated population have a low representation of women: Hungary 11.1%,Ireland 13.3%, Italy 11.5%, the United States 17.4% and Japan 9.4%.

Compare this to countries with a low rate of literacy such as Rwanda (56.3%), South Africa (33%) andMozambique (34.8%).

Major upheavals, such as deadly conflict or constitutional reform can be a catalyst for reform.

Sometimes a real breakthrough only comes after cataclysm forces it on to the nation’s agenda. The firstelections after a major upheaval by definition start with a clean sheet, with the opportunity to throw oV thebaggage of the past.

Seven countries with over 30 % representation of women in their legislatures took the opportunity ofmajor upheavals to introduce radical reforms that enabled far greater women’s participation. After deadlyconflict: Rwanda, Mozambique, Nepal, Afghanistan, Burundi, Iraq. South Africa after the long struggle todismantle Apartheid.

Swedish women used gentle blackmail.

Within the European member states, Sweden currently has the highest level of representation of womenin the European Parliament and in the national Parliament. 50% of Swedish Euro MPs are women. In theSwedish Lower House 45% are women: 157 out of 349 Members (last election, in 2000).

Sweden’s electoral system is a form of Proportional Representation called the List System. Voters arepresented with lists of all the candidates sponsored by political parties. They can vote for any party and theparties receive seats in parliament proportional to the number of votes they get. If the voter does not likeany political party or any candidates, she/he is able to cross out the names and nominate any Swedish citizenin their place. This way an independent can get elected.

Slightly over 50% of Swedish voters are women. Sweden made its big breakthrough and doubled its femalerepresentation in Parliament only 11 years ago, in the 1998 elections. A group of Swedish women callingthemselves the Red Stockings used the gentle art of democratic blackmail. The Red Stockings tookexception to the under-representation of women on every Swedish party list of candidates. The RedStockings let it be known to the party leaders that they would persuade voters to cross oV the names ofcandidates nominated by the political parties considered guilty of gender discrimination and replace themwith their family members’ names or animals instead.

Fewer than a dozen women were ever identified as members of the Red Stocking group, nevertheless pollsestablished that practically every Swede had heard of their plan. In a last-minute unspoken consensus, everySwedish party doubled, and in some cases tripled, the number of female candidates on its party lists.

The result was that Sweden got its very high percentage of female legislators.

Submission by STV Action (SC–65)

“It cannot—or it can no longer—be said that the House of Commons is a representative cross-section ofthe social and economic interests of the nation.” —page 222, Voters, Parties and Leaders (1969 edition) byJean Blondel, Professor of Government in the University of Essex. How little has changed in 40 years!

Your terms of reference are to: “Consider, and make recommendations for rectifying, the disparitybetween the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons andtheir representation in the UK population at large”. This seems to exclude the option of deciding that thereis no need to rectify the disparity and we think that exclusion is justified from a national point of view becauseof the perception created by the disparity.

Ethnic and social groups are not spread out evenly across the country and First-Past-the-Post gives certainareas of the country (marginal constituencies) a disproportionate amount of power leaving others withminimal influence. Channel 4’s opinion poll of only the sixty most marginal constituencies, publishedyesterday, illustrates this. The situation has the potential to make members of certain groups feel that theirvotes do not count and their voices are not heard. This in turn can contribute to a feeling of exclusion fromthe democratic process.



Nevertheless, rectification sits uneasily alongside the basis principle of representative democracy, whichis that the voters choose representatives to represent their political views—not their sex, ethnicity, age,disability, religion, sexual persuasion or other fixed features unrelated to their political views. To sayotherwise would deny the ability of Mr Blunkett to represent the sighted and the women of SheYeldBrightside or of Ms Abbott to represent the white and Asian constituents and the men of Hackney North& Stoke Newington. The problem is that solutions like lists restricted to candidates of one ethnicity or sexis that in reducing the national problem, they create constituency problems; if Mr Smith is assumed not torepresent the women of the constituency properly, why should Ms Jones be assumed to be able to representthe men?

Many constituencies now have no choice other than between white, male, able-bodied middle-classcandidates. Even if there is a wider choice in theory, a safe seat usually guarantees victory to one candidate,who most likely will be white, male, able-bodied and middle-class. Unacceptable though that may be, for aparty to set out to give a safe seat to a woman, an ethnic minority candidate or a disabled person would beto replace one unacceptable practice with another and continue to deny real choice to voters. The electionof one representative can never be diverse, whereas a group of representatives can represent the political andcultural diversity of a constituency.

The solution is multi-member constituencies, so the MPs for them could be a mixture of men and women,black and white, able and disabled according to voters’ choices. Thus constituencies, as well as the nation,could be more representative of diverse groups and constituents would have a choice of MPs to approachwith their problems. For example, five neighbouring singe-member constituencies could be grouped togetherto elect five MPs together to avoid increasing the size of the House of Commons.

However, the voting system in such constituencies is important, too. The “Block X” or Multiple Non-Transferable Vote (MNTV) voting system used in multi-member wards in some local authority elections inEngland and Wales would mean that, in most cases, one party would take all the seats of a multi-memberconstituency so, while Parliament may become more representative in some ways, it would become lessrepresentative politically. Moreover, voters would not have a realistic choice of candidates; the only choiceavailable to a party supporter would be to vote for all the party’s candidates or split the party vote whichwould usually mean wasting it. Consequently, consideration should be given to changing the voting system.

The best solution, instead of restricted lists or MNTV in multi-member constituencies, would be to usethe Single Transferable Vote (STV) in multi-member constituencies, the system used for local elections inScotland and all elections in Northern Ireland except to Westminster. This eliminates the problems that oneparty may win all the seats in a constituency and that a voter’s only choice would be between voting for allthe party’s candidates and splitting the party vote. Consider the example of a five-member constituencywhere one party expects to win two seats and hopes to win three:

— To maximise its vote, the party will be encouraged to nominate a diversity of candidates; eg fromdiVerent wings of the party, pro- and anti- EU, men and women and, perhaps depending on theethnic mix of the constituency, diVerent ethnic communities. This will give voters a genuine choice,not only between parties but also between candidates within them.

— Because the party will have oVered a wider choice of candidates, there will be greater opportunitiesfor groups, currently under-represented in Parliament, to increase their representation, but theparty’s voters—not the party—will decide which two or three candidates from the party willrepresent the constituency and from which wings of the party or from which groups, ethnic or other,they will come. Thus, not only the nation but also constituencies will be represented better to reflectsociety as a whole. Furthermore, better representation in constituencies will ensure even betterrepresentation nationally representing the voters’ choices.

Voting by STV is literally as easy as 1, 2, 3. Voters simply list the candidates in order of preference. It hasbeen used successfully in both parts of Ireland for many years and caused no problems in local elections inScotland on 3 May 2007, even though problems were experienced with the Additional Member System(AMS) used for elections to the Scottish Parliament on the same day.

We shall not explain the counting procedure for STV in this short note; that is better left to others suchas the Electoral Reform Society, but it is already well documented for Scotland, Northern Ireland and theRepublic.

Tinkering around the edges of the problem by introducing restricted candidate lists would go against thebasis principle of representative democracy. Encouraging and training potential candidates from under-represented groups or providing child-minding facilities for women may or may not ameliorate the problemscaused by the disparity; without a diVerent voting system, these proposed “solutions” even taken together,would not solve the problem and might create new ones. The introduction of STV may not alone solve theproblem but will go further than anything else towards solving it.



Submission by Belfast City Council (SC–66)

Introduction

1. The Good Relations Unit of Belfast City Council is submitting a written statement in relation to thosequestions listed in the documentation that are most relevant to the work of the Council.

2. We have taken the view that examining the balance in representation of local government, togetherwith a review of those initiatives aimed at influencing the composition of local government, is a usefulstarting point from which to examine the wider societal debate surrounding the composition ofrepresentation in the House of Commons.

Background information on Belfast City Council and its composition

Belfast City Council is the largest of the 26 Councils in Northern Ireland (NI) and will retain this statuseven after the reduction in the number of Councils envisaged under the current Review of PublicAdministration. It serves a resident population of around 280,000 people, spends approximately£120 million each year, employs directly more than 2,500 people and is responsible for the delivery of keyservices within Belfast.

3. The Council has a total of 51 locally elected Councillors; only 14 of these are women (27%), althoughthe population of the city as a whole is almost 50/50 men/women.

4. Belfast City Council conducted a survey of the makeup of its elected Councillors in 2007; 41 of the51 Councillors provided details on their personal circumstances.

5. Of these, 31 (76%) were male and 10 (24%) were female. Just under a fifth of Councillors (19%) wereunder 40 and 78% were more than 40 years of age. 32% of Councillors were responsible for a child orchildren; 12% were responsible for a dependant elderly person and 10% were responsible for a person witha disability. A majority (73%) of Councillors were employed full-time while 12% were employed part-time.

What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not becomemembers of Parliament/Councillors?Why don’t more from these groups consider standing for election?Why aren’t more of them selected? Or, if they are,Why aren’t more of them elected?

6. We have anecdotal evidence within the Council to suggest that women are less likely to want to becomeelected Councillors for various reasons:

— the timing of Council and Committee meetings, usually late afternoon, which is the mostinconvenient time for those with child caring responsibilities

— the “macho” perception of Council /Committee meetings in Belfast, linked to the perceived“aggressive” nature of politics in NI.

Some political parties have pro-active policies on the selection of women as candidates and representativesat Council and NI Assembly level.

What actions could be taken by the government (Council) to address disparities in representation?

7. Belfast City Council has been working proactively to identify and tackle the issues identified on anumber of levels.

8. As a member of the Local Government StaV Commission of NI (LGSC) the Council has played a keyrole in the Commission’s work looking at the following:

— how to increase women’s participation and representation in decision making processes

— identifying the causes and seeking to close the gender pay gap

— developing recognised good practice in relation to flexible working policies and work-life balanceinitiatives

— examining the impact of childcare/caring roles for both men and women (particularly in ruralareas)

— raising awareness of gender related violence.

9. Belfast City Council has been involved in a number of initiatives aimed at raising the levels ofinvolvement of women in local Councils and has been a proactive member of the LGSC’s Women in LocalCouncils initiative.

10. As part of this initiative the LGSC established a Women’s Development Steering Group to identifyand address training and development needs, in the context of the under-representation of womenCouncillors and senior oYcers in NI Councils.



11. The Steering Group has representatives from a range of partner organisations in NI including theSociety for Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), the NI Local Government Association (NILGA),the National Association of Councillors, Business in the Community, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions(ICTU), the Equality Commission of NI and the Institute of Governance at Queen’s University Belfast.

12. A female Head of Services at Belfast City Council is Chair of this Steering Group and each Counciland political party in Northern Ireland is challenged and supported to make measurable progress towardsaddressing gender under-representation, thereby creating a local government sector that more accuratelyreflects the community it serves.

13. A key feature of the Women in Local Councils initiative is the appointment of a gender championwithin each of the partner organisations. The network of champions is committed to maximising the profileof the initiative and participation in the programme of events within their respective organisations. Theyalso assist in identifying and sharing examples of best practice and act as the main point of contact with theWomen’s Development Steering Group. In Belfast City Council the champion is our Director ofDevelopment, Marie-Therese McGivern.

14. In addition to this initiative, Belfast City Council also developed and led a 3-year project 2005–08,funded under the EU EQUAL programme, entitled WINS (Women Into Non- Traditional Sectors). Thisdelivered a programme of pre- employment training and mentoring and work placements for long termunemployed or economically inactive women in Belfast along with research into barriers facing womenworking in non-traditional sectors. The project also examined how to make the workplace attractive tolabour supply, how to improve accessibility and remove barriers (real and perceived) and the promotion ofthe benefits of a particular job to a target audience.

What actions have been taken elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and by whom, to address similar concerns? And

15. We are aware that the European Commission has produced an Equality Roadmap for gender equalityand that MEPs have called on member states and political parties to review positive measures to improvelevels of representation in relation to gender. We note that the European Parliament has endeavoured to takea lead in tackling under representation with the Parliament’s “Advisory Committee on EqualOpportunities” by recommending the introduction of EU legislation to require employers to undertake wageaudits and develop action plans to reduce gender wage gaps. The statutory requirement of public bodies inBritain to develop a Gender Action Plan has established the eradication of gender pay diVerentials as oneof a range of positive actions to be undertaken by public sector organisations. We also note that MEPs havecalled on the European Commission to declare 22 February 2009 as international wage equality day.

Submission from The Fawcett Society (SC–67)

Background

2008 marked the 80th and 90th anniversaries of the franchise acts that granted women in the UK the rightto vote and the right to stand as MPs at Westminster. Yet women’s representation in the House of Commonsremains just under 20%. There have only ever been three ethnic minority women MPs and there has neverbeen an Asian woman MP. There are currently no ethnic minority women in the Cabinet, and no ethnicminority women in either the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh National Assembly. The impact of this onthe choices presented to the electorate is dramatic. In the 2005 election, for example, the electorate were facedwith an all male candidate list in 300 of 646 constituencies as none of the major political parties had fieldeda woman.

The UK is now trailing in international league tables on women’s access to positions of political powerand is slipping in its ranking year on year. The UK faces adverse comparisons with countries as diverse asWales and Rwanda, where gender parity has now been achieved. The case for tougher action that deliverschange quickly is self evident.

The Fawcett Society is the UK’s leading women’s rights campaign and works across all political partiesto promote women’s representation in politics. Our roots are in the campaign for the vote, and over anumber of years we have conducted extensive research into the causes of, and solutions to, women’s lowlevels of representation in British politics.

Why is women’s representation in British politics so poor?

Those seeking explanations of women’s poor representation typically argue that the problem is sourcedon the supply side (women do not engage in politics and fail to stand for oYce) or on the demand side (partiesdiscriminate directly and indirectly and the process of running for oYce poses additional barriers to womencandidates).



While clearly both supply and demand side issues contribute to the problem (and feed into one another),the weight of evidence we have gathered suggests that the dominant problem in the British political systemis barriers on the demand side. We have found evidence of direct and indirect discrimination as well as sexualharassment within political parties. This is compounded by the fact that political parties generally, andselection panels particularly, often operate under the mistaken belief that women candidates present agreater risk to success. In fact evidence suggests that having a woman candidate has a positive impact onturnout and sense of political engagement among women.182

Fawcett’s work has also found that British politics presents specific structural barriers to women standingfor parliament: the “three Cs” of culture, care and cash.

Culture: Confrontational, aggressive and point-scoring communication styles dominate in Westminster.This creates a political culture that is oV-putting to many women (and a large number of men) or that maycause women to doubt their ability to succeed. Evidence suggests that women are no less likely to beinterested in political matters, but political culture means that they are less likely to trust formal politicalinstitutions and less likely to want to engage with them.

Care: The inflexibility and long working hours at Westminster will be particularly oV putting to womenwith caring responsibilities. In addition, the selection process requires attending evening meetings severalnights a week. The diYculty of arranging childcare or elder care, combined with the cost, deters manywomen from standing.

Cash: Running for selection requires significant upfront costs to cover trips to constituencies, overnightaccommodation if candidates don’t live in the area, publicity and care. The gender pay gap means thatwomen in Britain earn less than men and are more likely to live in poverty. This creates an uneven playingfield from the start.

Fawcett’s Seeing Double project has recently been investigating in depth the experience of ethnic minoritywomen and tracing back barriers to engagement to local level politics.183 Ethnic minority women represent5% of the British adult population and yet less than 1% of councillors are ethnic minority women (168 inEngland out of almost 20,000). We have identified deep-rooted issues which need to be addressed to promotewomen’s representation. For example, the research found that the councillor role—which is an electedposition and includes authority over public money—is treated as a white middle class hobby available forthose with spare time and money. Ethnic minority women felt that the remuneration oVered did not matchthe workloads involved, was inconsistent across boroughs, and penalised those receiving state benefitsbecause it is treated as income rather than as an honorarium for tax purposes. Political parties were alsonamed as problematic for their lack of leadership in recruiting ethnic minority women to their parties andthen acting as gate-keepers to potential candidates.

Why does women’s representation matter?

Fawcett’s long-standing campaign to increase the numbers of women MPs is based on the “four Ss”argument:

It changes the substance of British politics

Women in politics change the very nature of the political agenda to the benefit of all women and to societymore broadly. In the UK, for example, an increase in a number of women MPs in 1997, resulted in issuessuch as childcare and domestic violence being mainstreamed into the political agenda. It is our belief thatfurther increases in women’s representation would push these issues up the political agenda and give themthe priority, and resources, they deserve.

It is creates an important symbol

Positions of power in the UK remain male dominated—from Parliament to the boardroom and editingsuite men are making the decisions aVecting the whole of UK society. An increase in the number of womenin parliament would provide a crucial symbol for new generations that women can and should occupypositions of power and would act as a catalyst for change in other institutions.

It changes political style to the benefit of all

While it is important not to stereotype women and men politicians, research has shown that women tendto approach politics in a less adversarial and confrontational fashion than men. Further, evidence frombusiness and politics suggests that gender mix among decision makers creates more innovation and creativityand gives scope for all—women and men—to seek out more constructive modes of political engagement.

182 Gender and Political Participation, The Electoral Commission, 2004.183 Routes to Power: ethnic minority women councillors, The Fawcett Society, 2007.



It is a matter of common sense

Increasing women’s participation in parliament is also a simple matter of common sense. Parties arecurrently failing to draw fully on the skills and talents of 52% of the population and all are losing out as aresult. Without concerted eVort, the parties and UK’s parliament risks looking increasingly out of date andout of touch. In an era where there is rapid loss of faith in our democratic institutions and sense of disconnectwith Westminster, women’s representation is not only the right thing to do, it is an essential plank in ensuringthe health of the UK’s democracy.

What are the solutions?

Finding an eVective solution to the issue of women’s representation requires an honest assessment of theroot causes of women’s current under-representation. A source of considerable frustration is that, with somenotable exceptions, political parties are much more at ease in proposing solutions to the supply of potentialwomen candidates—mentoring women, women’s networks, skills training and work with schools—than inaddressing the barriers, discrimination and harassment that exist within the selection process. We are of thebelief that, while there is value in supply side mechanisms, if they are to deliver change they need to beaccompanied by an equivalent eVort to dismantle barriers on the demand side. International evidence backsthe experience we have accumulated over the years—if we are to increase women’s representation atanything faster than a snail’s pace, we need to use positive measures to tackle the demand side.

Positive action

In the UK and internationally, positive action has proven to be the only reliable way to significantlyincrease the numbers of women in parliament. The use of positive action—in the form of all-womenshortlists—is now well established in the Labour Party but each party now has some experience of positiveaction in some way. The Conservative Party A list and the Liberal Democrat’s use of zipping at Europeanelections were all forms of positive measures. We strongly support the adoption of positive action across allpolitical parties. We welcome the extension of the provision that allows for all-women shortlists. We wouldgo further and recommend that the provision is extended until such a time as parity of representation isreached in the House of Commons.

We recognise that the provision to allow for positive measures is permissive—in other words, the partiesare not obliged to take up such measures. While imposing an obligation on political parties to promotegreater representation is likely to be met with enormous resistance, we recommend that clear aspirationaltargets and a timeline for action should be developed by each of the political parties. We would suggest thatthe Government uses these as set trigger points for review and consideration of more radical action. Forexample, a target could be set for a 10% increase in women’s representation at each election and trigger areview post election is such a target were not met when the possibilities for more radical options such asmulti-member constituencies and quotas would be considered.

Positive action and ethnic minority women

Fawcett is concerned about the under-representation of women in parliament, and ethnic minoritywomen in particular. All-women shortlists (AWS) have thus far proved the only mechanism that guaranteeswomen are selected as candidates, and this is true around the world. Fawcett supports the continuing useof AWS and believes that a priority must be placed on selecting ethnic minority women within them. Fawcettsupports the use of reserve numbers within AWS for this purpose. Where parties choose to adopt all-blackshortlists, Fawcett supports the use of formal mechanisms to ensure they will deliver ethnic minority women,including the use of reserve numbers.

Exposing discrimination

We are concerned that direct and indirect discriminatory practices by the political parties are goingunchecked. Data on the pool of candidates coming forward for a seat and even on the selected candidatesis hard to come by and relies on resource intensive research. The demand on resources is such that, since2005, Fawcett has no longer been able regularly to monitor the selection process and identify areas ofconcern. We believe that the selection process should be subject to greater public scrutiny. We recommendthat political parties should be required to submit equality monitoring data on the identities of their poolsof candidates and the candidates they ultimately select to the appropriate regulatory body in a timelyfashion. This will then need to be analysed and areas of concern raised with the parties and a action planfor remedy agreed.



Dismantling structural barriers

Structural barriers of culture, care and cash disproportionately aVect women seeking selection ascandidates or running for oYce. We recommend that these barriers are addressed using a number ofmechanism:

— It is the responsibility of all MPs—and particularly men—to lead a process of changing the culturewithin the House of Commons in their daily business. Participation in outreach programmes,mentoring or shadowing scheme involving underrepresented groups by women and men MPswould also be welcomed although the impact of these is likely to be quite limited.

— The working hours of Parliament should be reconsidered as a matter of urgency as they present areal barrier to the participation of women and men with caring responsibilities and addconsiderably to the perception of Parliament as an outdated institution which does notaccommodate women’s needs.

— Consideration should be given to establishing a centralised fund to mitigate the costs of childcareor other substitute care for prospective women and men candidates. These should recognise formaland informal caring arrangements and might be operated individually by the political parties oron a cross-party basis.

— A cap should be set on spending by prospective candidates during the selection process in the sameway as operates during election campaigns. This would level the playing field for womencandidates and will have positive benefits for any candidates (eg working class candidates,candidates with disabilities) who have experienced forms of prior disadvantage.

— Consideration needs to be given to how the “feeder pool” for political oYce is itself aVected bystructural barriers. For example, our research on councillors suggests that the level and form ofremuneration is a particular barrier for ethnic minority women and simple changes such asensuring that payment is not deducted from benefit allowance would ensure greater access fromunder-represented groups and particularly those facing the greatest economic disadvantage.

Submission by Stonewall (SC–68)

1. Stonewall welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Speaker’s Conference set up to consider therepresentation of minority groups in the House of Commons. Stonewall is a national organisation workingacross Great Britain that has campaigned for equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people since 1989.

2. In summary, Stonewall believes that:— The Speaker’s Conference is most welcome but we strongly regret that its remit has not thus far

included the extremely low number of openly lesbian, gay and bisexual MPs alongside gender,ethnicity and disability. Stonewall welcomed the late addition of disability issues to the originalConference remit.

— Openly lesbian, gay and bisexual men and women, able to contribute the knowledge of their ownlived experience to parliamentary proceedings, are currently seriously under-represented in theHouse. Opinion polling conducted by YouGov for Stonewall suggests that this undermines theconfidence of the wider gay population that they might ever be successful should they wish to standfor Parliament.

— The continued under-representation of openly-gay MPs means that the House of Commons doesnot reflect the wider population. Treasury actuaries estimate that 6% of the UK population is eitherlesbian, gay or bisexual—some 3.6 million people. However, only 2% of current MPs are openlylesbian, gay or bisexual—and all but one of these are male.

— We agree that it is essential that Parliament reflects the communities it serves, both to promote voterengagement through visible role models and to enrich debates and decisions with their livedexperience, not exclusively on sexual orientation or equality matters.

— It is also evident that the under-representation of women in the Commons compounds the gravelack of openly-gay women politicians—there is just one openly-lesbian MP among more than1300 members of both Houses.

The problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons

3. Stonewall strongly believes that there are currently too few openly lesbian, gay and bisexual MPs inthe House of Commons. If they are to speak with the lived experience of being gay, it is essential thatpoliticians who are not heterosexual can be entirely open and relaxed about their sexual orientation to fellowMPs and to their constituents.

4. There are currently only 13 openly lesbian, gay or bisexual MPs in the House of Commons. This figurerepresents just 2% of all 646 MPs. Treasury actuaries have estimated that 6% of the UK population arelesbian, gay or bisexual. If the House of Commons were representative of the wider population there wouldbe 39 lesbian or gay members.



5. As noted above, there is just one openly-lesbian Member of Parliament out of 125 female MPs ableto speak on behalf of the 1.8 million lesbian or bisexual women in the UK. This represents just 0.8% of allfemale MPs.

6. None of the openly-gay MPs is from either a black or minority ethnic background or is disabled.

7. Even though Stonewall works with MPs across all parties who have been extremely supportive inadvancing legal equality, we believe there remain too few elected politicians able to speak in debates andinfluence decisions with lived experience of being gay. Lesbian and gay politicians bring a varied range ofexpertise and contribute to issues far wider than equality or sexual orientation.

8. Because lesbian and gay people do not see their community reflected in Parliament, many are stilldeterred from standing for election themselves and often still believe that the elected chamber does notadequately represent their interests.

The relationship between low levels of representation and voter attitudes to Parliament

9. Lesbian and gay voters’ attitudes to Parliament are certainly aVected by the lack of visible openly-gayMPs. The lack of openly lesbian and gay members sends a signal that being open about one’s sexualorientation remains a barrier to both selection as a candidate and election as an MP.

10. Opinion polling conducted for Stonewall by YouGov demonstrates that, despite modest eVorts bysome political parties, the majority of lesbian and gay people expect to experience discrimination if they seekselection by a political party to stand for Parliament. The polling shows that:

— Three in five lesbian and gay electors think they would face barriers to selection by the LabourParty.

— Half of lesbian and gay electors think they would face barriers to selection by the LiberalDemocrats.

— Nearly nine in ten lesbian and gay electors think they would face barriers to selection from theConservative Party if they wanted to run for Parliament.

11. Political parties have also failed to convince their own gay and lesbian supporters that they can playa full role in political life, with significant numbers expecting to face discrimination should they seek election.

12. Seven in ten active supporters of the Conservative Party would expect to face barriers. Nearly half ofLabour supporters anticipate problems from their party in getting selected, along with three in ten LiberalDemocrats.

13. Separate YouGov polling commissioned by Stonewall, of more than 2000 adults, found that nearlynine in ten voters would be “comfortable” if their MP was lesbian or gay, yet more than half felt that lesbianand gay people were likely to conceal their sexual orientation in politics. It is a maturity of approach thatdoes not yet appear to have been adopted by the main political parties.

The reasons why more lesbian, gay and bisexual people do not become members of Parliament and the problemsand practical diYculties encountered by gay people looking to become MPs

14. Stonewall believes that the selection phase is critical. The vast majority of people who become MPsdo so by being selected for one of the major political parties. Consequently, the parties themselves need totake further steps to attract qualified lesbian and gay candidates.

15. Even where openly-lesbian and gay people are successful in being selected, they are rarely selected insafe seats. There are currently only two MPs, one Labour and one Conservative, who were selected as openlygay candidates in safe seats.

16. Some potential candidates still perceive that their sexual orientation may be used by political partiesto undermine their candidacy. During the 1997 general election, Ben Bradshaw faced repulsive claims froman opponent in Exeter. As recently as 2007 Miranda Grell, a council candidate in the London Borough ofWaltham Forest with parliamentary ambitions, told prospective voters that her opponent, Cllr Barry Smith,a gay man in a civil partnership, was a paedophile with a 16 year old boyfriend. Mr Smith’s partner was 39;Mr Smith was subsequently abused in the street. Grell was convicted under the Representation of the PeopleAct (1989) on two counts of making false statements about another candidate to gain electoral advantage.

Actions that could be taken by the Government to address disparities in representation.

17. Stonewall does not believe that party shortlists reserved solely for openly-gay candidates would bean appropriate way forward in this country. However there are other positive actions which we believeshould be permitted by law.

18. EVorts to increase the representation in the Commons among minority groups must apply across thepiece. The arguments put forward in relation to engagement with modern democracy and the importanceof role models, for example in relation to race, apply equally to sexual orientation.



19. Any positive action measures that the Government is considering as part of its forthcoming EqualityBill should extend to sexual orientation too, in order to increase the representation of lesbian and gay peoplein public life, including in the House of Commons.


20. Political parties should encourage significantly more engagement by lesbian, gay and bisexual peopleat grassroots level to help develop a “pool” of potential candidates. Currently some parties give strongsignals that under-representation of gay people is not considered to be serious by, for example, closelymonitoring the ethnic or gender breakdown of council candidates but not that on ground of sexualorientation.

21. Political parties should demonstrate a commitment to encouraging representation from under-represented communities by oVering mentoring and support for potential candidates from such groups.

22. Senior political figures need to be much more explicit in articulating their desire that the House ofCommons should be properly representative of all communities within 21st century Britain as a way ofenhancing the legitimacy of the House.

23. Stonewall now works closely with more than 450 major public and private sector employers helpingthem to enhance good practice in recruitment. There are a range of further models that could be used fromthis work to enhance the appeal of parliamentary politics as a career option.

24. We hope that the Speaker’s Conference will not miss the historic opportunity to address the under-representation of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Parliament. Stonewall would be very happy to providefurther advice or detail.

Submission from Maria Eagle MP, Government Equalities OYce (SC–69)

The Ministers for Women and Equality welcome the Speaker’s Conference and in addition to theGovernment Memorandum we recently submitted184 we would like to also provide you with the views ofstakeholders and individuals that we have had discussions with over the past year.

I enclose a paper entitled Making A DiVerence which represents their views and ideas on how to rectifythe disparity in representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commonsthat have been expressed to us in various meetings and discussions. These are important issues therefore werecommend that the Speaker’s Conference investigates these proposals which have been provided to us aspart of its work programme.

Maria Eagle MP

Making a Difference

Issues for the consideration of the Speaker’s Conference

The Ministers for Women and Equality have had extensive discussions and consultation over the past yearwith a wide-range of stakeholder groups. In particular they have met with women from black, Asian andminority ethnic communities as individuals, through their organisations and as part of an extensive outreachprogramme by the Ethnic Minority Women Councillors’ Taskforce and the consultation for the proposedEquality Bill. This note represents the views and ideas on how to rectify the disparity in representation ofwomen, ethnic minorities and disabled people in the House of Commons that have been expressed at thesemeetings and recommends that the Speaker’s Conference investigates these proposals which have beenprovided to us as part of its work programme.

1. Better Knowledge

There is a shortage of detailed information on the numbers of those from under-represented groups whoare puthng themselves forward for candidacy. This means we do not understand the relationship betweencandidacy and eventual selection. This data could be collected relatively straightforwardly at nominationstage giving us a clearer picture and appreciation of what is happening to our target groups during theselection process. Stakeholders have suggested:

(a) political parties should be required to collect diversity data on all selection processes includinglooking at those people who have sought nomination, been selected and been elected;

184 Submission SC61, Ev 188.



(b) political parties should be obliged to publish an analysis of the financial investment they aremaking in supporting potential candidates from under-represented groups eg financial assistancefor travel for those with disabilities;

(c) there should be a legal requirement for political parties to submit this data to the ElectoralCommission for publication.

There is also a lack of diversity data in Parliament itself, for example there is no information on disabledMPs. In order to understand the barriers faced by under-represented groups it is first necessary to fullyidentify the issues through better facts and figures. Stakeholders have suggested:

(a) the House should conduct and publish an annual survey on the composition of the membershipsetting out the statistics on gender, race, age, disability and professional background, making a

comparison against the make-up of the population;

(b) information should be sought for the survey, through confidential self reporting, on sexualorientation and religion or belief;

(c) qualitative research for the survey should be conducted amongst MPs on routes into Parliament;

(d) the Equality and Human Rights Commission should be asked to review this research and toproduce its own annual reviews of the political parties and any action they have taken, andsuccesses had, to increase the diversity of their elected representatives.

2. Increased Action

Positive action is a proven strategy for increasing the participation of under-represented groups at alllevels of government. It has been successful in many countries across the EU as well as in the UK itself.Equally targets are a key instrument that has been used to drive change. Better representation will nothappen by a commitment only—it needs to be backed by strong actions to ensure results. Stakeholders havesuggested:

(a) national targets for representation by the political parties should be agreed and set including atimescale;

(b) a review of positive action measures currently available should be carried out;

(c) political parties should be permitted to have both women-only and ethnic minority-only shortlistsuntil proportional equality of representation is achieved;

(d) consideration should be given to having two-member constituencies with the second membercoming from a diversity shortlist;

(e) sanctions should be agreed for failure to achieve nationally agreed targets;

(f) state funding should be given to parties to support candidates from under represented Groups.

(g) Political Parties should adopt “Zipping” in proportional elections to achieve gender balance andredress any diversity imbalance in the selection/election process

3. Institutional Improvements

There are aspects of the workings of the House itself that will inevitably need to improve if we are toachieve our ambition of better representation for everyone in society. Some will be physical and others willbe about access to the democratic process. Giving people from under-represented groups a chance to seehow things work will enhance their confidence and give them a head start when it comes to the selectionprocess. Stakeholders have suggested:

(a) the parliamentary authorities should improve access and support for disabled people on theParliamentary estate, including wheelchair access to all parts of the building, introducing hearingloops and BSL interpretation;

(b) sitting hours should be reviewed to ensure they are more family friendly and consider opportunitiesfor job-share;

(c) to ensure interns come from all backgrounds, the House should establish a panel or clearing systemto allow for positive action amongst under-represented groups;

(d) the House should establish a scheme to institutionalise mentoring/shadowing opportunities forpeople from under-represented communities.



Submission by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (SC–70)

The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the leading medical authority on mental health in the UnitedKingdom and is the professional and educational organisation for doctors specialising in psychiatry.

We are pleased to respond to this consultation. The College’s consultation response was approved by: DrIan Hall, Chair of the Westminster Parliamentary Liaison Committee, and Dr Tony Zigmond, mental healthlaw reform lead, Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Section 141 of the Mental Health Act 1983

The Royal College of Psychiatrists believe that Section 141 of the Mental Health Act 1983 is a grossexample of discrimination on grounds of mental health and needs to be repealed. In order to removediscrimination there must be parity between physical and mental health.

Under Section 141 of the Mental Health Act 1983 an MP automatically loses his/her seat in Parliamentif detained under the Mental Health Act for a period of six months or more. By contrast there are noprovisions to remove an MP if he or she suVers from a physical illness, even if the illness (eg a serious strokeor cancer) is very debilitating and substantially aVects the person’s ability to perform their parliamentaryfunctions. Furthermore, a person who lacks mental capacity may also be detained under the MentalCapacity Act 2005 but does not thereby automatically lose his or her seat as a result.

There is no relevant distinction between these two latter situations and that covered by section 141 of aperson who has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

It is for Parliament to determine if an MP should be displaced after absence from the House throughsickness and if so, how long an absence is required. However, the type of illness, and whether the MP hasbeen subject to the Mental Health Act should not be the primary concern, but rather it should be the eVectthe particular health problem has on an individual’s ability to perform the functions of an MP.

As the Secretariat to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health (APPGMH), The RoyalCollege of Psychiatrists helped to produce a report on mental health in Parliament in July 2008, which wasbased on a survey of all MPs, Peers, and their staV.185

This survey showed that MPs had a significant experience of mental distress both personally and amongfriends and family, but they were worried about disclosing this because of fear of the stigma anddiscrimination that is associated. Repealing Section 141 of the Mental Health Act would be a symbolic steptowards addressing this stigma.

By removing the seat of an MP who is detained under the Mental Health Act, the law also gives the falseimpression that an MP cannot recover from a mental disorder. This is a wholly out of date viewpoint andruns counter to the modern approach to recovery in mental health.

Section 141 has never in fact been used; however it is a totemic piece of law, which ensures thatdiscrimination exists at the heart of our democracy.The Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation has noted that representatives from thedisabled community have expressed concern that Section 141 is one factor which makes them feelunwelcome in Parliament.

We are particularly concerned about the eVect that this might have on people with a history of mentaldisorder who want to stand as prospective parliamentary candidates, but may be put oV if they believe thatthey will be disadvantaged. As the APPGMH survey showed, even those who do stand, or get elected, feelthey have to hide their experience of mental illness.

Submission by the Scottish National Party (SC–71)

1. The selection process within the Scottish National Party is such that potential candidates must first beplaced on the Approved Register of Potential Parliamentary Candidates. This consists of an assessmentprocess which potential candidates must attend, usually in our Edinburgh Headquarters. Thereafter, thosewho are successful in the assessment process are added to the Approved Register and may approach anyconstituency with regard to being their candidate. We operate a rolling register of approved potentialcandidates, and reassessment for subsequent election campaigns is not generally required. For selectionpurposes at local level, potential candidates are required to be nominated from within the constituency. Ifthere is a sole nominee then they are deemed to be selected. If there are multiple nominees then there will bea postal ballot of members to decide upon the candidate. In those circumstances, candidates will producean accompanying statement to go out with ballot papers. The winner of that contest is then selected as thecandidate.

185 http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/mttp%2010-res%20Press%20Release%20version%2015–07–08.pdf



2.(a) The cost to the candidate of the selection contest can be fairly minimal. Potential candidates areonly charged a nominal £10 for the assessment procedure, and even with travel costs to Edinburgh, travelcosts to a particular constituency for hustings etc., and the cost of producing leaflets for a postal ballot, itmight be that many candidates will spend under £100 in total during the process. That is obviouslymultiplied should they contest a number of selection processes in diVerent constituencies.

(b) Costs to the candidate during a campaign will vary greatly dependent on how closely to theconstituency they reside, and the size of the constituency. Someone from central Scotland contesting a seatin the Highlands would spend several hundred pounds or more in travel and accommodation costs, whereassomeone who stays in a compact city constituency and contests that seat may have personal expenses of lessthan a couple of hundred pounds.

3. At a national level we do not support the personal expenses of candidates, but they are given supportat a number of levels in regard to training and campaigning. Some constituencies do give assistance tocandidates in terms of their personal outlay, but this will be dependent on their local resources. Nationalresources will be focussed on the general campaign and also on key seats, but again this will be used forsupporting the campaign in those seats, as opposed to supporting the candidate.

4. Allocation of resources will be based on strength of support in particular seats and the potential for aswing to the SNP.

5. We do not ask for demographic data from our members so cannot give accurate figures on under-represented groups.

(a) A recent academic survey of our membership produced the figure of 32% of our membership asfemale, which ties in roughly with our estimates based on members using Miss, Ms or Mrs as theirtitle, which discounts those with Dr, Rev, Prof, Cllr etc.

(b) The survey figure for BME members was 0.7% which diverges significantly from our own estimateof 3–4%, most of whom are of Pakistani Asian descent.

(c) Disabled—we have no figures

6. If by party oYcials you mean the elected oYcer bearers, of which there are eight, then the percentageswould be:

(a) female—12.5%

(b) BME—0%

(c) disabled—0%

7. Our revised constitution and rulebook, which came into eVect in 2004, made a clear statement of intentwith regard to equality of opportunity in candidacy. In part this led to the election of the first ever ScotsAsian MSP—Bashir Ahmad—for the SNP in 2007. Key to encouraging more diversity in our candidates isto increase minority representation amongst our membership. With a view to this, the National ExecutiveCommittee appointed an Equalities Champion in 2006 to lead a new equality forum which would includemembers from under-represented groups.

Submission from Lone Parent Foundation (SC–72)

Overall Comments

1. There needs to be a rigorous and concerted eVort, through both challenging current cultural norms (onwho does and does not want to participate in the political process) and adopting a strategy that willencourage wider participation in the political process alongside making the process more equitable.

2. We need to be actively seeking to widen the life-experience of MPs so that they have observed life froma range of diVerent backgrounds and can identify with the population at large. The current culture andexperience of MPs who are “groomed” into becoming MPs needs to be challenged as it re-enforces thedisparity between the groups the Conference is looking at. This includes widening the pool of MPs so itincludes those who have not gone to the Russell Group of universities as well as those from working-classbackgrounds, etc.

3. We need to be looking at the experience of Black (I use the term Black to identify, Asian, African andAfro-Caribbean communities) women in the political process and explore what are the barriers for them.Included in this needs to be a real eVort to explore some of the “hidden” issues that are culturally sensitive.In my experience some Black women who are actively involved in the political process have been told theywill not get shortlisted or selected either “because they are not married, are single parents or are not the‘right’ kind of Black woman”. This is an issue that lots of Black women may feel they are unable to comeon-record for, for fear of reprisals. This has to be investigated sensitive but thoroughly.

4. We cannot ignore the costs of campaigning or of being active in the political process. Thisautomatically rules out a number of people, mainly those from low-incomes backgrounds, those with carecommitments and women aswell as disadvantaging those who are not from the Russell Group Universities.



The Conference could explore whether there could be a “cap” put on the amount that is allowed to be spenton a selection as well as other measures such as challenging the need to be in a constituency each week asone of the decisive factors to winning a selection. Currently this makes it very diYcult for certain sectionsof society.

General Comments on the brief

5. The Speaker’s Conference brief should undertake to recommend some research is commissionedespecially as to the experience of Black women and the barriers they have experience in participating in thepolitical process and the co-relation between this and the cost of campaigning and other related issues.

6. Clear and accountable procedures need to be put in place that can not only monitor inclusion in thepolitical process but also provide an avenue for some form of appeal process should the need arise.

Submission from David Nice (SC–73)

Introduction

1.1 When it was decided, about a year ago, to set up this conference, it was said that the intention wasto examine the reasons for low voter turnout in elections for the UK Parliament, and consider how turnoutcould be improved.

1.2 The terms of reference as now stated do not specifically refer to voter turnout, but concentrate onincreasing representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people in Parliament. However, theterms of reference allow for consideration of other matters and I submit that:

(a) in view of its importance in a democratic society, ways of improving voter turnout should beexamined (as originally promised); and

(b) there is a relationship between voter turnout and voting systems on the one hand, andrepresentation of the groups mentioned specifically on the other; and consideration of the latterwithout consideration of the former would fail to do justice to the issues, and a great opportunityfor improvement would be lost.

1.3 Improving the representation of these under-represented groups is a laudable aim. I fully support it.I have no doubt at all that furtherance of that aim would be greatly assisted by improvements to our electoralsystem and the enhancement of voter turnout, and it is that point which I propose to concentrate on in thissubmission.

Why is voter turnout so low?

2.1 I attach, as Appendix A, a submission I made in 2005 which shows that voter turnout variesenormously between marginal constituencies and non-marginals. An important part of the explanation, Isuggest, is that many people will not vote if they know their vote will be a “wasted vote”.

2.2 There are other factors involved, of course, for example the lower propensity of younger people tovote, so that the age profile in a constituency will be likely to have an eVect. In order to keep my submissionreasonably succinct I will do no more than acknowledge those other factors, and concentrate on the questionof “making votes count”.

2.3 A change to a proportional representational (PR) voting system for the UK Parliament wouldundoubtedly increase voter turnout. Since I made that point in 2005 the government’s own analysis of votingsystems published in January 2008 included the point that voter turnout is higher where PR is used, byaround 5% on average.

2.4 A change to a PR system would improve the public’s perception of the significance of voting andwould be more democratic than our present system. It is indefensible that a party may get 35% of the votescast in the country but secure 55% of the seats in the House of Commons (that was the example of the2005 election, which was not unique but mirrors voting outcomes in earlier years). This is not democracy.It is dictatorship by a minority. It is hardly surprising that there is so much disaVection and cynicism amongstvoters about MPs, Parliament and everything which goes with it. A proper democratic approach would bethat the composition of the House of Commons reflects the wishes of the voters.

2.5 The very great majority of voters at present know that they are powerless and their vote can do nothingwhatsoever to aVect the question of who forms the government. That question is determined by a smallminority of voters in marginal constituencies—commonly reckoned to be well below one million voters (asreflected in the government’s own report of Jan 2008). So something like 97% of people eligible to vote canhave no influence whatsoever on who forms the government: they are eVectively disenfranchised. That is ashocking indictment.



2.6 Abandonment of our antiquated First Past The Post (FPTP) voting system and the introduction ofa PR system would do much to improve voter turnout and the regard which the public have for Parliamentand everyone associated with it.

2.7 The UK is now the only country in Europe which still uses FPTP for elections to Parliament. Andwithin the UK of course, PR systems are already in use (European Parliament; Welsh Assembly; Scottishlocal council elections, and Northern Ireland Assembly). Surely the time has come for us to modernise andfor the House of Commons to be elected on a PR basis; or at least for the public to be given the opportunityto decide whether that change should be made (as was firmly promised by the Labour Party in 1997).

The need for a referendum

3.1 Whether or not the voting system for the House of Commons should be changed—I think mostpeople agree—should be a matter for the public to decide.

3.2 There would be more than one way to arrange such a referendum, and many commentators havesuggested (as did the Jenkins Commission) that the public should be given the choice between keeping FPTPor changing to a specified PR system. I submit that such an approach would be unsatisfactory andundemocratic. My own proposal is that it should be for the voters to decide not only whether they wish tochange to a PR system, but also which PR system should be brought in. I have devised a way of doing this,and that is described in my paper “Towards a Referendum”.186

The relationship between voting systems and representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people inParliament

4.1 The introduction of PR would present a significant opportunity to improve representation in theHouse of Commons of the groups mentioned in the terms of reference.

4.2 It is well known that there are many countries in Europe where women for example have a muchhigher representation than in the UK ( eg Sweden 47%; Finland 42%; Netherlands 37%). Those countriesdo not use FPTP—they use PR.

4.3 Some kinds of PR system present particularly significant opportunities to improve representation ofcurrently under-represented groups. For example in the system of Single Transferable Vote (STV) therewould be two major helpful factors. The first is that there would be larger constituencies, typically electingfive MPs, and political parties in many if not most cases would put forward a number of candidates, not justone; and in those circumstances they would be much more likely to put forward a group of candidates whichwas not for example exclusively male but which provided a mixture of candidates. The second factor is thatthe voters would be presented with a list of candidates which enabled them—if they so wished—to vote fora woman or for an ethnic minority candidate and so on. So the practical outcome would be a significantimprovement in the mix of MPs.

Conclusion

5.1 The fact that I myself am convinced of the merits of PR is of no consequence—I am only one voter.What I am asking for is that all voters should urgently be given the opportunity to register their view. Elevenyears of procrastination is far too long and shames those responsible for it.

5.2 I respectfully submit that it is vital and urgent for the health of democracy in the UK that the promisedreferendum should now be held on whether to retain FPTP or change to a PR system for elections to theHouse of Commons.

Submission from Lord Rennard MBE, Chief Executive, Liberal Democrats (SC–74)

1. A Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate is selected by a vote of all eligible Partymembers in the constituency in question. The selection is held subsequent to a hustings meeting (althoughpostal votes are also accepted) and is by a Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. Selections are conductedaccording to a set of rules, which uphold principles of fairness and best practice. A trained Returning OYcerfrom another Local Party oversees the selection process, and is assisted by a Local Party selectioncommittee, constructed to reflect the electorate in the constituency in terms of geography, gender, ethnicityand age, the members of which receive diversity training. The selection committee are responsible foragreeing selection criteria, which they use to draw up the shortlist of candidates who will compete for thevotes of the membership. Shortlists must be between 3 and 5 members long and must contain a minimumnumber of candidates from each gender. Only candidates who are on the Party’s list of approved candidatesare eligible for shortlisting. Admission to the approved list is by means of an assessment centre, usually runregionally, where applicants are assessed in a range of exercises against an agreed competency framework.




The assessment centre has recently been entirely revised and diversity has been mainstreamed throughout,with all assessors receiving diversity training. Anyone who has been a Party member for at least 12 monthscan apply for assessment, and every eVort is made to make the assessment accessible to all applicants, bymeans of a comprehensive reasonable adjustments policy. There is a fee of £50 to cover costs, which is waivedif an applicant indicates they are not able to pay.

2.(a) The 2005 British Representation Study http://www.bbk.ac.uk/polsoc/research/projects/british-representation-study conducted by Dr Rosie Campbell, Dr Sarah Childs and Professor Joni Lovenduskicame up with the following results:

“On average Liberal Democrat candidates spent £178 on selection expenses since the last electionand £70 on their most recent selection. On average women applied for 1.99 seats compared with1.46 seats for men; women were on average interviewed for 1.8 seats compared with 1.31 for men;women were on average on the shortlist of 1.84 seats compared to 1.36 for men. Men spent onaverage £96 on selection expenses between the 2001 and the 2005 election, women spent on average£434 over the same period. Women spent an average of £129 on their most recent selectioncompared with £48 for men. A regression analysis was conducted on candidates’ spending andwhen a control for being a parent of a child under 5 was included the sex diVerence in spendingwas reduced dramatically. We can infer from this that childcare costs account for women’s highselection expenses”.

(b) In theory there is no cost to the candidate personally for running a campaign for election toWestminster. Campaign costs are the responsibility of the local party and may be assisted by nationalfunding. In practice, however, the relative lack of funds available to the Liberal Democrats means thatcandidates will tend to contribute more to their campaign costs than may be the case in other parties—especially if they are seeking to win. There are also many “out of pocket expenses” and also the potentialloss of significant earnings often required to be a successful Liberal Democrat candidate. A number ofcandidates have given up full-time work in order to have to campaign. It is not, however, possible to reallyquantify the costs involved.

3. The funds available to all parties in general are disclosed in the annual accounts reported to andpublished by the Electoral Commission. All parties can organise their budgets according to variouscategories of expenditure including candidate support. Limited funds within the Liberal Democrats meanthat the party is not able to provide cash funding for “personal support” for candidates. The party doesendeavour to help support campaigns costs in some constituencies but this is very limited.

4. We do not have any funds to support candidates financially on a personal basis. We do, of course,provide support in terms of things like training and their local parties may receive some support forcampaigning purposes and this is determined by party HQ.

5.(a) 47% of the party membership is female (b) (c) we do not have any reliable data on the proportionof our members of bme origin or considering themselves to be disabled. We are currently putting in place adiversity monitoring framework and will be establishing diversity targets for all necessary elements of theparty organisation (including membership services) through the work of the Diversity Engagement Group(DEG). DEG currently has two working groups supporting achievement of this particular objective:

(1) Diversity Monitoring Group.

(2) Setting Diversity Targets Group.

The new diversity monitoring framework will be operational with agreed targets in place within the nextthree months.

6. We are collecting this data at present.

7. We have organised several regional events with BME communities to meet Nick Clegg, promote theparty and to improve the diversity of our membership. We have a very limited professional staV comparedto other parties, but we employ a full-time member of staV for the “Campaign for Gender Balance” and apart-time National Diversity Advisor. A significant amount of training and mentoring is oVered.

Much more detailed information would be available from the Campaign for Gender Balance Organiserand our National Diversity Adviser, as well as our Candidates OYce should this be helpful to you.

Submission from Mr John Maples MP, Deputy Chairman (Candidates), Conservative Party (SC–75)

David Cameron has said that the Conservative Party must look more like the country it wishes to governby increasing the numbers of MPs who are women, or from ethnic minorities, or with disabilities. The partyhas made this its objective and has tackled the task with enthusiasm and commitment. We have taken manysteps to encourage such candidates to come forward and we have taken much positive action in altering ourselection procedures in pursuit of this objective. We believe we are the only Party to use Primaries in itsselection process. We supported the introduction of the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act andsupport the extension of this legislation. We have altered our candidate approval process, with expert advice,to make it more professional and objective. We are piloting a new selection method based on the same idea.We actively encourage our associations to select women and people from ethnic minorities. We have taken



various steps to make sure that such candidates are properly and fairly considered. As a result, we areconfident that there will be more Conservative MPs who are women and/or from ethnic minorities and/orwith disabilities after the next election.

1. Approved List of Parliamentary Candidates

The Party maintains an Approved List of Candidates, from which individual constituency associationsin England & Wales must select their candidate. A similar list is maintained by the Scottish Party for Scottishseats. We have taken active steps within the Party and more widely to encourage more women and peoplefrom ethnic minorities or with disabilities to come forward as potential candidates.

There are currently over 1,000 candidates on the list, of whom about 74% are men and 26% are women;of these, 278 have been selected. Many candidates are from ethnic minorities and several have disabilities.

2. Parliamentary Assessment Board Process

Application for admission to the List is open to anyone who has been a Party member for at least threemonths. Applicants are assessed at a Parliamentary Assessment Board.

Applicants may then be admitted to the List, admitted but restricted to a particular geographical area, ortype of seat, failed and invited to come back in the future, or failed and not invited back.

The Party also maintains a European List for European Elections. Any candidate on the UKParliamentary List can automatically go on the European List; other candidates who are only interested inEurope can apply to go on that List and go through a similar assessment process to that described below.

Recognising the need to be objective in the assessment of an individual candidate’s qualities, we haveworked with an occupational psychologist to identify relevant competences and methods of assessing them.We now use a new assessment process, involving an objective and professional attempt to assess thoseparticular competences. Assessors are MPs and senior party volunteers who have been specially trained.They do not know the candidates they are assessing, or have access to their cvs. The candidates are putthrough a series of exercises over a six hour period. These are designed to assess the competences which webelieve successful candidates and MPs need.

3. Priority Candidates

As part of our eVort to get more women and ethnic minority candidates selected, the Party has alsodesignated some candidates as “Priority Candidates”; there are currently about 100 Priority Candidates, ofwhom half are women and 20% are from ethnic minorities. Suitable candidates are separately interviewedfor designation as Priority Candidates, looking again at their competences.

We encourage target and Conservative held seats to select from these Priority Candidates. We also allowthese seats to choose from the general List instead, provided that they agree to have 50% women at eachstage of the selection process described below. Either route helps achieve our purposes.

4. Selection Methods

Seats are advertised by e mail to the general List or Priority Candidates as appropriate. Candidates haveabout two weeks to submit applications for seats in the form of a cv in a standard format and withoutphotographs.

Target and Conservative held seats

The constituency association chairman and two deputies then “sift” these applications and decide which(approximately) 20 candidates they wish to interview, in consultation with Party oYcers. The interview panelconsists of 15 party members, nominated by the association, who interview each candidate for 30 minutesand vote which candidates they wish to take forward to the next round. The number taken forward dependson the format for the next round as described below. There would be four to six candidates taken forwardfor a Primary and between seven and 15 for a Big Event.

The second stage can take one of two forms

“Primary”. This is based on the primary process used in the USA. The association executive (about 20–40members) interview each of the 4-6 candidates again and vote to put two, three, or four through to thePrimary final, including at least one woman. The Primary is open to all party members in the constituencyand anyone on the voters register for the constituency who pre-registers. The association will advertise forpeople so to register. Each candidate will be interviewed separately by a moderator for up to 10 minutes,



followed by a question and answer session for a maximum of 20 minutes. There are no set piece speeches.After the meeting has heard all the candidates, those present vote exhaustively until one candidate achievesover 50%.

We believe that we are the only political party in the UK to use a primary process, which has the advantageof involving in the selection process people from outside the Party’s membership.

“Big Event” in which a general meeting, open to all association members, sees each candidate interviewedand questioned through a moderator. Associations can choose to put candidates through practical exercisessuch as canvassing; they can also choose to use a “citizens panel” of non members who have positions locallysuch as a doctor, teacher, businessman etc who will interview the candidates separately and report their viewsto the meeting. The objective of all this is to get a broader input than would occur solely through a formalspeech and questions process with members alone.

Those present will vote for the four they wish to take through to the final, two of whom at least must bewomen. In the final, which is a meeting of the association’s executive, each candidate will make apresentation of up to 10 minutes and be questioned from the floor. Those present will then vote exhaustivelyuntil one candidate achieves 50% of the vote.

All Women Selections

Constituency associations can choose to use an all women process and only interview women candidates.

Non Target Seats

These use a two stage process. The seat is advertised in the same way. The “sift” puts forward 8 candidatesfor interview by the association executive, who in turn put forward up to 4 for final selection by a meetingof all members by exhaustive voting.

City Seats Teams

Some non target seats have been grouped into City Seats Teams, where a team of candidates will campaignin a group of seats, before a selection process similar to that for non target seats allocates one candidate toeach seat.

5. European Selection Process

Each Region has a Regional Selection College (RSC) consisting of the association chairmen of theconstituencies in the region, plus regional oYcers and leaders of Conservative council groups in the Region.

A sitting MEP automatically goes back on the List if approved at a meeting of the RSC. Aspirantcandidates can apply for up to two Regions, where a sift and interview process take place. The RSC thenputs forward a number of candidates equal to the number of vacant places on the Regional List, after thesitting MEPs, for a postal ballot of all party members in the Region, who first rank the sitting MEPs in thetop slots and then the other candidates below them. The top ranked woman among the non MEP candidatesautomatically gets the first vacant slot below the sitting MEPs.

6. DVD and Briefings

Wherever possible, constituency associations are briefed and shown a DVD about the selection processand the importance of selecting more women and candidates from ethnic minorities.

7. Disabilities

We have consulted SCOPE, both in an eVort to encourage people with disabilities to come forward aspotential candidates and to ensure that our PAB and selection processes do not create diYculties for them,or in any way discriminate against them.

Representatives of SCOPE attended a PAB and we accepted their recommendations.

A number of candidates, both selected and unselected, have disabilities.

8. Results

We have so far selected candidates in 278 seats of whom about 30% are women and 6% are from ethnicminorities. At present there are 17 women and two ethnic minority Conservative MPs. On any projectedshare of the vote, after the next election the proportion of Conservative MPs a who are women, from ethnicminorities, or both will increase.



9. Selection Pilot

We have recently worked with an occupational psychologist to develop and pilot a new selection process,in which the qualities being sought are agreed with the association and the process then attempts to assessthese qualities in each candidate. The sift is the same. At the interview stage, candidates are put throughthree exercises in front of the 15 person selection panel who give marks to each on a scorecard of thecharacteristics being assessed. There is no questioning of candidates by members of the panel. The marksare given immediately after each candidate has been seen and before the next candidate enters the room. The4-6 with the highest marks go forward to a meeting of all party members of the association.

Each candidate is then interviewed and questioned from the floor through a moderator (with eachcandidate being asked exactly the same questions and having exactly the same amount of time). Memberspresent mark each candidate immediately they have seen them against each agreed quality being assessed.The candidate with the highest mark is selected. We plan to pilot this in a few more seats and may then adoptit more generally.

10. Future

We will be interested to see how other parties have approached these issues and with what success; we aresure that we each have lessons to learn from each other both in persuading more women and people fromethnic minorities or with disabilities to come forward as potential candidates and increasing the rate of theirselection.

Submission from Ulster Unionist Party (SC–76)

As Women’s Development OYcer for the Ulster Unionist Party, I have been asked by Sir Reg to respondon behalf of the Party.

Indeed, I am aware of the Speaker’s Conference and would be happy to help you with your queries.

1. The Ulster Unionist Party has Standing Orders in place for the Selection of all candidates. To give youa brief outline of our procedures:

Any fully paid-up member of the Ulster Unionist Party who wishes to be selected as a candidatefor public oYce must be in ‘good standing’ within the Party and also included on the CentralCandidates’ List. There is a Standing Candidates’ Selection Committee which will agree on andco-ordinate the criteria by which fitness for inclusion on the Central Candidates’ List will bedetermined.

There is also a sub-committee of the Standing Candidates’ Selection Committee, known as the ElectionsCommittee and is chaired by the Party OYcer responsible for Elections.

The Constituency Association will hold a Selection Meeting, inviting all candidates who have expressedan interest to attend and address. At the conclusion of that meeting the members will select (by secret ballot)if possible, twice the number of candidates required for the election; and that list will be submitted to theElections Committee.

The Elections Committee with then interview the candidates selected by the Constituency Association.The final choice will be determined by the candidate or candidates who receive the support of at least fiveof the seven members of the Elections Committee.

In the event that the Standing Candidates’ Selection Committee is of the opinion that the candidatesselected by the Constituency Association do not entirely represent the Party’s need in terms of electoraldemography or profile, it will reserve the right to add a candidate or candidates (provided they are on theCentral Candidates’ List or have dispensation from the Party OYcers) for interview by the ElectionsCommittee.

It is also worth noting that any member refused admission to the Central Candidates’ List or anycandidates refused selection by the Elections Committee will be entitled to appeal to the Party OYcers.

2.(a) The cost to the potential candidate for the selection process is borne by the potential candidate him/her-self. However the estimated cost would be minimal.

(b) The estimated cost to the potential candidate of running a campaign for election to Westminster isalso minimal as the Ulster Unionist Party covers all election expenses; with fuel costs being the only costborne by the potential candidate.

3. The Ulster Unionist Party has Election Funds available to support candidates.

4. The Executive Committee, on a proposal by the Party Treasurer and Party OYcers, decides on theamount allocated for an election. The Elections OYcer for each candidate will be responsible for allexpenditure during a campaign, and he/she answers to the Party OYcer with responsibility for Elections.

5. Percentage of party membership who are:

(a) Female—35%.



(b) Black or minority ethnic origin—unknown.

(c) Consider themselves to be disabled—unknown

We do not record a person’s ethnic origin or disability status in our Membership records.

6. Percentage of Party OYcers who are:

(a) Female—one seventh.

(b) Black or minority ethnic origin—none.

(c) Consider themselves to be disabled—none.

7. The Ulster Unionist Party promotes the objectives of the Party and, without regard to gender, race orcreed, encourage persons who share its objectives, to join the Party. In our Party elections Manifestos in2005 we specified that the Ulster Unionist Party believed in the need for normal politics in Northern Ireland.Our policy is to concentrate on the everyday issues which aVect all of us: health, schools, rates and watercharges, our environment, jobs and investment, and every other issue that matters to all the people ofNorthern Ireland. Normal politics, in time, will allow parties to form genuine political coalitions and moveaway from the tribal, divisive politics of the past in Northern Ireland.

We believe that we have had considerable success in both in terms of attracting female membership andcandidacy. We have endeavoured to reach out to those from ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland bytranslating our website to other minority languages, and by producing pamphlets in other languages in thepast two elections.

Party representatives have been actively working along with representatives from ethnic minority groups,disability groups, and women’s groups in order to draw up party policy and to draw membership andsupport from all sectors of society in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, we hope that our new CandidateSelection procedures will prove successful in achieving a balanced representation in our Candidates List.

I trust that this information will be of assistance to you. Should you require further clarification pleasedo not hesitate to contact me.

Submission from Dominic McDevitt LLB (Hons), LLM (Merit) (SC–77)

Almost invisible observations on the under-representation people with disabilities in Parliament a reportby a person with a disability (A personal perspective).

Introduction

In this document I seek to examine the issue of the under-representation of people with disabilities in theHouse of Commons and in political life. I should point out from the outset that this document is seeking toput across the situation as I see it, based on my experience as an observer, and a person with a disability whofor the past 15 years has been campaigning for full Civil Rights and disability equality since 1994, at the ageof 14.

Much of the issue surrounding why people with disabilities continue to be considerably under-representedin Parliament rests, in my opinion, on how disability has been, and to a large extent, continues to be, seenin society. There continues to be a massive stigma where disability is concerned.

An argument which might be put forward by some when considering the issue of disability being under-represented in Parliament is that those of us with disabilities are not a homogeneous group within society.This would be correct. Disability does not respect class or social boundaries, disability can aVect anyoneregardless of their walk of life, ethnic or cultural background. It would be my contention that this serves asan argument for why there needs to be more people who have a direct personal experience, through havinga disability, elected or at least be in contention to be elected to Parliament.

To some extent, it is even possible to argue that there is a diVerence in experience between how societytreats a person who is born with a disability and a person who acquires impairment later in their adult life.The fact is though that the barriers are very similar and very real and often boil down to what might bedescribed as an anti-disability sentiment. In my experience, people are still, despite all the apparentlegislation and symbols that are supposed to be “Positive about disabled People”,187 willing to focus on whata person cannot do rather than what they can. In selecting candidates who have a disability political partieshave an opportunity to take the lead and, to borrow a Government advertising slogan “See the person Notthe disability”.188

Despite much rhetoric, the situation has only slightly improved. There remains a very negative,patronizing and in some cases ignorant and downright bigoted approach to people with disabilities in thiscountry. A starting point can be seen from the way political parties appear to approach disability issues. All

187 A symbol which appears on job advertisements, which is alleged to mean that the organisation in question has a positiveattitude towards disability.

188 The Government used this slogan in an advertising campaign targeted at employers to challenge attitudes towards disability.



too often those of us with disabilities are talked about, as if we are a ‘problem’ that needs to be addressedrather than talked too and engaged by politicians of all Parties regardless of what colour the party is, whetherit be right or left, in order to address the every day problems we face. If politicians and Parties made theeVort to break with the patronising approach they often adopt about disability, they would themselves findthat people with disabilities have constructive suggestions and have a lot to oVer society. The paternalattitude of the past should be moved away from and be consigned to the past. It would be a great stepforward to see Parties at Westminster have disability spokespeople who were themselves disabled people.

Political parties often seem to fall back on out dated stereotypes and prejudices, if they even bother toacknowledge that people with disabilities are even there at all. In some instances it could be said, that in aneVort to pander to the chosen demographic189 that the Party is seeking to reach, they use the media to stokea negative picture of people with disabilities.190 When politicians and the media are allowing a negativepicture of people with disabilities to be painted it can only reinforce prejudice and bigotry towards peoplewho have a disability. This in turn makes it diYcult for people to want to be involved in political public life.

Speaking from personal experience, it is very frustrating to only hear disability discussed in terms ofbenefits or in terms of needing care. One is often left feeling as if, because one was born with a disability,one is part of an under-class, the detritus of humanity. The impact of this is a great deal of anger andfrustration with the result that one feels disillusioned with politics and the process and is left alienated. Inshort, there appears to be a culture of low expectation surrounding those of us with disabilities.191

The second point which needs to be observed about the impact of the negative attitude and portrayal ofdisability in society which politicians sadly, seem to have had a hand in for too long is that such a negativeattitude becomes ingrained in the public mind which would make it diYcult for a disabled candidate to standfor election even if they wanted to as there would perhaps be less chance that they would win.

An example I can point to from my own personal experience which gives the essence of the point I amtrying to make here can be seen from a conversation I had recently with an ‘able-bodied’ person regardingthe lack of inclusion of people like me on television programmes such as the BBC’s The Apprentice. WhenI posed the question: I wonder why you never see a person like me as a candidate on shows like this? Theindividual replied: “…people like you don’t make very good television”. I feel this illustrates the stigma andprejudice towards people with disabilities very well.

A further illustration of the approach taken by what could be described as an anti-disability society canbe seen from the Caroline Gooding, in her book,192 she observes:

“… The pervasive equation of disability with incapacity has meant… the inferior economic andsocial conditions of disabled people were seen as the natural consequences of their physical andmental ‘impairments’. In this view treating disabled people diVerently is not the result ofdiscrimination but the result of their ‘special needs’ because of their diVerences from the ‘normal’,able-bodied population. This treatment is seen as charitable, for their own good’. Disabled peopleare challenging this interpretation: ‘In our view it is society which disables… impaired people.Disability is something which is imposed on top of our impairments by the way in which we areunnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society ‘…A dichotomy is…’ set upbetween ‘the able-bodied’ and ‘the disabled’ who don’t”.

If things are to move on then it is important that the attitude changes. The time for talk is past, what musthappen now is action. The change which has been promised has to be backed up with the political will tomake it a reality. The Speaker’s Conference on the under-representation of minorities, which thankfullyincludes a recognition of the under representation of people with disabilities in Parliament and the politicalpublic life of this nation, represents a significant stepping stone to the way forward. Not least because peoplewith disabilities have been traditionally ignored when this type of issue has been discussed.

It is of vital importance, if people with disabilities are to have their representation in politics improved,that we alter the attitude to disability in society and stop stigmatising people simply for being disabled.Without doubt there is still a mountain left to climb. As the chairman of the Commission for Equality andHuman Rights, Mr Trevor Phillips said:193

“… It would be inspiring to think that the actions taken by this group of Parliamentarians todaycould pave the way for real change in British politics.. .Sizable barriers remain for candidates fromdiVerent backgrounds. It ‘s still too diYcult to gain admittance to the dusty old gentleman ‘s clubcalled Parliament…”.

189 In recent years the media have often madder use of the term “middle England” or the even the term “Mondeo man”. Oneassumes that the later term is a reference to the type of car a target voter might choose to drive. The former term being areference to a “class” of “voter”.

190 An example of this can be seen in the way we have seen headlines that talk about people with disabilities as merely recipientsof benefit and continually call for “tough measures” to “force” disability claimants back to work.

191 I can think of a number of situations where I have seen people try to use my disability to “write me off”. Sadly too many forme to discuss them all in this document.

192 Disabling Laws, Enabling Acts Disability Rights in Britain and America. Pluto Press, London (1994) p xvii.193 In his press release welcoming the establishment of the Speaker’s Conference. Dated 12 November 2008 from

http:www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/newsandcomment/pages



The diYculties people with disabilities face in this arena are also illustrated by the disability press. In aneditorial in Disability Now, they stated:194

“…The facts in the broader context speak for themselves. Disabled people are woefully under-represented not just in government but across the Westminster village. How many disabledcandidates will each of the main parties put up at the next general election? But most importantly,at that election, how many disabled people will be denied the right to vote, disenfranchised by asystem which institutionally continues to exclude and discriminate against us”.

It is unfortunate and a very sobering thought that this is the stark situation which many disabled peoplesee and illustrates just how much of a mountain that there is still for people with disabilities to climb before,we can take our rightful place, in truly representative, democratic institutions.

Perhaps now, with the opportunity presented by the Speaker’s Conference, we stand at the entrance ofnew possibilities.

Background

When looking at the issue of the under-representation of people who have disabilities in Parliament it isimportant to consider the background to this. It is undeniable that the situation facing people withdisabilities has improved, particularly since the late 1990s.

However it is also undeniable that people with disabilities have lagged behind other groups in terms ofgetting the discrimination to which we are subjected, addressed. This in my view and indeed, my personalexperience has been due to the negative attitude in society about and towards disability. The slow pace ofchange has not helped. One only needs to look at the key dates for equality laws in the UK, the SexDiscrimination Act and Race Relations Act were both introduced in the 1970s whereas we had to wait afurther 20 years for legislation to tackle disability discrimination.

In 1997 the Government established the Disability Rights Taskforce to advise on how to tackle disabilitydiscrimination and move forward on Civil Rights. This was a welcome and important step along the road.

In their Report,195 they made a number of recommendations across a wide spectrum of issues and areasof life but the report also highlighted, by way of a case study an issue of significance to the matter of theunder-representation of people with disabilities in political life. The report observed:196

“…Recommendation 6.10 On coverage of private clubs should include political parties withincivil rights legislation. This should assist disabled members of political parties in puttingthemselves forward as candidates and participating fully in their party’s activities. Althoughrecommendations to political parties are outside our remit, we were concerned with the followingcase …Case Study… ‘I have been very hurt and upset by some of the councillors not thinking aboutwhat they are saying. I have come across one councillor who knocked on the door and asked formy parents. And I was saying no, they are not in but I am here, I can vote, I can tell you… BeforeI opened, my mouth she was halfway down the path and I heard her say “we don’t talk to peoplelike her, she doesn’t know what she is talking about”. I can honestly say those were her words. Iwould like to see disability awareness training for politicians. I want to remind them that justbecause we have a speech impediment we still have views that are useful’.

It would be in the interests of political parties to ensure those canvassing are aware of disabilityissues…”.

The above quote illustrates the situation well although this is now nearly 10 years old.

Where the Taskforce report addresses participation in public life, the issues addressed seem to focus onthe basic issues such as voting or involvement as local councillors.197 Improvements have been made by theGovernment in the area of voting, an example is the Representation of the People Act (2000). It is interestingto note what they said in their response to the Taskforce Report, which although it comes under a separateaspect, it may have a bearing on this issue. In their response, in relation to protecting disabled councillorsfrom discrimination the Government said:

“… when legislative time allows we will ensure that the following are protected from disabilitydiscrimination.., members of county, district and London borough councils…”.198

194 Our rights and routes to power, in the Editorial Column p 3. Issue number 14 December 2008, published by Scope(London) 2008.

195 Department for Education and Employment, From exclusion to inclusion: A report of the Disability Rights Taskforce(December 1999) (London).

196 At chapter 9: Participation in public life p 171–172 paragraph 18 and 19 in the Report of the Disability Rights Taskforce(December 1999). Published by the Department for Education and Employment. The section also includes an extract fromthe Polls Apart 2 Report by Scope.

197 Chapter 9: Participation in public life: pp 163–178 and also with recommendation 5.18 that calls for local councils to be placedunder a duty not to discriminate against disabled councillors on p 87: Chapter 5 of From exclusion to inclusion.

198 At Government response 3.34 on page 44 of Towards inclusion—Civil rights for disabled people. Published by theDepartment for Education and Employment (London) (March 2001).



This was addressed in the Disability Discrimination Act (2005). From this then it can be seen that someground work has been done which may be useful in seeking to promote opportunity for those of us withdisabilities to become more engaged with political life and help address the under-representation of peoplewith disabilities in Parliament. It is, without doubt a well trodden path, from the Council Chamber to theChamber of the House of Commons. While it is important of course, to get more people with disabilitiesvoting in elections, it does illustrate the point that if it took until 2000, for this issue to be resolved,199 howlong a road it is going to be before there are more people with disabilities in Parliament.

What needs to happen is for Parties to encourage more people with disabilities to be considered ascandidates. It is also worth mentioning here that the duty on Public sector organisations,200 to promoteequality of opportunity for people with disabilities across all their functions, could have a role in helpingencourage people as well.

The more people with disabilities see the issues that eVect them being considered and taken seriously, themore they are likely to become interested in the political process.

In their 2005 report The Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit said:201

“…Many disabled people still have a poor quality of life, and are too often rendered dependantbenefits and care services by the attitudes and approaches of others. This lack of independenceundermines disabled people ‘s equality and rights as citizen ‘s, sometimes this is a result of directdiscrimination… More insidious is indirect discrimination, including institutional cultures thatassume disabled people have less to oVer than non-disabled people, or which fail to includedisabled people…”.

This seems to acknowledge the frustrating position that confronts people with disabilities. It also servesas a clear illustration of what needs to change.

Observations on the Way Forward

It is very important that political parties become catalysts for the change that is needed to get more peoplewith disabilities involved. If the attitude change, mentioned above filtered down, and came across to peoplewith disabilities, then they are more likely to want to pursue ambitions involving seeking elected oYce. Thelaw has been strengthened in terms of protection for disabled councillors and in view of this and alongsidethis, it is also important for people with disabilities to work towards being active in their communities forexample, being campaigners, so that they would have a record which would reflect well on them if they werelater to seek election as a Member of Parliament.

Although it is not the key issue of the report, an issue that does need to be touched on here is the fact thatpeople with disabilities are widely under-represented in today’s modern workplace. The Government admitin their document:202

“… While a combination of laws and wider action has brought us a long way over the past 40 years,inequality and discrimination persist today. Even in the 21 century…achieving greater equality isstill an issue … unless we step up progress disabled people will probably never get the same jobprospects…”.203

At first glance, one may wonder how the under-representation of people who are disabled in employmentdirectly has an impact on the under-representation of people with disabilities in politics and Parliament.However, if one, were to take a general look at the make up of the current House of Commons, one wouldsee a large majority of Members have come from professions, particularly, the law.204 This is, perhaps dueat least in part to the fact that, many of the skills used by those in the legal profession are those which shouldbe, and need to be employed by Members of Parliament as they represent the interests of their constituents.An example would be advocacy and research.205 It is undeniable, that just as it is a well trodden road to getto Parliament from the chamber of the council (as was acknowledged above), it is a well trodden path to getto Parliament following some work in the law or other professional capacity.

199 See Paragraph 2.68 on p 31 and Paragraphs 9.1–9.7 on pps 82–85 of Towards inclusion: Civil Rights for disabled peopleGovernment response to the Disability Rights Taskforce Published by the Department for Education and Employment(March 2001) (London).

200 Introduced in the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act.201 In Improving the life chances of disabled people by the Prime Minster’s Strategy Unit, January 2005 in chapter 3 at p 54.202 Framework for a fairer future: The Equality Bill, Cm 7431, The Stationery OYce, 2008 (London).203 In the Ministerial forward by Harriet Harman QC MP on page 7 of the document.204 The last two Prime Ministers the UK has had were Barrister and many MPs on all sides of the House of Commons have been

barristers or solicitors.205 This can even be seen in legislatures around the world, for example, many US Congressmen and women and Senators have

studied law, taught the law in universities or been practitioners of law before taking up elected oYce. The same point wouldapply to the Republic of Ireland, to name just two examples.



Yet again however, the issue of a negative attitude to disability shows itself. People with disabilities arevery much under-represented in the field of law and other professions. If more doors were opened up whichlead to career paths for people who are disabled, then in turn, there would perhaps be more disabledParliamentary Candidates.206

An increase in the number of people with disabilities working in these professions would help in showingdisability in a positive light, which would lessen the stigma of disability and in turn, improve the chances ofthere being more people with disabilities being successfully elected.

The idea of equality is that no one group is placed above another in a hierarchy of importance, but it couldbe said that the current Equality Bill runs the risk of creating a hierarchy. In the Government document:207

“…It is important to ensure that Parliament and our other democratic institutions properly reflectthe make-up of our society, including women as well as men and people from ethnicminorities……having more representative elected bodies ensures that our political institutionsbetter understand and reflect the society they serve…”.

In view of the above quote it is a great shame indeed that those of us with disabilities are completelyignored in the section of the consultation document that deals with political candidates. This appears to bea form of discrimination in itself.208 The important question that needs to be asked is that: If it is importantthat elected institutions reflect the society they are meant to serve: Why are people with disabilities beingignored are they not part of society? By ignoring people with disabilities, in this blatant way the governmentappear to be reinforcing the negative attitudes they themselves claim to be committed to opposing.

As has been highlighted above, the majority of the changes of electoral law that have been made seem tohave only concerned the facilitation of the act of voting by people with disabilities. In ignoring the issue ofthe under-representation of people with disabilities as candidates and only focusing the issue, in theconsultation document, in terms of ethnic minority and women candidates in the way it does, it appears tobe sending out the message that people with disabilities are to be ignored as candidates and should only beincluded so they can take part in the vote. In other words, the votes of people with disabilities are wantedbut those with disabilities do not appear to be wanted as candidates.

In their response to the consultation document on the Equality Bill,209 the Government state:208

“… It is important that Parliament and our other democratic institutions properly reflect themake-up of our society, including women as well as men and people from ethnic minorities…,having more representative elected bodies ensures that our political institutions better understandand reflect the society they serve. Only 19% of MPs are women, and only 2.3% are from non-whitebackgrounds…”.210

Yet again, the issue of those of us with disabilities appears to be being ignored, there is no mention ofthe percentage of those in Parliament with disabilities, but yet again the admission is made that in order tounderstand and serve society well, elected bodies need to reflect the make up of that same society.211 Whenone reads this part of the document, one could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that people who have adisability are invisible or do not count as part of society that Parliament needs to be interested inrepresenting. If people with disabilities are as the Government claims, entitled to be: “…respected andincluded as equal members of society…”212 then it is surely an error to ignore people who have disabilitiesin this way.

Moreover, in the response to the consultation on the Equality Bill213 the Government acknowledges that:

“…The great majority (more than 90 per cent) of the nearly 150 respondents on the issue of women-only shortlists agreed that the existing provision should be extended… A number of respondentswanted similar provisions for all equality groups214 … they further stated:

“… The great majority (more than 90 per cent) of the nearly 150 respondents on the issue ofwidening existing voluntary measures to increase representation of other under-represented groupsin Parliament, agreed with it. This was particularly the case in the responses from groupsrepresenting disabled people…”.215

206 As someone with a physical disability myself, who has studied law, I know how diYcult it is to get established in the legalfield. Employers seem reluctant to see the abilities that are there.

207 Framework for a fairer future: The Equality Bill, Cm 7431, The Stationery OYce, 2008 (London).208 At paragraphs 5.22, 5.25, 5.29 and 5.35 across pages 66–69.209 The Equality Bill, Government response to the consultation, Cm 7454, The Stationery OYce.210 From paragraph 5.22 on p 66 of the Equality Bill Government response to the consultation, Cm 7454, Published by The

Stationery OYce, July 2008.211 From paragraph 5.22 on p 66 of the Equality Bill Government response to the consultation, Cm 7454, Published by The

Stationery OYce, July 2008.212 Page 53 of the final report of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, Improving the life chances of disabled people. July 2008.213 The Equality Bill, Government response to the consultation, Cm 7454, The Stationery OYce, July 2008.214 At paragraph 5.25 on p 67 of The Equality Bill Government Response to the Consultation Cm 7454, The Stationery OYce,

July 2008.215 At paragraph 5.29 on p 67 of the Equality Bill Government Response to the Consultation. Cm 7454, The Stationery OYce,

July 2008.



A dichotomy appears between gender as a group and the rest of the under-represented groups. Peoplewith disabilities are hardly ever being so much as mentioned at all. The Government illustrates this wherethey say:

“…We have decided not to legislate at this stage to allow for Black and Minority Ethnic-onlyshortlists, or to provide similar measures beyond gender… we will introduce in the Equality Billspecific positive action provisions for political parties to use across all protected grounds , similarto those… in the Sex Discrimination Act but excluding the shortlists provisions…”.216

It is a great shame that the Government feels the need to give favour to one group over another by allowingonly women the luxury of statutory protection. This clearly undermines the principle of equality and couldbe said to be instituting a double standard.

Those who oppose including disability in a statutory framework to address their under-representation inParliament, might be tempted to advance the argument that some may not classify themselves as beingpeople with disabilities. This is however something of a flawed argument on the basis that the law has todefine disability in the context of an employment tribunal or a case under the Goods and Services Provisionsof the Disability Discrimination Act, and so, it should be possible to define disability for the context ofincreasing representation in Parliament.

In view of the fact it would appear that people with disabilities are deliberately being placed at adisadvantage in terms of the opportunities that would be open in order to improve, both the numbers ofpeople with disabilities who are elected representatives and also how disability is understood and recognisedin these political institutions, one idea which may help could be to introduce a Parliamentary InternshipProgramme specifically for people with disabilities.

A Parliamentary internship programme could have the potential to be a powerful tool in helping toaddress some of the issues I have sought to highlight in this report.217

— An internship scheme could help improve the attitude of current MPs towards disability and bringthe issue of disability away from the margins.

— Help address the ‘stigma’ surrounding disability in public life An internship scheme would helptackle apathy towards politics and show people who have disabilities that the political system wasworth becoming engaged in and could encourage more people with disabilities to become involved.

— An internship scheme would also provide valuable work experience opportunities, which in turnwould help combat the culture of low expectation which has all too often surrounded disability andmay also help open doors to other professions that are slow to accept disability.

An internship programme could perhaps be arranged at two stages, catching young people withdisabilities at key cross-roads times in their education. For example a scheme could be set up aimed at aperson who was about to undertake their GCSE or ‘A’ Level examinations and then another scheme, whichcould be more demanding of the individual, could be targeted to suit an Undergraduate or Postgraduatestudent.

Conclusion

Given that it is accepted that Parliament needs to be more representative of the modern society it seeksto serve, and that by being more representative elected bodies can better understand the issues that confrontpeople, there is clearly a case for measures to improve the number of people with disabilities in Parliamentand in other levels of Government and OYce.

There are a number of aspects that need to be addressed if people with disabilities are to be better involvedin going forward as candidates. A key issue is attitude. It is vital to improve the way people with disabilitiesare portrayed and addressed, in both the media and in the way politicians who are currently in oYce addressdisability as an issue. It is important to move away from the patronising, paternalistic and at times dismissiveattitude that has all too often dominated the way disability has been addressed, not least because this wouldimprove the chances for a person with a disability to get elected and show disability in a more positive way.Crucial, is to end the culture of treating people with disabilities as if they are invisible and include them aspart of society and stop seeing people with impairments as problems to be addressed that do not “fit in”,instead, emphasis should be placed on the fact people with disabilities are people too.

However, it is also important for people with disabilities to make the eVort and become involved in theprocess of politics. It is vital for people with disabilities to get opportunities to gain the skills they wouldneed in order to be eVective as political representatives. In this regard, it could be said that the attitudechange needed, is a two way process involving those who are non-disabled people and who might holdnegative attitudes as well as people who have disabilities who hold a negative attitude towards becominginvolved in the first place. They need to see themselves as potential candidates.

216 Paragraph 5.35 (p 69), Equality Bill Government Response to the Consultation. Cm 7454, The Stationery OYce, July 2008.217 At the age of 16 the author did a period of a weeks work experience with his local MEP (Mel Read).



Along side these issues is the need to improve the career opportunities for people with disabilities. If therewere more disabled Lawyers, Journalists etc, then there would be more possibility that more people withdisabilities would become MPs. This is perhaps, a larger issue and needs to be tackled in schools in order toaddress the culture of low expectation that has surrounded disability. A point which has some relevance hereis made by the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, who observe:218

“… One of the causes of unequal pay between diVerent groups is the concentration of someemployees—women, people from ethnic and religious minorities and disabled people—at lowerlevels of organisations or in lower paid roles or skilled occupations. The reason for this is clearlynot that talent is concentrated among white non-disabled men and that only they have the abilityto do these more senior or more skilled jobs. Rather it is a historic or systemic problem. If we areto accelerate towards a fairer society, we need to find a more eVective way to address this under-representation and ensure that everyone who has the ability is given the chance to fulfil theirpotential…”.

The issues connected to attitude will take time to take eVect but they can be helped almost straight awayby more practical steps such as the suggestion of an Internship programme that has been made in this report.Small changes can make a big diVerence. Also the Ratification of the United Nations Convention on theRights of People with Disabilities (2007) would help as this would send out a positive message aboutdisability.

Submission from Rethink (SC–78)

Rethink is the leading national mental health membership charity, and we work to help everyone aVectedby severe mental illness recover a better quality of life. We have over 8,300 members and support around50,000 people each year through our services, support groups and by providing information on mentalhealth.

Given our close links with people aVected by severe mental illness and our long-standing eVorts to fullyinvolve them in our campaigning work, we know that our beneficiaries seek a more representativeParliament with members who both understand mental illness and feel able to talk about their ownexperiences of it.

We believe that this conference oVers a significant opportunity to eliminate the discriminatory legislationwhich prevents people with experience of mental illness from standing for Parliament and hope that it willconsider action to encourage greater and more open discussions in Parliament of the ways in which mentalillness has impacted on the lives of hon. Members, their families and friends. We would like to ensure thefollowing issues are considered.

Repeal Section 141 of the Mental Health Act

Under section 141 of the 1983 Mental Health Act, an MP can be removed from their seat if they aredetained under the powers of the Act for six months or more. There is no provision for any hearing andno locus for the MP to represent themselves. This procedure therefore breaches Article 6 of the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights, as incorporated in the Human Rights Act 1998. Interestingly, no equivalentprovisions deal with members of the House of Lords.

Also, no such provision exists for when people are hospitalised with a physical illness so this legislationcarries symbolic weight and reinforces the notion that people aVected by mental illness are incapable of workand unlikely to recover. Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik proved this to be untruewhen he spoke to the UK Parliament about his experience of mental ill health when in oYce as he recoveredand went on to be re-elected for a second term.

As Earl Howe stated:

“Section 141 is about the most blatant piece of discrimination against mental illness as it is possibleto imagine in statute. What message would be sent out if it were ever invoked? The message wouldbe that mental illness is equivalent to gross misconduct, on which the Speaker would have noalternative but to take drastic disciplinary action. It would be equivalent to saying that beingmentally ill makes you unfit to work and unfit to represent your constituency. I cannot believe thatthat is what we want the law to require the Speaker in the other place to do, so I very much hopethat the Government will think again about Section 141”.219

Such a law clearly undermines people’s confidence to stand for election and become a Member ofParliament. We therefore urge the Speaker’s Conference and the Government to repeal Section 141 of theMental Health Act and remove this outdated and discriminatory ban.

218 Page 38, Commission for Equality and Human Rights, Fairness: a new contract with the public, July 2008 (Manchester).219 Mental Health In Parliament (2008), Report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health.



Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness

The stigma surrounding mental health problems is all pervasive with 9 out of 10 people saying they haveexperienced discrimination at home, in work and in the community.220 The first step in challenging it is bybringing mental health into the open, and talking about its impact in the same way that we would physicalconditions like cancer or heart disease.

A recent anonymous survey from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health found that onein five MPs who responded had some personal experience of a mental health problem. However, most feltunable to share their experiences and viewed work-based stigma and a hostile media reaction as barriers togreater openness:

“We have seen huge changes in attitudes towards homosexuality and transgender since peoplebecame more open… a similar transformation could take place if more people touched by mentalillness talked about their experiences.”221 Anonymous MP

At the recent launch of our Time to Change campaign in Parliament, MPs told Rethink that they hadexperienced mental illness themselves, but that they would not feel able to speak openly about this for fearof the repercussions in the media, from colleagues in the House and from their constituents. Such a strongresponse highlights that Parliament needs to change. It will never appear representative if those MPs whodo share some of our members’ experiences feel unable to talk about them openly. Also, MPs cannot possiblyrepresent people aVected by mental illness if they are ashamed of being associated with it themselves. Thismessage has come out strongly through our ‘Rethink Politics’ project.

Rethink Politics

Working with the Electoral Commission, we are currently undertaking “Rethink Politics”, a three-yearcampaign to increase the political awareness and participation of people aVected by mental illness. Thiswork aims to address the issues of democratic disengagement within the mental health community.

This project has trained over 200 service users and carers to better understand democratic processes andhas brought them into direct contact with a range of elected oYcials including MPs and Ministers. Thefrequent feedback we received following these events with politicians was that their MPs seem much moreaccessible, “like real people”.222 As such, we recommend more work of this kind whereby Members ofParliament spend more time meeting with constituents, particularly those who might be prone to socialexclusion, to ensure that they understand the political system and how they can engage with it.

Participants have voiced concerns about politicians seeming to have a low level of awareness about mentalillness. In our research for this project, one participant noted the following:

“I have always played my part in voting. What really puts me oV politicians is discrimination andthem not understanding or listening to all of the issues, especially from people with mentalillness”.223

This project has also highlighted members concerns that politicians appear to be immune to mental illnessas they do not openly discuss it in relation to themselves or their families (as noted above). Either throughpoliticians not raising these issues, or people with mental health problems being less likely to enterParliament, it appears that there are significant groups that are either under represented or completelylacking in representation. As one in four people will be aVected by mental health problems we feel that thisis a failure to reflect Britain in the House of Commons and this undermines its legitimacy.

This is exactly the kind of under representation that must be tackled. We therefore urge the Speaker’sconference to focus on these issues to help ensure that the Commons is truly representative of British society.Rethink would welcome an opportunity to oVer oral evidence to the conference, or to invite a mental healthservice user or carer to speak to the conference to outline their views.

Alongside this response, we enclose the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health’s report,Mental health in Parliament which oVers further detail on some of these points.224

Submission from Campaign for Gender Balance (Liberal Democrats) (SC–79)

The Campaign for Gender Balance is the Liberal Democrat party initiative to address the under-representation of women within the Parliamentary Party.

Research within the Party has shown that the problem lies not at the selection stage, but with the numbersof women putting themselves forward to become approved

220 Stigma Shout: Service user and carer experiences of stigma and discrimination, (2008), Time to Change.221 Ibid.222 Rethink Politics evaluation (2008), Rethink, unpublished.223 Your Shout (2007), Rethink Politics, unpublished.224 Information provided, not printed.



Increasing the number of women on the list of approved parliamentary candidates therefore continues tobe a key focus for the Campaign in order to increase the number of women selected as PPCs and,subsequently, the numbers of female MPs in future elections

The Campaign seeks to achieve this aim through positive action—implementing practical activities toencourage and support women within the Party.

I. The Liberal Democrat Federal Executive established the Campaign for Gender Balance in October2001, in response to the conference debate on gender balance in September 2001. The Campaign closelymonitors information regarding approval and selection figures, to gain an accurate picture of the genderbalance within the Party. Its role is to increase the number of women on the list of approved candidates, andin the number of women candidates fighting target seats. It implements a range of training, mentoring andsupport activities for women standing, and considering standing, for parliament.

II. Research conducted within the Liberal Democrats has been vital to establishing where resources andeVorts need to be concentrated. It has highlighted the following points:

— Despite the relatively low numbers of women on the Party’s approved list, women are in fact morelikely than men to pass the Party’s approval assessment process—78% of women who go throughthe process pass the assessment, and 71% of men.

— Recent evidence has also shown that women applicants are just as, if not more, likely than a maleapplicant to be selected as the candidate for a seat if they apply for it. Figures show that where aseat has a woman (or women) standing, 75% of Liberal Democrat local parties will select a womancandidate.

— There is no significant diVerence in the percentages of approved candidates getting selected forseats—35% of approved men and 38% of approved women are currently parliamentary candidates.

This research shows that the main problem facing the Liberal Democrats in terms of gender balance isthe lack of women coming forward for parliamentary candidacy in the first instance, and this is the primaryissue that needs to be addressed.

III. Owing to the disproportionate numbers of men coming forward as Parliamentary candidates, only25% of our approved candidates overall are women and only 25% of our current selected candidates.225 Inthe current situation, even if every single approved woman currently on the list were selected to fight the nextelection, we would not have 50% women candidates. Despite a rule that stipulates that selection shortlistsmust have at least one applicant of each gender, there are many selections where there are no womenapplicants for a seat and the selection is forced to go ahead with an all male shortlist. As a result of this,there been a drop in the percentage of selected women PPCs in the Party, from 39% in Jan 2007 to 25% inJan 2009, due to the low numbers of approved women candidates who are currently eligible to stand forselection.

Increasing the number of women on the list of approved parliamentary candidates therefore continues to be akey focus for the Campaign in order to increase the number of women selected as PPCs and, subsequently, thenumbers of female MPs in future elections.

IV. In order to fulfil this objective, the Campaign provides support and encouragement to women withinthe party through positive action such as targeted training events and mentoring schemes. This has provedsuccessful in increasing the total number of women candidates in the party and, significantly, those selectedfor winnable seats—approximately 40% of our most winnable Liberal Democrat seats (according to “swingto win” figures) have women PPCs. We have also made a significant diVerence in the gender balance ofincumbents—from the six held seats that have Liberal Democrat MPs standing down in the next GeneralElection, four have selected women (all of whom received support from the Campaign). This has made areal contribution to gender balance within the Party, and a recent report by the Electoral ReformCommission predicts that the Liberal Democrats will improve their gender balance in the next GeneralElection.226

V. The Campaign’s activities include:

Training

“Inspiration and Training Days” provide information, training and encouragement for women memberswho would like to get more involved in the Party. The Campaign ran eight of these events around the countryin 2008, which attracted 124 participants. From this, 76 (61%) of these women are now interested inbecoming approved candidates for the Party.

The Campaign runs women-only training sessions (and some mixed) at Liberal Democrat FederalConferences, on specific skills to do with the approvals and selection process. It also runs a residential annual“Future Women MPs” weekend, which provides intensive women-only training in key skills that benefitcandidates.

225 Figures accurate as of 23 January 2009.226 http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/downloads/genderrepnextGE.pdf



Mentoring

Our network of volunteer mentors supports women through all stages of the approval and selectionprocesses, providing advice, encouragement, and practical help in specific areas such as leaflet design andspeech writing. 35 women were allocated mentors for help in 2008.

Other Targeted Support

The Campaign for Gender Balance provides a network of support for potential female candidates,including a monthly newsletter with information about Campaign for Gender Balance training and events,and an online Resource Centre containing useful tips and sample documents. Mailings to targeted groupsof women members, such as new members and women in held seats, have also proved very successful inattracting potential candidates—a recent mailing to new female party members attracted 19 requests forapplication packs.

VI. The Campaign for Gender Balance has also highlighted the disproportionate number of resignationsby women parliamentary candidates within the Party. The Campaign is currently conducting qualitativeresearch to identify any key themes or issues, and make recommendations to the Party on ways toaddress this.

Submission from Opportunity Now (SC–80)

About Opportunity Now and Business in the Community

Opportunity Now empowers employers to accelerate change for women in the workplace because itmakes good business sense. It works with its membership of 350 employers, from the UK’s largest to someof the smallest in the private, public and education sectors to oVer tailored, practical and pragmatic adviceon workplace issues.

Opportunity Now is part of Business in the Community, a registered charity. Business in the Community(BITC) works to inspire, engage, support and challenge companies on responsible business to continuallyimprove their positive impact on society. Membership of Business in the Community is an activecommitment. Its 850! members recognise the relationship between their company’s values and responsiblebusiness practice and the role this plays in creating wealth, building trust and addressing social need.

Businesses in the Community’s workplace campaigns also include Race for Opportunity which supportsemployers in addressing ethnicity issues. If you would like additional briefings from Business in theCommunity on diversity issues and representation in the House of Commons please do not hesitate to getin touch.

Recommendations for Increasing Diversity

In response for your call for views on rectifying the lack of women in the House of Commons OpportunityNow believes that there are several lessons from the business world which could prove useful and oVerparallel insights. These include:

1. Work to diversify leadership behaviours

Leaders hold the key to all cultural change. Statements and the behaviours of senior leaders have anenormous impact on the culture of an organisation. In Opportunity Now’s experience as soon as leaders inpositions of power start to champion diversity things happen. Whilst Opportunity Now specifically dealwith CEOs and board members, comparable figures of influence for the House of Commons, in addition tothe Speaker, could include the Prime Minister, Opposition Party Leaders, the Leader of the House, Whipsand other front bench MPs. The political parties’ organisations will also have a crucial role to play from theleadership of their professional staV through to their candidate selection and approval processes.

Opportunity Now has witnessed how board level diversity or cultural champions play a highly visible rolein ensuring diversity and equality become business as usual and can play a key part in eliminating barriers.They can express their commitment and challenge complacency through:

— Their willingness to have their own attitudes and behaviours challenged.

— Through their public insistence that culture change is important to the organisation.

— Through their personal support for diVerent ways of working.

— Through their public support of minorities within the organisation.

— And through being role models, providing an example through their actions and behaviours.



Part of taking responsibility for creating culture change means that senior leaders need to audit their ownperformances and own the failures as well as celebrate the successes.

Opportunity Now recommends that businesses should actually consult with the women in theirorganisational pipeline and it believes this could be fruitful within the House of Commons. For example, itmay be worth consulting with female colleagues who have stood down as MPs, or women within thediVerent political parties around:

— What are/were their issues and concerns?— What are their perceptions of being an MP?— What was their experience of working within the organisation?— What would have made them stay and what pushed them out the door?— What changes would they like to see?

Opportunity Now believes that once businesses have untangled these issues they are in a much betterposition to implement policies that are dynamic and successful, the same approach could prove useful withinthe House of Commons.

2. Develop a more progressive and inclusive culture

Opportunity Now’s research has found that typically subtle but corrosive organisational and attitudinalbehaviours combine to undermine women’s contributions and morale and so prevent them from reachinghigher positions.

This research with both CEOs and women in senior management draws an interesting picture of theseissues and may provide some relevant insights for the House of Commons and some of the perceived barriersfor women.

81% of senior women thought that the stereotyping and preconceptions of women’s roles and abilitieswere a significant barrier to women’s advancement compared with only 57% of male CEOs. 66% of seniorwomen cited exclusion from informal networks of communication as a significant barrier to women’sadvancement whilst only 46% of CEOs considered it an issue for women. Lack of awareness oforganisational politics was claimed to be a barrier by 57% of senior women compared with only 35% ofCEOs.

It is interesting that although CEOs tend to recognise the issue of inhospitable culture in the abstract, theydo not actually understand how it manifests itself in their organisations and how it adversely aVects women.It is often the case that any majority group within an institution is not able to identify the barriers orobstacles that are prevalent within that organisation. In contrast, the women clearly identified the subtleaspects of the culture which they believed were creating significant obstacles for women’s advancementand success.

The physical environment or place of work can in itself reveal a surprising amount about institutionalculture and what is valued. For example through Opportunity Now’s work with the Police Service it wasclear that a lack of women’s changing facilities sent a very powerful message about the value of womenwithin the organisation. Another example is that of a high profile university who audited the images andpaintings within its board rooms and as a result commissioned a specific painting of high profile womenwithin its workforce.

3. Adopt a more flexible and agile approach to work

As many women are primary child-carers, the four day week in Westminster and the structure ofParliamentary hours may currently be a significant barrier to women’s involvement. MPs are under politicalpressure to school children within their constituency, which could be 300 miles from London, yet they areobliged to be in SW1 from Monday to Thursday. It may be that many women have opted to exert politicalinfluence in their communities through school governorships, PTAs and charitable work instead ofbecoming a Member of Parliament because they perceive the challenge of combining motherhood with suchun-family friendly hours as too diYcult. More should be made of positive role models, both men andwomen, who are successfully combining parenthood with a career as an MP. All too often MPs cite wantingto spend more time with their families as the key reason for leaving the House of Commons, this sends outa powerful message that it is currently near impossible to combine the two. Coupled with the recent highprofile case in France of Rachida Dati returning to work less than a week after giving birth and the resultingextensive coverage in the UK media, there may well be a perception that it is too diYcult for a woman tobe an MP and have children. More could be done to publicise the childcare arrangements and maternitypackages which are currently available to MPs.

Opportunity Now has found that many businesses are leveraging technology to enable greater flexibilityand provide diVerent ways of working to ensure business success. There could be innovative ways ofchanging how the House of Commons runs which could provide more flexibility and agility such asregionalising activities, running committees by video-link and having all votes in monthly plenaries as theEuropean Parliament does.



4. Develop the talent pipeline

Opportunity Now has worked with many employers to assist in breaking down gender segregation anddeveloping the female talent pipeline (ie the next generation). Successful initiatives recommended haveincluded:

— Job shadowing and secondments to allow women to experience working in a new area orinternationally seeking external partners to help reach a wider pool of talent, for example women’sgroups and associations, Further Education Colleges and Local Government.

— Changing young women’s perceptions of their career, through work with schools.

— One to one mentoring, team mentoring and peer to peer mentoring to support individuals.

— Coaching to encourage personal development.

Opportunity Now has always supported positive action in very particular circumstances, as a way oflevelling the playing field. Opportunity Now has always positioned it as a tool in the armoury—but one toonly be used in certain specific circumstances where there are key and dramatic imbalances in the numberof women (or men) in certain positions or divisions.

The financial costs of becoming an MP may also be a prohibitive factor in encouraging diversity. Last yearConservativeHome estimated that the cost of becoming a Conservative MP was an average £41 ,500 in termsof expenses and lost income opportunities.

Changing organisational cultures to better reflect society is not a quick or easy process. It requires aconcerted and long-term view. Any change implemented needs to be sustainable over a prolonged period oftime and able to withstand external pressures such as changes in power.

Submission from Janet Gaymer CBE QC, Commissioner for Public Appointments (SC–81)

1. Summary

1.1 This statement:

— outlines the role of the Commissioner for Public Appointments;

— gives details about diversity in public appointments within the Commissioner’s remit and theCommissioner’s Diversity and Talent Strategy;

— provides information on political activity in public appointments within the Commissioner’sremit; and

— includes the Commissioner’s comments on particular aspects of the Speaker’s Conference Inquiry.

2. The Role of the Commissioner for Public Appointments

2.1 The Commissioner for Public Appointments regulates and reports on Ministerial appointments tothe boards of specific public bodies in England and Wales and particular non-devolved public bodies inNorthern Ireland. The Commissioner’s role and bodies within her remit are set out in the PublicAppointments Order in Council 2002 and amending Orders (copies attached). The bodies fall into thefollowing categories:

— Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs);

— Advisory NDPBs;

— some Public Corporations;

— Public Broadcasting Authorities;

— specific NHS bodies;

— certain Utility Regulators;

— some Non-Ministerial Departments;

— Boards of National Parks; and

— Conservation Boards for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Commissioner does not, therefore, regulate all public appointments. For example, judicialappointments do not fall within her remit.

2.2 The Commissioner also has a role to promote equality of opportunity and diversity in the proceduresfor making public appointments within her remit, with the object of maintaining selection on merit. The roleto promote equality of opportunity was given to the Commissioner in the Public Appointments Order inCouncil 2002 and diversity was added to her remit by the Public Appointments (Amendment No 2) Orderin Council 2008.



2.3 The Commissioner’s aim is to ensure that Ministerial appointments within her remit are made onmerit after a fair, open and transparent process.

2.4 The Commissioner is independent of Government and is appointed by The Queen by Order inCouncil. She is not a civil servant.

2.5 The Commissioner is supported by the OYce of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA),an independent oYce of the Cabinet OYce, staVed by Civil Servants.

2.6 The Commissioner does not make public appointments herself—this is for individual Ministersfollowing processes run by their departments (Health Ministers have delegated this responsibility to theAppointments Commission). However, departments are required to follow the Commissioner’s mandatoryrequirements set out in the Commissioner’s Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies.(Public appointees are oYce holders rather than employees and public appointments do not thereforeconstitute employment.)

2.7 The Commissioner publishes statistics in her Annual Report227 on exemptions from her Code ofPractice, political activity of new appointees, diversity of appointees and re-appointees and on complaintsabout the public appointments process. The diversity data diVers from the statistics published by the CabinetOYce in their annual Public Bodies report in that the information contained in the Commissioner’s Reportrelates to new appointees and re-appointees whereas the Cabinet OYce figures relate to appointees in post.In addition, the Cabinet OYce data include bodies not within the Commissioner’s remit such as TribunalNDPBs.

3. Diversity in Public Appointments

3.1 Gender statistics

3.1.1 The following table shows the percentage of new women appointees and re-appointees to the bodieswithin the Commissioner’s remit for the past three years.

GENDER

Year Percentage of total appointments and reappointments (women)

2005–06 36.6%2006–07 36.2%2007–08 32.6%

3.1.2 The Commissioner noted in her latest Annual Report that 2007–08 was the third successive year inwhich the percentage of female appointees and re-appointees had fallen. In addition, although more femalechairs were appointed to executive and advisory NDPBs in 2007–08, significantly fewer women wereappointed as chairs of health bodies compared with the previous year.

3.2 Ethnicity statistics

3.2.1 Similarly, the Commissioner commented in her latest Annual Report that the percentage of ethnicminority candidates also fell from 9.2% in 2006–07 to 7.7% in 2007–08.

ETHNCITY

Year Percentage of total appointments and reappointments

2005–06 8.6%2006–07 9.2%2007–08 7.7%

3.3 Disability statistics

3.3.1 The percentage of appointees and re-appointees declaring a disability in the past three years wasas follows:

227 The Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Annual Report 2007–08, available from:www.publicappointmentscommissioner.org



DISABILITY

Year Percentage of total appointments and reappointments

2005–06 4.4%2006–07 6.1%2007–08 4.6%

3.3.2 As illustrated by the above table, the overall number of appointees and re-appointees declaring adisability fell in 2007–08 compared with the previous year when the figures had reached a peak of 6.1%. Itmay be worthy of note that the peak percentage followed an OCPA Short-term Working Group onDisability initiative in 2004–05 and a subsequent disability mentoring pilot scheme led by the Cabinet OYce.(In 2003–04 3.2% of appointees/re-appointees declared a disability, this increased to 4.1% in 2004–05 andagain in 2006–07 to 6.1%).

3.3.3 There is anecdotal evidence that candidates and appointees may be reluctant to declare a disabilityand/or that the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 definition used in the diversity monitoring forms doesnot encourage individuals to view themselves as having a disability.

3.4 Age statistics

3.4.1 The following table gives an age breakdown by age for members and chair appointee and re-appointees combined.

AgeYear 66! 56–65 46–55 36–45 35 or under Did not declare age

2005–06 333 1,257 880 374 63 N/A2006–07 494 1,671 1,083 485 74 N/A2007–08 292 1,102 774 348 42 63

3.4.2 This shows that typically most appointees and re-appointees are aged between 56 and 65.

3.4.3 The Commissioner established a working party to consider the issue of Age and PublicAppointments in November 2006. A seminar on this subject was held in Autumn 2007 and a guidancedocument for use by departments was produced.

3.5 Diversity and Talent Strategy

3.5.1 The Commissioner is keen to improve the participation of diverse groups in public bodies withinher remit. With this in mind, she is working on a new two year Diversity and Talent Strategy. As part of herStrategy, the Commissioner will be examining (among other issues) the barriers to the participation in publicappointments for people who fall within the following diversity strands:

— gender/transgender;

— race;

— disability;

— age;

— sexual orientation;

— religious belief and non-religious belief; and

— social exclusion (eg class, region etc).

3.5.2 The Commissioner plans to develop practical tools and sustainable programmes for departmentsto help them attract more diverse candidates, together with improved communication links (such aselectronic links on her website to diverse organisations and examples of departments’ best practiceinitiatives).

4. Political Activity and Public Appointments

4.1 On the recommendation of the Committee on Standards in Public Life all applicants for publicappointment are asked to complete a standard political activity monitoring form. The form (which is notmade available to the selection panel) only requests information that is already in the public domain; it doesnot ask for personal or private information such as membership of political parties or voting preferences.

4.2 The form asks candidates to declare any of the following political activities that they have undertakenin the past five years:

— obtained oYce as a Local Councillor, MP, MEP etc;

— stood as a candidate for Local Councillor, MP, MEP etc;



— spoken on behalf of a party or candidate;

— acted as a political agent;

— held oYce such as Chair, Treasurer or Secretary of a local branch of a party;

— canvassed on behalf of a party or helped at local elections;

— undertaken any other political activity the candidate considers relevant; or

— made a recordable donation to a political party.

4.3 Neither activity nor aYliation is a criterion for appointment except, in rare instances, where statutedictates specific party political representation (eg for the Committee on Standards in Public Life).

4.4 The table below gives information on the percentage of total appointees declaring political activityfor the last seven years.

POLITICAL ACTIVITY

Conservative % Labour % Liberal Democrat % Other %* Total %

2001–02 2.7 14.3 2.5 1.3 20.72002–03 3.2 11.7 2.1 1.6 18.62003–04 2.9 9.2 1.8 1.3 15.22004–05 2.5 8.9 1.5 1.5 14.42005–06 2.1 8.3 1.6 1.3 13.32006–07 2.5 10.2 2 1.1 15.82007–08 2.2 5.7 1.3 1.1 10.4

* Includes Plaid Cymru

4.5 As illustrated by the table above, the proportion of appointees declaring political activity in2007–08 fell considerably to 10.4%—a big decrease compared with 2001–02 when it stood at 20.7%. Acrossthe major parties, but particularly the Labour Party, declaration fell in 2007–08 compared with previousyears.

4.6 In 2007–08 of 2,621 appointees and re-appointees in total, 272 declared political activity. The tablebelow gives a breakdown of these:

DECLARED POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF APPOINTEES IN 2007–08

Party Number declaring political activity Percentage decrease from 2006–07

Labour Party 150 4.5%Conservative Party 59 0.3%Liberal Democrats 35 0.7%Other parties 28 0%

5. Specific Questions Raised by the Speakers’ Conference

5.1 The Commissioner’s non-political role and the current lack of available evidence means that theCommissioner is regrettably unable to comment on many of the specific areas of interest highlighted in theannouncement of the Speaker’s Conference inquiry. However, she oVers the following comments:

— in her view, diverse public body boards lead to better decision making and improved customerservice;

— there are many and varied reasons why diverse individuals may not apply for public appointments.These include insuYcient role models, and the attractiveness of public appointments and lack ofboth the understanding of the opportunities for appointment available and the workings of publicbodies; and

— there is some evidence that once women apply for public appointments, they are proportionallymore successful than their male counterparts. Accordingly there is a need to do more to encouragesuitable women to apply for public appointments.

Mrs Janet Gaymer CBE QCCommissioner for Public Appointments



Submission from Women2win (SC–82)

Women2win was set up in November 2005. It aims to increase the number of Conservative women MPs,by providing support, advice and training to women who wish to enter Parliament or get more involvedin politics.

Since its inception the work of women2win has run through three phases.

Phase 1: involved attracting women to the Party and attracting women within the Party to the idea ofbecoming MPs and hence of standing as Parliamentary candidates. The aim was also to attract more womenfrom black and minority ethnic communities to stand as candidates. These aims were largely achievedthrough networking events together with seminars giving an “Introduction to Politics” which showed howwomen could be involved both in the voluntary Party and by standing for election as MPs or councillors.These seminars were a means of helping the women coming forward to get a better idea of what was involvedand find out the level of involvement that was right for them. The networking and Introduction to Politicsseminars continued throughout the following phases allow not at the same intensity.

During this phase training support was also given to potential candidates who were applying to beaccepted onto the Party’s Candidates List.

Phase 2: concentrated on more training for candidates who were going for selection in particular seats.Some general training was made available, but the focus was on intense one-to-one training for individualcandidates.

Phase 3: involves more outreach work with a view to identifying potential candidates for the election afternext. It will also involve work to attract potential candidates from a more diverse range of backgrounds forexample in the public sector.

During this phase individual support will continue to be given particularly to those candidates standingfor selection in winnable or Conservative held seats.

The success which the Conservative Party has had in selecting more women candidates owes much to thechanges that were made under David Cameron in the Party’s selection procedures but it also owes somethingto the work done by women2win particularly in working with individual candidates prior to selectioninterviews.

During this work we have identified a number of issues which we consider worthy of reference to theSpeaker’s Conference as set out below.

Points Arising from Women2win’s Experience

1. Many women who would make good MPs are reluctant to come forward because they do notappreciate how their skills fit the job. Organisations like women2win can perform a useful function in settingout and promoting good role models and in providing a more neutral environment in which women canexplore their interest in politics and learn more about how they would fit in.

2. Women who have no track record in the Party find it particularly diYcult to get selected for a numberof reasons. In the main constituencies still expect candidates to have experience, but also women new topolitics can find the political jargon defeats them. Women also tend to bring their business experience intotheir political life and often find it diYcult to recognise that winning hearts and minds is about more thana professional presentation. Training can overcome these problems.

3. Talking about the diYculties in getting women into Parliament is very oV-putting. We need toconcentrate on the positives and show how it can be done rather than why it is diYcult to do.

4. By far the greatest issue facing many women with an interest in politics is finances. It is expensive toget selected—training courses and travelling around the country for interviews. It is also expensive to be acandidate. Many women feel they cannot put the family finances into their personal ambition, but also manywomen simply do not have the finances to do this in the first place. Women2win has been able to providesome small level of support to some candidates but finances remain a key issue. Addressing this problemwould be a valuable area of focus for the Speaker’s Conference.

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