BULLETED POINTS

1.  Are problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of different groups in society? 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 is distinct from that of the current social mix that is Britain. It lacks the fragmentation—and hence the dynamism—that is characteristic of our diverse communities today.

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

— in the case of gender imbalance, the House is more masculine in culture than feminine. This has the knock-on effect of giving the House and hence our politics a more "hard power" than "soft power orientation". This not only has a significant bearing on how our government responds to conflict, but also how it behaves in business and public services. For more on this visit www.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 for the voters

— there is the unspoken establishment of a norm for people in power, which automatically confers reflective 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 ie politics 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 become members of Parliament:

— simply expressed, they do not fit in. Parliament is part of the: "proud and ancient history of this country", it is steeped in visual and behavioural conventions which most people do not identify with and could not take on.

— in Britain, leadership is still overwhelmingly white and male, except in the home. Women and people of ethnic minorities dribble in and quickly adopt the normative behaviour and even dress as quickly as they can so as not to disrupt the flow. Without affirmative action of some kind, this is 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 of discrimination from a public that is fearful of change

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

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

— for women, the overwhelmingly masculine culture of politics can be simply distasteful. The over emphasis on competition, the excessive drinking, the inbalance between a work culture and a family culture, the playground mentality—the yah-boo culture—in the House, the automatic invocation of the military option in conflict, the constant aggressive debating in preference to useful dialogue, 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 coverage of politics

— women who grew up with feminism often deny that there is a masculine/feminine divide as it invokes the idea of a stronger and weaker sex. This can lead to women taking on masculine behaviour to prove that they can compete effectively. It is often the established women in parliament that put off newcomers as they create an expectation of how women should develop in politics. This might be avoided if there was a substantial influx of women at the same time, who were given the opportunity to work together for extended periods

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

— family/care unfriendly hours

— the cost of running for office

— the lack of civil society groups that can offer 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 groups which reflect the population. This will give newcomers to parliament an environment within which to develop

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

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

— offer 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 today www.newintegrity.org

— offer media training to established members to help them identify the governing narratives in politics. 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 challenge their perceived "unpopularity". Until then, social workers had reached the point where most of them would not admit to their profession in public. There are similarities with women and people of minority ethnic origins who find it hard to see themselves as members of the political elite. Not only because of the way they are collectively represented in our culture and its media but also in the way they have always seen themselves and the cultural norms they have adopted, often unconsciously.

FULLER EXPLANATION

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

  10.  Broadly speaking, the limited representation of different groups in society in the House of Commons reflects a deeper problem that exists in UK society, which is the unspeakable fact that anyone who is not a white male is considered "lesser than".

  11.  This fact results in white males constituting the majority of MPs and one clear impact is that a limited number of views are represented in the house. The white men are viewing the world from their unique perspective. This is a useful perspective but not the only perspective and we must not assume that from that vantage 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 is distinct from that of the current social mix that is Britain. It lacks the fragmentation—and hence the dynamism—that is characteristic of our diverse communities today. This is a problem, not because of unfairness or lack of balance but because we miss out on the input from the rich nature of the cultures that make up this country. The problems and challenges that the government faces today are not being solved by 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 addressing social and cultural issues. Even if they consult widely, they will not have a wide and deep enough pool of intelligence 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 the knock-on effect of giving the House and hence our politics a more "hard power" than "soft power orientation". This not only has a significant bearing on how our government responds to conflict, but also how 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, eg health care, education and conflict resolution. These issues are in fact important to us all, the present generation and the future ones. We need to make room for this perspective so that we can integrate these values into our policies and our approaches to the challenges we face such as climate change, the aging population and the changing nature of work.

  For more on this visit www.thedowningstreetproject.com

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

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

  17.  There is the unspoken establishment of a norm for people in power, which automatically confers reflective power on those that look and sound like them in society. This norm is held not only by white men but 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 ie politics 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 become Members of Parliament?

  19.  Simply expressed, they do not fit in. Parliament is part of the: "proud and ancient history of this country", it is steeped in visual and behavioral conventions which most people do not identify with and could 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 overwhelmingly white and male, except in the home. Women and people of ethnic minorities dribble in and quickly adopt the normative behaviour and even dress code, as quickly as they can so as not to disrupt the flow. Without affirmative action of some kind, this is likely to remain the same for the foreseeable future. In fact, if we continue to increase the numbers of female MPs at the rate we have been, it will take another 200 years to see a gender balance that reflects the country.

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

  21.  Because people from these groups represent a departure from the norm, they experience a lot of discrimination from a public that is fearful of change and does not see them as valid candidates for leadership. However, just as there is external discrimination, there is also internal discrimination. Women and people from ethnic minorities count themselves out of the running for office because they have internalised 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 because they don't desire a life of alienation. For women, the overwhelmingly masculine culture of politics can be simply distasteful. The over emphasis on competition, the excessive drinking, the imbalance between a work culture and a family culture, the playground mentality—the yah-boo culture in the House, the automatic invocation of the military option in conflict, the constant aggressive debating in preference to useful dialogue, the cliquey or disconnected behaviour of groups and factions, the lack of holistic thinking all contribute 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 of politics. Female MPs get much more coverage for what they wear than what they say. This is shockingly juvenile, 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 it invokes the idea of a stronger and weaker sex. This can lead to women taking on masculine behaviour to prove that they can compete effectively. It is often the established women in parliament that put off newcomers as they create an expectation of how women should develop in politics. This might be avoided if there was a substantial influx of women at the same time, who were given the opportunity to work together for extended periods in a more feminine way.

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

  25.  Like any serious job, running for office requires candidates to be available 24/7. This is fine if you have a wife at home to look after the family and take care of domestic responsibilities. Most women do not have this 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 office costs in excess of £30,000. There are few people who can realistically afford to fund this popularity game.

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

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

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

  29.  They could also fund training and development programmes such as those provided by The Downing Street Project, which seek to educate and empower women and men, to work to create a legislative body that 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 that women are respected for what they say, not just what they look like.

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

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

  32.  They could offer mixed forums for discussion of politics at every level, from the neighbourhood level to the national. The concept of "political" could be explored to allow more people to consider themselves as actively politically already.

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

  34.  They could offer media training to established members to help them identify the governing narratives in 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 challenge their perceived "unpopularity". Until then, social workers had reached the point where most of them would not admit to their profession in public. There are similarities with women and people of minority ethnic origins who find it hard to see themselves as members of the political elite. Not only because of the way they are collectively represented in our culture and its media but also in the way they have always seen themselves and the cultural norms they have adopted, often unconsciously

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