1.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  This memorandum provides a response to the above inquiry from Claire Clancy, Chief Executive and Clerk to the National Assembly for Wales and includes information on the following;

— data explaining the representation of women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people amongst the Assembly Members for each election (section two);

— comparative data on the representation of women by political party at each election and data on the number of women candidates put forward for election (where available). Candidates include constituency and regional Members. Figures on candidates are available in the Electoral Commission'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 democratic participation (with a by-product of potentially increasing representation) (section six); and

— political parties within the Assembly have supplied information for the purpose of this memorandum as to what actions they have taken, or not as the case may be, to address the disparities 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. Table 1 below provides comparative data on the representation of women, ethnic minority and disabled Assembly Members following each Assembly election.

3.  ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS—REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN[111]

  There have been three elections: 1999, 2003 and 2007. The data for women's representation in the Assembly 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 Welsh Labour 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 to produce equal numbers of men and women Labour candidates was used. In Wales, the 40 Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) were sorted into 20 pairs matched for population size, geographical proximity and winnability. Four constituencies resisted, but the Wales Labour Party imposed pairing upon them and the outcome 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) Liberal Democrats without recourse to positive action and six (35 % of the total) Plaid Cymru who took the step of ensuring that women topped each list for the 20 regional seats. The outcome was that the percentage of women (40 %) in the National Assembly was one of the highest in any legislature, bringing Wales close to the top of the international league tables of women's representation.

  3.1.4  However, twinning proved bitterly divisive, particularly among the grassroots supporters in the Labour heartlands of South Wales Valleys and Swansea area where support for the newly-formed campaign group Members Against Twinning (MAT) was strongest.

3.2  2003 Election

3.3  2007 Election

Gender of candidates at the 2007 election[113]

  3.3.1  Of the total 197 constituency candidates, 141 (72 %) were men and 56 (28 %) women. The Labour Party fielded more women than men candidates. Women make up a majority of constituency representatives in 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 down since Trish Law's by-election victory in June 2006. In 2007, the percentage of women AMs fell to 47 %. While Labour and Plaid Cymru have decreased their representation of women, Labour to 61.5 % and Plaid to 46.7 %, the Liberal Democrats have remained at 50 % while the Conservative party has one woman out of a total of 12 AMs (8.3 %).

  3.3.3  Russell et al (2002) have suggested that there were two key factors contributing to the achievement of more equal representation in the National Assembly for Wales:

— Constitutional change provided the opportunity to design new political institutions that were more inclusive of women, eg the inclusion of equal opportunities and "family-friendly" working practices;

— 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 notable that the National Assembly for Wales has appointed two women as Deputy Presiding Officer: Jane Davidson AM 1999-2000 and Rosemary Butler AM 2007-present.

  3.3.5  The Welsh Assembly Government Cabinet, which comprises 10 Ministers, has four women Ministers. 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 were women, meaning that the eventual winner, Kirsty Williams, AM became the first female leader of a political party in Wales in December 2008. Another opportunity for women to attain a leadership role and position of 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 population of Wales.

  4.2  As of the 2007 Assembly elections, the National Assembly has one ethnic minority Assembly Member, Mohammad Asghar, a Plaid Cymru regional Assembly Member for South Wales East. Prior to his election, there were no ethnic minority Assembly Members. Mr Asghar's election means that the Assembly 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 themselves to 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 Assembly Member Shadowing Scheme, enabling nine people from BME communities to follow the work of mentor Assembly Members. The Shadows undertook a minimum of eight observational sessions with their assigned mentor 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 "Democracy Award" which recognised innovative ways to encourage greater public involvement in the democratic process.

  6.1.4  As part of the Scheme, shadowing participants acted as conduits between the National Assembly and their local communities, becoming Community Ambassadors. All of the shadowing participants who completed the scheme have stated that they are more politically active, and have been informing and inspiring others about democratic engagement, helping party machinery to have a dialogue with BME communities 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 had successfully passed their party's selection process and made it onto the list of approved candidates.

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), staff at the National Assembly for Wales have been working with partners to develop an extended mentoring scheme, 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; young people; Transgender people and women.

  6.2.2  The pilot Scheme will have two elements: an Assembly Member mentoring scheme and a local councillor mentoring scheme.

  6.2.3  Politicians will mentor participants for a minimum of 10 days over the course of six months. The number 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 democratic participation of under-represented groups.

— To enhance the understanding of and to instil greater confidence in the Assembly and Local Government amongst the public, particularly under-represented groups.

— To give individual politicians, political parties, the National Assembly for Wales and Local Government in Wales, the opportunity to work with and gain greater insight into the experiences of under-represented communities.

— To give a positive message that under-represented communities in Wales can bring about positive change by engaging with politicians and the democratic process.

— To improve the political knowledge of mentoring participants to enable them to obtain a variety of 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 as community ambassadors, advising and empowering others to become more actively engaged in civic society.

  6.2.5  The Scheme will involve selected participants mentored by politicians for a minimum of 10 days over the course of six months, starting in September 2009. For participants involved in the Assembly Member mentoring component of the Scheme, this would involve time in both the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay and in constituency offices to enable participants to experience the full breadth of work undertaken by Mentors. Likewise, participants in the local government element of the Scheme should experience the whole range of a councillor's duties.

112   The Electoral Commission, The National Assembly for Wales elections 2003: The official report and results, November 2003
http://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). Back

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). Back

114   Russell, M., MacKay, F, and McAllister, L. Women's representation in the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales: Party Dynamics for Achieving Critical Mass, Journal of Legislative Studies, Vol. 8:2, Summer 2002, pp 49-76. Back