1.  INTRODUCTION

  The Labour Party welcomes moves to look at the under-representation of diverse groups in the House of Commons. Labour works hard to reflect the communities we seek to represent and as such has the best record 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 measures needed to work towards equal representation of men and women in public office, as well as public bodies such as quangos. Whilst still needing to push further, Labour is the party of equality and diversity representing and delivering for women and for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities at all levels of government and we will continue to work towards the promotion of this diversity. In Parliament we have three times as many ethnic minority MPs as the other parties put together; in local government we have consistently had more ethnic minority councillors than the main opposition parties combined; and we have 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 of government 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 ethnic candidates, and to encourage diversity at all levels. The Labour government has stated its intention of using the new Equality Bill to introduce specific provisions to allow for positive action measures to redress under representation 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 office in an open and democratic manner, using procedures that are intrinsically fair and that allow for proper political judgement to be made about the suitability of candidates to represent the party.

  At the conclusion of any selection, we want to offer the electorate candidates of sufficient quality and ability to carry forward the Party's agreed programme in that election. We are also committed to ensure that our 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 some form of change) equality promotion (measures to help selection) and equality guarantee (such as the use of quotas, zipping and twinning) to enhance the diversity of our elected representatives. Indeed, Labour is the only political party in the UK to adopt all three strategies to rectify the disparity of diverse people in the House 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 highest number 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 Labour Party, 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).

  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's representation.

  At every level of public office, Labour has taken the measures needed to work towards equal representation of men and women.

  The advent of devolved government presented an ideal opportunity for political parties to start "from a clean slate" and ensure that high numbers of women were elected. Labour seized this opportunity, continued with 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 ensure 50:50 representation in the first past the post seats and zipped the regional lists.

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.

Women in the European Parliament:

  In 1999, when a new electoral system for European elections was introduced, Labour adopted the zipping method of preference voting to increase representation of women.

Women in the Labour Party

  Research has shown that political parties act as influential gatekeepers to elected office.[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 Labour Party, during the 1990s, adopted internal quotas for party positions. This was carried out with a view it would enhance the number of women coming forward for selection as parliamentary candidates by providing greater political experience and better access to the machinery of the Labour party to a greater number 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 whom shall be women.

(d) Division IV—Local Government. Shall consist of 2 positions, at least one of whom should be a woman

(e) Division V—Parliamentary Labour Party. Shall consist of three positions, at least one of whom should 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 be elected from Scotland, Wales and the English regions, of which one place shall be reserved for a Young 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.

(b) Division II shall consist of 30 members, at least 15 of whom shall be women, to be nominated and elected by affiliated trade unions.

(c) Division III shall consist of 22 representatives from the Scottish, Welsh and English regional conferences or regional policy forums. Two, at least one of whom shall be a woman, shall be elected from Scotland, Wales and each English region.

(d) Division IV shall consist of nine Labour local government representatives. Four each to be elected by 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 Scottish Local Authorities Labour group.

(e) Division V shall consist of three members, at least one of whom shall be a woman, to be nominated and elected by affiliated socialist societies.

(f) Division VI shall consist of four representatives of the Labour Party Black Socialist Society, at least two of whom shall be women.

(g) Division VII shall consist of nine representatives of Commons members of the PLP, at least four of 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 officers of the Welsh Policy Forum and the four officers 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 entitled to appoint two representatives, at least one of whom shall be a woman, as well as the General Secretary of the Co-operative Party who shall be ex-officio.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

  Local parties sending one delegate to Annual Conference are required to send a woman at least every other year, 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 officers in each branch, at least three out of the seven constituency officers and 50% delegations to general committees.

ETHNIC MINORITY COMMUNITIES

Ethnic Minority Members of Parliament

Ethnic Minority Councillors

  Local government affects everyone's lives and councillors are increasingly in the frontline as community advocates and leaders. Therefore, it is vitally important hat local communities are fairly represented on local councils.

  Labour has an extremely good record in the number of councillors we have from ethnic minority communities. Not only are we as representative as the community at large, we also have more ethnic minority councillors than the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

4.  STRATEGIES TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION

  According to Lovenduski[122] there are three available strategies open for political parties who wish to increase the numbers of women representatives and indeed the diversity of their representatives more generally: equality rhetoric, equality promotion and equality guarantee.

  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 sufficient interest, put on specific training events to encourage members from underrepresented groups to come forward as parliamentary candidates.

  The Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has a mentoring scheme which offers a comprehensive package of support to aspiring women candidates.

  Building networks is crucial to the support and development of underrepresented groups. By developing our online technologies, party members are now interacting with each other more freely and more often. It is hoped this technology will enhance aspirant candidates' resources, information and motivation.

Diversity groups and advisors

  The Labour Party has many affiliated groups and organisations, which represent women, Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME), disabled, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) members and supporters. We work closely with these organisations to support, encourage and facilitate the representation of their members.

  Labour Women's Network: Labour Women's Network (LWN) encourages Labour women to come forward as parliamentary candidates. By offering knowledge, training and support, LWN has played a considerable 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 and campaigns for greater representation of ethnic minority communities in public life. Through encouraging increased participation in the political process BAME Labour empowers its members to campaign for a fairer, 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 within Labour; build links between the Labour Party and the Disabled People's movement; to lobby and advise Labour to achieve full and comprehensive Civil Rights for Disabled People and to work with Labour to ensure its services and meetings are fully accessible

  LGBT Labour: The Labour Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Rights (LGBT Labour) is a socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party. LGBT Labour campaigns for full legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgendered people. Also works to ensure LGBT members are 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 for office. Within the Labour movement, there are many sources of funding available to support underrepresented groups stand for office.

  EMILY's LIST: EMILY'S LIST UK was launched on February 6th 1993, exactly 75 years after British women first gained the right to vote in Parliamentary elections—an appropriate date on which to found an organisation whose purpose was to help Labour women meet the costs of getting selected as Parliamentary candidates.

  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 support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Trans candidates standing to represent the Labour Party in Parliament. There are huge barriers for LGBT candidates, particularly women, and it is hoped this will go some way to showing solidarity and support.

  BERNIE's LIST: will help build a representative Britain by electing additional Black and Asian individuals to office. Bernie's List is committed to a three-pronged strategy to elect Black and Asian individuals: recruiting and funding viable candidates, helping candidates build and run effective 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 ethnic minority MPs in Parliament.

Selection procedures

  The promotion of women and BAME candidates occurs at various stages in Labour's selection procedures—they are highlighted in the table below.

All Women Shortlists

  It is clear from what Labour has achieved in terms of representation that positive action works. Labour has the best record of any UK political party in terms of women's representation. Labour's success is categorically 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 in representation between men and women in parliament.

  1997—The process of AWS was started in the selections for the General Election—and as a direct result the number of Labour women increased dramatically.

  This mechanism was later declared illegal under employment law and was not used in the selections for the 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 parties to legally use AWS.

  2005—AWS used throughout the selections (as opposed to 1997 where it was stopped part way through after being declared illegal). Despite a net loss of seats, we increased the number of women in the PLP, 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).

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 UK population at large. Labour has led in ensuring its representatives are from diverse backgrounds and communities and the Speaker's Conference should recommend other political parties play their part in diversifying 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 Conference should 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 people in the House of Commons. After taking legal guidance, we can and do ensure that our shortlists reflect the make up of a particular constituency. Labour would welcome the Speaker's Conference to debate further steps to increase ethnic minority representation. The Speaker's Conference should also investigate whether current 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 need for greater representation. For example, there is currently no data collected on disabled MPs. There is also a lack of evidence on the barriers faced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people on entering political life. Labour suggests the Speaker's Conference recommends a regular parliamentary survey to establish how representative the House really is. This may consider the diversity of MPs in particular on disability and sexual orientation; the professional background of MPs and how this changes over time; the routes that people take to becoming MPs and any changes over time and a comparison of these results in the context of the make-up of society itself.

(v)  Greater transparency

  Political parties are critical to democracy in the UK and ultimately determine how representative the House of Commons is. The Speaker's Conference should suggest that political parties provide information and monitor selection procedures to establish who is being put forward as candidates and share best practice.

(vi)  Culture and accessibility of parliament

  Nearly all of the research conducted into the barriers underrepresented groups face in getting into public life point to the culture of politics. Labour believes the Speaker's Conference should explore the culture of Parliament, including its sitting hours and facilities. What's more, making the House of Commons more accessible 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 the workings of MPs and Parliament but also their role in the democratic process. The Speaker's Conference should recommend MPs are required to devise a programme of work with education institutions in their constituencies.

(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 House of Commons, Labour wants more information on the social background of MPs too. The Labour Party grew out of the need to represent the concerns of the working person. Therefore, the Speaker's Conference should commission research into the background of MPs and consider this topic and consider ways of tackling 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 of representatives. The Speaker's Conference should consider the degree to which voter patterns and levels influence 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 Office.

Inter—Parliamentary Union (1999) "Participation of Women in Political Life" IPU Reports and Documents No 35. Geneva: IPU.

Labour Party Rule book 2009.

Lovenduski, Joni (1997) "Gender Politics" in Parliamentary Affairs, 50:4.

Norris, P (1996) "Legislative Recruitment" in LeDuc, L; Niemi, R and Norris, P (eds) Comparing Democracies. Newbury Park, California: Sage.

Squires, J and Wickham Jones M (2001) "Women in Parliament: A Comparative Analysis" Equal Opportunities Commission Discussion Series. University of Bristol.

119   Norris 1996, Caul 1997. Back

120   IPU 1999, p31. Back

121   NB: In the 2004 Leicester South By Election, Parmjit Gill was elected to represent the Liberal Democrats. However Labour regained the seat at the 2005 General Election. Back

122   Lovenduski, Joni (1997) "Gender Politics" in Parliamentary Affairs, 50:4, 708-719. Back