SUMMARY

— London Councils has been running a campaign to encourage more women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds into local politics

— Local politics is the feeder pool for national politics, therefore, some of the evidence from the "Be a Councillor" campaign may usefully be applied to the disparity of representation in the House of Commons

— Our experience shows that for people not in contact with their local constituency party, there is a lack of awareness that (a) there is a local constituency party office and (b) it is through this structure that candidates are selected by parties to represent them. This includes people who are paid up members of the national party.

— There is a pool of people active in their community and willing to stand as candidates who are motivated 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, the reality is that they are undecided as to which party they would want to represent and/or they do not perceive themselves as "politicians". This pool is an untapped resource for the political parties particularly as it includes a large proportion of women and people from an ethnic minority background

— The way that the local party treats people who are encouraged to enquire at their local constituency office about getting involved in political life is really important. Many women and people from an ethnic minority background lack confidence in their own abilities and might easily be discouraged by an indifferent response

— An issue with which physically disabled candidates in particular contend is the emphasis on doorstep campaigning and delivering leaflets. In addition, local parties often meet in inaccessible premises 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 the intelligence it has received as a result of running a campaign to encourage more women and people from minority 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 the disparity 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 of Commons.

  1.4  London Councils is a cross-party organisation, primarily funded and run by the capital's 33 councils to 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 campaign uses the website ,www.beacouncillor.org.uk, a telephone hotline and accompanying printed information to disseminate information. The campaign has received 1,500 enquiries from members of the public and thousands of information booklets have been requested by the London boroughs for distribution to their residents.

  2.2  The key to the success of our Be a Councillor campaign has been the involvement of councillors from across the political spectrum throughout London who have spread the message by talking to their local media and residents about why they became councillors and their own experiences. Advertisements and stories 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 various London 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 not sufficient. A large number of people who received our information and, most importantly, subsequently decided that being a councillor was something they want to commit to, got back in contact with the campaign asking what their first step should be. Indeed, one of the most common questions asked by people attending 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) there is a local constituency office and (b) it is through this structure that candidates are selected by parties to represent them.

  3.3  Frequently, people who have come into contact with the campaign say their motivation is a desire to improve their local community and that they want to be an "independent" councillor. When further questioned they often reveal that their desire to be an "independent" candidate is based on an indecision as to which party they would want to represent rather than a desire to be truly "independent" of any political party, and/or because they do not see themselves as "politicians". This should be of concern to those of us involved in encouraging participation in local democracy and to the political parties themselves who may struggle 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 constituency office about getting involved in political life is really important.

  4.2  People may make an approach to their local office but, because of their lack of confidence in the way "politics" works, become disheartened if the reception they get is lukewarm or indifferent. While tenacity is a trait a good potential politician will display, many women and people from an ethnic minority background lack confidence in their own abilities and might easily be discouraged by an indifferent response.

  4.3  There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that some local party members are not prepared to consider people who are different from their norm. To some extent this is always going to be the nature of the world and there is a degree of self-preservation that is perhaps unavoidable. However, the level of public interest 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 doorstep campaigning and delivering leaflets. Marie Pye, a councillor in Waltham Forest, explained to us that: "My mobility goes up and down so getting out and knocking on doors can wipe me out. Physically it can be very hard going… There is no formal assistance for when I need to canvass, it's not like being in work—there is no "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 halls or 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 Political Skills Forum and the Leadership Centre for Local Government. This project has been examining how political parties select candidates. The project has involved working with local party groups (in London constituencies) examining how they can identify local talent to serve and highlighting examples of good practice 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 groups to come forward and stand in local elections. For example, Kensington and Chelsea and Ealing councils recently ran information events illustrating the role of councillors as part of the annual "Local Democracy Week" in October. The events, at which serving councillors spoke about how they first got involved and their experiences as councillors, were well attended—Kensington and Chelsea saw over 60 borough residents attend and Ealing had around 90 attendees.

  6.3  In addition, there is the work of the Government BAME Women Councillors Taskforce which has been holding workshops educating and encouraging BAME women to become councillors. These workshops have been held around the UK attracting 80 to 100 women to each event.

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 who came into contact with the Be a Councillor campaign (either ordering booklets or attending a seminar). The survey will ascertain whether they went further in their ambition to be a councillor, if so what actions they took and if not why not etc. It will also collect some of the missing ethnic/age/gender data.