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 numbers of women putting themselves forward to become approved

  Increasing the number of women on the list of approved parliamentary candidates therefore continues to be 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 to encourage and support women within the Party.

  I.  The Liberal Democrat Federal Executive established the Campaign for Gender Balance in October 2001, in response to the conference debate on gender balance in September 2001. The Campaign closely monitors information regarding approval and selection figures, to gain an accurate picture of the gender balance within the Party. Its role is to increase the number of women on the list of approved candidates, and in the number of women candidates fighting target seats. It implements a range of training, mentoring and support activities for women standing, and considering standing, for parliament.

  II.  Research conducted within the Liberal Democrats has been vital to establishing where resources and efforts 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 more likely than men to pass the Party's approval assessment process—78% of women who go through the 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 male applicant to be selected as the candidate for a seat if they apply for it. Figures show that where a seat has a woman (or women) standing, 75% of Liberal Democrat local parties will select a woman candidate.

— There is no significant difference in the percentages of approved candidates getting selected for seats—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 is the lack of women coming forward for parliamentary candidacy in the first instance, and this is the primary issue that needs to be addressed.

  III.  Owing to the disproportionate numbers of men coming forward as Parliamentary candidates, only 25% of our approved candidates overall are women and only 25% of our current selected candidates.[226] In the current situation, even if every single approved woman currently on the list were selected to fight the next election, we would not have 50% women candidates. Despite a rule that stipulates that selection shortlists must have at least one applicant of each gender, there are many selections where there are no women applicants 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% in Jan 2009, due to the low numbers of approved women candidates who are currently eligible to stand for selection.

Increasing the number of women on the list of approved parliamentary candidates therefore continues to be 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.

  IV.  In order to fulfil this objective, the Campaign provides support and encouragement to women within the party through positive action such as targeted training events and mentoring schemes. This has proved successful in increasing the total number of women candidates in the party and, significantly, those selected for winnable seats—approximately 40% of our most winnable Liberal Democrat seats (according to "swing to win" figures) have women PPCs. We have also made a significant difference in the gender balance of incumbents—from the six held seats that have Liberal Democrat MPs standing down in the next General Election, four have selected women (all of whom received support from the Campaign). This has made a real contribution to gender balance within the Party, and a recent report by the Electoral Reform Commission predicts that the Liberal Democrats will improve their gender balance in the next General Election.[227]

  V.  The Campaign's activities include:

Training

  "Inspiration and Training Days" provide information, training and encouragement for women members who would like to get more involved in the Party. The Campaign ran eight of these events around the country in 2008, which attracted 124 participants. From this, 76 (61%) of these women are now interested in becoming approved candidates for the Party.

  The Campaign runs women-only training sessions (and some mixed) at Liberal Democrat Federal Conferences, 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 benefit candidates.

Mentoring

  Our network of volunteer mentors supports women through all stages of the approval and selection processes, providing advice, encouragement, and practical help in specific areas such as leaflet design and speech 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 groups of women members, such as new members and women in held seats, have also proved very successful in attracting potential candidates—a recent mailing to new female party members attracted 19 requests for application packs.

  VI.  The Campaign for Gender Balance has also highlighted the disproportionate number of resignations by women parliamentary candidates within the Party. The Campaign is currently conducting qualitative research to identify any key themes or issues, and make recommendations to the Party on ways to address this.

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