The recent local elections should have been a moment for honest reflection within the Liberal Democrats. Instead, much of the response has felt overwhelmingly positive, almost detached from the frustrations expressed by many hardworking candidates and activists, particularly in urban areas where our results were deeply disappointing.
Optimism has its place in politics, but if we continue to avoid difficult conversations, we risk ignoring the deeper issues steadily weakening our party from within.
As Chair of Lib Dem Women, Vice Chair Campaign for Gender Balance, and former Council Group Leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lambeth, I believe one issue can no longer be ignored: the Liberal Democrats’ continued failure to properly represent, attract and retain women.
For as long as I have been a Liberal Democrat activist, one question has consistently followed us, both internally and on the doorstep: what do the Liberal Democrats actually stand for?
Many of us have defended the party passionately over the years, pointing to our liberal values, commitment to equality and strong policy platform. Yet despite all of this, the question never truly goes away.
For too long, we have relied on a narrow understanding of campaigning success: leaflets, door knocking and data. Of course these things matter, but they are not enough on their own. Recent elections have exposed that reality clearly.
The Green Party, whatever criticisms people may have of them, has demonstrated something we should pay attention to. Voters know what the Greens stand for. More importantly, voters can see themselves reflected in the people the party puts forward.
Their candidates come from visibly diverse backgrounds in gender, ethnicity, disability and age. Some dismiss this as “tick-box politics”, but representation matters because it sends a powerful message about belonging. It tells people that politics is not reserved for one type of person.
The Greens have also succeeded in attracting women into their movement in significant numbers. By contrast we continue to lag behind.
Women make up 51 per cent of the population, yet our party still falls well short of equal representation among members, councillors and local leadership teams. While our record number of female MPs is rightly something to celebrate, it has also created a false sense that gender parity has been achieved.
It has not.
Many of those talented women MPs came directly from local government, leaving behind an increasingly depleted pipeline of experienced female councillors and leaders. At grassroots level, the imbalance remains obvious. Attend most local party events, canvassing sessions or conferences and the disparity between men and women is still striking.
This is not simply about women failing to come forward. It is about the party failing to create an environment where women feel encouraged, supported and represented from the beginning.
And that is especially frustrating because, in many ways, the Liberal Democrats should naturally be the party for women. Our policies on childcare, carers, flexible working, equalities, domestic abuse and healthcare are among the strongest in British politics. Yet we rarely communicate those policies with enough confidence or visibility. We do not champion our own values loudly enough.
At the same time, we cannot continue pretending that the barriers women face are entirely external. Abuse on social media, intimidation and the pressures of public life are undoubtedly factors, but they are not the whole story. We also need to examine our own culture honestly.
One example from the recent local elections brought this sharply into focus for me.
A female candidate contacted me after attending her selection interview. While she felt the interview itself had gone well, she was unsettled by the fact that the panel consisted entirely of white middle-aged men. I later became aware that this had happened to three female candidates in total.
One candidate raised concerns about the lack of diversity on the panel and was reportedly told that finding female representatives had been “difficult”.
I found that deeply troubling.
At the time, I was both Council Group Leader and Chair of Lib Dem Women. A single phone call could easily have identified experienced local female councillors willing to sit on those panels. The fact that this happened within my own local party strongly suggests similar situations are happening elsewhere too.
This is not necessarily about deliberate sexism. More often, it is about unconscious blind spots, structures and habits that have become so normalised they are no longer questioned. But unconscious exclusion still has consequences. It sends a message, however unintended, about who belongs and who does not.
As someone serving on the Federal People and Development Committee, these are exactly the issues I believe we must now address seriously and urgently. Inclusion cannot simply exist in policy documents or conference motions. It has to be reflected in the everyday culture and structures of the party itself.
As we await the official Local Government Association statistics, one thing is already clear: there were fewer women candidates and fewer women stepping into leadership roles.
That should concern all of us.
Because if the Liberal Democrats are serious about rebuilding trust, broadening our appeal and presenting ourselves as a genuinely modern liberal movement, then representation cannot remain a side issue.
It is central to our future.
* Donna Harris is Chair of Lib Dem Women, vice chair of the Campaign for Gender Balance and was Liberal Democrat group leader on Lambeth Council until she stood down in May 2026.
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11 Comments
I don’t know whether Donna Harris has noticed it as yet, but the new SNP Cabinet announced by the first Minister this afternoon contains five women and four men. Something of a first, I believe.
Well you may be statistically correct, but we are not all the same. Although we have roughly 60% men and 40% women in our membership, our exec has 6 women and 2 men and it has been like this for some years. You could say that we women are more than pulling our weight! So we don’t complaint about gender balance here.
This is such an important article Donna, great work as always!
I’ve seen these same mistakes often, and especially at our conferences where panel events are not diverse in the slightest… often requiring interventions which are not exactly flattering to those who are asked at the last minute very clearly to address the event’s diversity…
As you say, this almost never comes from a bad or intentional place, just a lack of awareness of how important representation is for both the discussion quality and for those attending who see how the Liberal Democrats – and Associated Organizations (AOs) – choose to present themselves…
Catch up soon! Lots to talk about leading up to Brighton in September 🙂
Josh
Thank you to Donna for laying it on the line!
I’m sure that Barnsley is dragging its feet more than most places but it is worth noting that on 7 May In Penistone West Ward Lib Dem Florentine Bootha-King became Barnsley’s
first black councillor. The Barnsley Chronicle described her as making history with a photo of Florentine in bright yellow. She brings with her a wealth of experience with a charity that she founded 16 years ago which teaches English to to refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Reform UK are now running the Council but this is certainly something for us to celebrate in this Metropolitan District.
I don’t know whether David Raw has noticed that with, perhaps one exception (male), all of the snp new Cabinet are proven incompetent re-treads
Getting more women involved in our party should be a priority. However we also need to look at social class, the vast majority of women currently involved are middle class professionals. That is not representative of the wider population.
Agree the party should be the natural choice for women(and minorities, lgbt+ etc) as liberal values matter most to those who are at chronic risk of losing them. HQ seems focused on jobs for the lads with many of its senior figures and the CEO truly doesn’t seem to care about appealing to women in the party. We need more diversity in local party leadership as well, many local ‘leaders’ are white men who are incredibly rude to anyone who isn’t and it hurts our efforts across the board. The party pats itself on the back as ‘nice’ without doing work to be inclusive, welcoming or live up to liberal values.
@David Warren, I always read your comments with interest and often agreement, but how can you substantiate your sweeping statement about the vast majority of women involved in the party and your assumptions about their backgrounds?
When I was a PPC I did acquire two suits in order to stand in a General Election and appear sufficiently posh! I am also the ninth child of a bricklayer.
Always good to hear from my old colleague Graham Garvie and curious to know the identity of the Cabinet member he so admires. I’ve always been quite impressed by Stephen Gethins though I don’t think he’s actually in the cabinet.
For my part, I prefer not to use Scottish Daily Express ‘re-treads’ as my source for appraising politicians in a party I don’t support.
@Ruth Bright. I think that calling @David Warren’s claim “a sweeping statement” is odd. Obviously data concerning the social class background of ordinary members is not publicly available, but I think this question of social class is important, so I did a little research on our 32 female MPs. All but 2 are graduates, alma maters include Cambridge (3) Oxford (3), Durham (3), London (4), Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Ecole de Beaux Arts. Impressive.
Many went to selective state/grammar or smaller independent schools but Roedean, Perse (Cambridge) and Cheltenham Ladies College get a mention.
No criticism of any idividual, or indeed the party, is intended but facts are facts and however you look at it this is not a cross section of modern Britain.
@Chris Cory, the tone of your response is a little patronising! Actually, I agree with you about the backgrounds of our MPs (male and female) where my sort of heritage is rare. David, however, made a sweeping statement, not just about our MPs, that the “vast majority of women involved” are “middle class professionals”. I would suggest that amongst our members and councillors we have a more diverse range of class backgrounds – perhaps those who are seen less because they cannot easily shell out several hundred pounds to go to conference.
Also, as (yawn) the ninth child of a bricklayer I went to a top university, the LSE. That achievement, does not, of itself, convey class privilege. It took sheer grit to get there – grit which came in handy as a PPC.