Helen Duffett

Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation: have your say

By | Mon 15th June 2009 - 3:10 pm

There’s been a lot of discussion recently on Lib Dem Voice about our politicians, their quality and their background.

Rick Muir said we need to pluralise the routes into politics and open up local party selection processes to bring in a wider diversity of people. Afzal Shaikh called for “wider BME representation to mirror our modern society” and Sara Scarlett kicked off this comment-a-thon when she said we should “make politics more attractive to the professional class.”

Have your say on further issues of representation:

The Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation has now launched an online forum, in order to seek views from the public on the following questions:

• What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not become MPs?
• Why do people think that to succeed in public life they have to hide aspects of themselves?
• What would persuade you to represent your community?
• What actions could be taken to address disparities in representation, and who should be responsible for change?
• What are the problems and practical difficulties encountered, at any point in the process, for those in under-represented groups who wish to stand for election?

You can access the forum here or via the www.parliament.uk website.

The forum will run until 23 June 2009. Comments from the forum will be considered by the Conference as it looks to find practical ways to tackle under-representation.

Read more by .
This entry was posted in News and Parliament.
Advert

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • John Armah
    This article is to be welcomed. A fair and honest policy on immigration regular or otherwise needs to start with some honesty. Reform/Restore and some parts of ...
  • Nigel Jones
    I think this is an important article, the key point being the kind of message we give people about immigration. Too many people think mistakenly our policy is t...
  • Neil Sandison
    "Clear Liberal Objective" Is that not in the preamble of our constitution ? Is that not the bedrock of The Liberal Democrats as a social liberal party ? We ha...
  • William Wallace
    sarah; rebalancing our economy is a positive sum game both for london and the rest of the country. the south-east is short of water and electricity, and short ...
  • Peter Wrigley
    @ Chloe. I'm sorry you haven't noted any benefits from migration in your area. Be contrast, in my area, the old Heavy Woollen District of Yorkshire, immigrant...