The State of Play for Disabled Representation in the United Kingdom
By Celia Hensman, Co-Founding Director of The Disability Policy Centre
The world-renowned Parliament of The United Kingdom is christened as ‘The Mother of All Parliaments,’ one of the oldest democratic institutions of the world, and the developer of the very concept of representative democracy in 1688. Despite ownership of these esteemed titles, the state of representation for disabled people, and people with long term health conditions makes for a shocking read.
Despite being one the largest minority groups in the country, with over 20% of our population identifying as disabled, the state of play for disabled people in politics is systematically abominable, both at a national and local level.
To paint a picture of current disabled representation, I invite the reader to absorb these current statistics, obtained through research conducted by The Disability Policy Centre for the purpose of the ‘Breaking Down Barriers: Improving Disabled Political Representation & Participation Across the United Kingdom’ report. Remembering that disabled people make up one in five of the working-age adults in this country, only 8 out of 650 Members of Parliament have declared themselves disabled - just 1.23%. In Local Government, this number is 16.1%. A political system that is reflective of the United Kingdom would see 122 more disabled Members of Parliament, and nearly 700 more disabled Councillors.
So we must ask ourselves, why is the representation of disabled people, both at a local and national level, a stark contrast, and not at all equitably representative to the number of disabled people in our country? And the answer, intrinsic tangible barriers to entry, participation, progression and opportunity.
The under representation of disabled people in political life, is in the majority of circumstances a product of the environment. A derogation from the Social Model of Disability. Arguably the Medical Model of Disability is still rife throughout politics. The Medical Model of Disability first places focus on a disability itself, and states that an individual's disability is because of an inability to participate and engage fully within society. The Social Model of Disability however dictates that the inaccessibility of the social environment is the cause of any inability to participate and engage, not the disability itself. Whether that is in the local council chamber or the political party, stereotyping, poor planning and inaccessible campaign techniques are often cutting disabled people off from political engagement at the very first rung of the ladder.
Political leaders, organisations and engagers must take responsibility, to adapt and enable disabled people to flourish to their full potential. Disabled people are being prevented from engagement and participation as a direct result of inaccessible environments, and not solely as a consequence of the medical limitations of their disability. The Disability Policy Centre ‘Breaking Down Barriers: Improving Disabled Political Representation & Participation Across the United Kingdom’ report research captured the following data providing tangible testament to this fact, leaving an arguably sour taste. 100% of those interviewed believe that political parties do not do enough to ensure those with disabilities or long-term health conditions have the same opportunities as those without. 82% stated that they had experienced discrimination against themselves due to their disability or long-term health condition by their local political group or national party. 72% of disabled people, and those with long term health conditions, engaged and participating in politics as a Councillors, activists or Member of Parliament, state that they do not feel comfortable declaring their disability to their political organisation for fear of discrimination. 100% believe that the Government is not doing enough to plug the gap of the extra financial implications that are burdened onto disabled people who wish to seek election at a local or national level.
Political accessibility equates to improved disabled representation. The Government Digital Service (GDS) defines accessibility as ‘people being able to do what they need to do in a similar amount of time and effort as someone that does not have a disability’. The current barriers to accessibility in politics can be segmented into five key areas; attitudinal, organisational and systematic, architectural and physical, information and communications, and technology. Attitudinal barriers can be stereotypes, perceptions, presumptions, misconceptions and pre-conceived notions of disabilities and their consequences which contribute to the active lack of inclusion of disabled people in the political playing field. Organisational and systematic barriers are practices, legislation, policies, actions and strategies that either indirectly or directly discriminate disabled persons from participation. These include campaigning and activism methods which actively prevent disabled people from being able to participate. For example local party associations rely heavily upon the delivery of literature and canvassing during an election period, individuals unable to physically participate in these two activities feel inhabited in opportunities to be an election candidate. Architectural and physical barriers refer to the physical accessibility of the built environment that prevent the participation of disabled persons. An alarming number of local political party workspaces are either not accessible by wheelchair, do not have handrails up the stairs, or accessible bathrooms… Information and communications barriers relate to the inaccessibility of information, for example local political groups not ensuring that political literature was also available online as well as physical formats. Technology barriers comment on technological platforms or devices being unusable by a disabled audience. This is what disabled people, and people with long term health conditions are up against, it is so no wonder that disabled people are not being equitably represented across political leadership.
All individuals, disabled or not, should be entitled to participate, contribute and engage in the same manner, through the creation of opportunity that doesn’t contain or create further barriers for disabled people. There is an extensive, legally binding and authoritative network of legal protection for disabled people, cementing their rights to participation and engagement in politics, including pursuing candidacy for political office. The Equality Act (2010), Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) (2011), Article 3 of The First Protocol of The European Convention on Human Rights ‘Right to Free Elections’, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Article 29 ‘participation, opportunity and rights within political and public sectors’, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Section 322 commitment by Governments to ‘support for disabled people who want to become Members of Parliament, Councillors or other elected officials, work with political parties, disability organisations and other quality stakeholders to develop proposals and work up a strategy which will aim to break down barriers’. We shouldn’t be where we are today, our commitments as a nation have been said, now we must act with proactive and decisive action without delay.
It doesn’t have to be like this anymore. The solution to this current inequitable democratic representation? Simple and effective solutions must be enacted by both Political Parties and the Government to increase the representation of disabled people at all levels of public and political life. We must do better. We must do better from not only a moral standpoint, but also from a democratic and legislatively binding standpoint. We must be proactive in ensuring that no longer decisions are made around tables that do not seat elected representatives reflecting the country that they serve. With pressing issues such as the cost of living, finding a solution for adult-social care, and with discussions on the future of work exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unacceptable for decisions to be made about the lives of disabled people that do not include their voices shaping these decisions.
The systematic barriers preventing the increase of disabled political representation, and opportunity for participation and engagement include the built environments, lack of awareness and understanding of disabilities, stereotyping, undue financial implications and a lack of internal party support for candidates and members. These barriers are easily identifiable at each stepping stone of an individual's political progression, from activism all the way through to candidacy and office.
Both Government and political parties and off-shooting organisations have their roles to play in ensuring the removal of accessibility barriers for the increase of disabled representation across the political playing field. These barriers must be addressed by remedial actions.
Government must use the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Program to conduct an extensive review into the accessibility of Parliament for disabled people, implementing any recommendations in full, to ensure that Parliament is accessible for anyone who wishes to seek elected office, visit or be employed in any capacity. They must conduct an extensive review into the accessibility of Local Authority buildings across the United Kingdom, working with local authorities to ensure that services are to a high standard and completely accessible for disabled people. And above all, the Government must reinstate a formal funding scheme for Disabled Candidates, a mechanism for improving disabled representation and breaking down barriers which is echoed from across the political spectrum. And political organisations must focus on their current internalised practices. There have already been notable steps to improving disabled representation, such as the founding of internal disability affairs; Disability Labour, The Conservative Disability Group, The Liberal Democrat Disability Association, The SNP Disabled Group and The Green Party Disability Group. The Liberal Democrat Disability Association, for example, works to ‘encourage the Party to ensure that anyone who has a disability is able to take part in the Party, ensure that Party literature is accessible to those with disabilities, and that meetings should be held in places which are accessible for all’. However, they must go further to encourage party staff, elected representatives and local association leaders to undertake reviews into how to include and promote disabled party members within their structures, and implement training for staff and volunteers, to highlight how to break down barriers for disabled people in the organisation. They must acknowledge that current campaigning techniques are not viable for everyone, and actively promote accessible campaigning methods for their members, these techniques must not be viewed as being less credible than traditional campaigning methods. And they must conduct immediate reviews into their candidate selection processes for elected representatives at both a local and Parliamentary level, ensuring that all barriers to engagement and participation have been removed where possible.
As individuals, whether you are disabled or an ally to disabled people and social progression, we hold the responsibility to ensure the enacting of these actions. We must apply pressure, create responsibility and hold our organisations to account. The statistics around disabled representation in the United Kingdom make for uncomfortable reading, it is our role to make sure that the current state of play and the current barriers faced are front and centre of conversation. We should not have to hold the responsibility as an elective to ensure the enacting of such measures, but alas we find ourselves here. We must encourage one another to speak out, educate and put ourselves forward, supporting each other as we smash through archaic ableist perceptions about the potentiality and capability of disabled people, and forming the equitably representative voices of the future.
At the heart of remedial action is the importance of education and awareness building conversation centred around disability, accessibility and inclusion, led by disabled people. We must give disabled people the platform and tools required to break down barriers to participation and engagement. We must foster an environment that is inclusive, diverse and accessible to ensure the talents, expertise and skills of disabled people are utilised. As we move forward we must call on the Government, and political parties, no matter their size, to take joint responsibility for the current state of play for potential disabled candidates. Adopting proactive and decisive action to effectively address and remove the prejudice and discriminatory barriers faced by disabled people, strengthening the equitable democratic representation of the United Kingdom.
Equality of opportunity is at the core of what we must create as a politically engaged community, positive action and active intervention, removing that which poses a barrier to participation, contribution and engagement for disabled people. We must call on Government and political parties to promote an equal playing for disabled people, levelling up our commitments to better and more equitable disabled representation.
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