Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats

EMLD Motion to Federal Conference

The following EMLD motion was approved* by the Federal Conference Committee on 10th July 2010.

Conference welcomes:

a) The Party's commitment to improving diversity within the Liberal Democrats, demonstrated by various initiatives, including EMLD and the New Generation Programme;

b) The positive role played by Black, Asian or other minority ethnic (BAME), people with disabilities and women candidates at the General Election in helping to increase support for the party;

c) Women taking leadership positions across the party - as Party President, Leader in Wales, Chair of our parliamentary party in the Commons, Leader of our European Parliament group, Leader of our London Assembly group, Chair of the London Assembly and Leaders of Council groups;

d) The Final Report of the Speaker's Conference on Parliamentary Representation: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/spconf/spconf.htm

Conference notes:

a) That, notwithstanding one third of our most winnable seats and half our held seats with retiring MPs at the last General Election had female candidates, the number and percentage of Liberal Democrat women MPs has recently fallen;

b) That Liberal Democrats have no ethnic minority MPs, MEPs, MSPs or AMs;

c) Limited personal wealth, socio-economic issues, caring responsibilities and other barriers can be a significant deterrent to prospective candidates, particularly from under-represented groups;

d) That there is already precedent for positive action in the Party, namely gender 'zipping' previously applied for European Parliamentary selections, and a quota system that currently ensures that Westminster Parliamentary selections have at least one or two members of each gender, depending on the length of the shortlist;

e) There is an urgent need to supplement existing initiatives, aimed at providing support to BAME candidates, with additional positive action.

Conference believes:

a) That achieving diversity in our parliamentary parties is an issue for the entire party, and must urgently be addressed at every level;

b) That, with Liberal Democrats in Government and our Leader as Deputy Prime Minister leading on political reform, there is now a once in a generation opportunity to re-shape politics and significantly increase the representation of women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and other under-represented groups;

c) That further failure to make significant progress on BAME representation at all levels, and particularly in the House of Commons, will continue to:

(i) Damage the reputation of the party amongst BAME communities, making it more difficult to gain trust and support;

(ii) Affect the party's credibility when speaking about issues of race equality.

Conference therefore calls for:

a) Diversity to remain a priority in any further appointments to the House of Lords and in plans for its reform, with the objective of achieving a balanced Parliament, which reflects the diversity of modern Britain;

b) The Federal Executive to examine the issue of candidate diversity with utmost urgency and bring further proposals to Spring Conference;

c) The Federal Executive to commission a wide-ranging review of political reforms aimed at removing structural and other barriers to participation in politics.

Conference therefore agrees that with regard to BAME candidates:

a) Reserved places, like the one London Region has in place for the GLA list, should be extended to other multi-member Assembly, MEP and Council selections;

b) State Candidates Committees set the appropriate proportion of reserved places for each region in line with the latest available Office of National Statistics data;

c) At least one BAME member should be included on the shortlist whenever a sitting Liberal Democrat MP retires or resigns, and in any Parliamentary by-elections;

d) At least one BAME member should be on the shortlists for Westminster constituencies where the Liberal Democrats require a swing of five percent, or less, to win the seat.

e) The Federal Executive should strengthen the Party's policies and process to positive action around recruitment, retention and promotion of BAME talent; set targets for BAME representation in line with national and regional Office of National Statistics data; and decide on outcomes within agreed timescales;

f) The party makes sufficient resources available for the effective recruitment, retention, promotion, training, mentoring of BAME candidates;

g) Liberal Democrats support enabling legislation for all-BAME shortlists, and introduce the measure in at least two top target seats.

• This motion includes some composited changes from the original motion submitted.