Speaker warns against ‘more of the same’
By Liz Stephens
A special committee of MPs called on parliament today to take immediate action to change the culture of politics and make the Commons more representative of society.
The Speakers Conference, set up in November 2008, originally under the leadership of Michael Martin, described the slump in public trust towards political parties and politicians as being of “urgent concern”.
“There is a real danger that in this furore people have lost sight of the importance of democracy,” the report says.
However, it added that with a number of MPs standing down at the next election, there is “significant opportunity” to change parliament and start rebuilding public trust.
Vice-chair of the committee, Anne Begg, said: “Despite recent changes, MPs remain predominantly white, male, middle-aged and middle-class.
“The choices local and national political parties make as to the candidates who will represent them at the next election will be central to shaping what the next House of Commons looks like, and the extent to which it is genuinely changed.
“Increasing the diversity of MPs – having more women MPs, more BME [black and minority ethnic] and disabled MPs, who can speak in our debates with the authority of lived experience – would make the House of Commons a more legitimate, credible and effective legislature.”
Abigail Lock, head of advocacy and campaigns at disability charity Scope said:
“There are millions of disabled people in the country and yet only a handful of politicians in the Commons who are disabled.
“To create real change the final version of the report must focus on how political parties remove the barriers faced by disabled people who wish to become MPs, particularly the inflexible candidate selection process at local level.”
However, Beatrice Barleon, women’s officer at the Electoral Reform Society said:
“The recommendations put forward in this interim report are nothing new and in themselves will not achieve the Parliament that the UK deserves.
“Yes an election will bring new faces to parliament, but a changing of the guard will not change a broken system. The final report would be wise to acknowledge that.
“The truth is that genuinely radical reform cannot be left to the parties. We need a more responsive electoral system which not only makes politicians more accountable to the public but also makes it easier for parties to maintain and foster a more inclusive political culture.”
The committee recommended all parties select female candidates for at least 50 per cent of the vacant seats.
It also called for political parties to commit themselves to reporting the results of selections alongside equal opportunities monitoring information by 12 October 2009.
Recent data from the British Election Study showed that nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they had no trust at all in political parties and nearly a third said they had no trust at all in politicians.
