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The Equality Act 2010:a guide for political parties

What is in this guide

What this guide is about 1

Introduction 5

How political parties can get different 8groups of people involved in politics

How political parties should treat their 13members and people wanting to join the party

Extra money to help disabled candidates 18

1

This guide is about what the Equality Act 2010means for political parties and their members.

The Equality Act 2010 is a law that has maderules about how different groups of peopleshould be treated. It has made it against the lawto treat different groups of people badly whenthey are:

● members of clubs or political parties

● at work, school, college or university

● using public and private services

What this guide is about

2

● renting or selling a house or flat.

There are nine characteristics that are protectedby the Equality Act 2010. These are:

1. age

2. race

3. disability

4. being a woman or a man

3

5. changing the sex you were born with

6. marriage and civil partnership

7. who you are attracted to

8. religion or belief

9. pregnancy or being a new mum.

These are called protected characteristics.

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This guide tells you how political parties can getmore groups of people with protectedcharacteristics involved in their work.

It tells you how members of political parties, orpeople who want to be members, should betreated.

It has information about equality law in England,Scotland and Wales.

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Getting involved in politics is important. It letsyou have your say about how you live and theway the country is run.

You can get involved by:

● joining a political party

● supporting and taking part in things the partydoes

● being chosen by the party to stand forelection.

An election is when people choose who willspeak for them in the local council or inParliament. Local councils and Parliament makeimportant decisions and laws.

But women, people from a different race orculture, young people, lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender and disabled people do not getinvolved in politics as much as other people.

Introduction

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The Equality Act 2010 can help political partiesget more people from these groups involved inpolitics. This is a good idea as political partiesneed to include everyone.

The Equality Act 2010 says that everyone shouldbe treated fairly and have the sameopportunities.

It is against the law to treat people badly due tohaving a protected characteristic.

People with protected characteristics may needextra support to get the same opportunities.

There are lots of ways disabled people arestopped from being able to do the same thingsas non-disabled people. The Equality Act 2010says disabled people should be treated fairly.

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It tells organisations to think about different orspecial ways to make sure disabled people havethe same opportunities as non-disabled people.When political parties can do things differently tomake sure disabled people have the sameopportunities as other people then they must dothis.

8

There are some groups of people with protectedcharacteristics who are not involved in politics.

For example: there are not many women, peoplefrom different races or cultures, disabled peopleor transgender people who are politicians. Wecall this under-representation.

Political parties can help people who are under-represented in politics to get involved byknowing about what they need and how tosupport them. They can support party membersand people wanting to get elected to be aMember of Parliament or a Councillor. They canencourage them to get involved, make it easierfor them to take part and give them help to try toget elected.

How political parties can get different groups ofpeople involved in politics

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Political parties choose people to put forward forelection to councils and parliaments. They canpick people who have one of the protectedcharacteristics to put forward for election if thereare not many people with the same protectedcharacteristic in the:

● UK Parliament

● Scottish Parliament

● National Assembly for Wales

● Local councils.

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The political party must be sure that when theyhelp people with one protected characteristic toget elected they are not making it harder forsomeone else from an under-represented groupof people to get elected.

If someone wants to be picked by their party tostand for election to Parliament or a council theycan ask to be put on a list of people who want totry to win this election. This is called a candidateshortlist. The members of the party will decidewho on the list they want to put forward forelection by the general public.

If there are groups of people with a protectedcharacteristic who are under-represented in oneof our parliaments or councils, political partiescan give a fixed number of places on their list topeople who share this protected characteristic.

They could have:

● the same number of women and men on alist

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● one person from each under-representedgroup on the list.

If there are not many people from an under-represented group, political parties are allowedto draw up lists of candidates with that protectedcharacteristic.

They can have:

● one candidate from each under-representedgroup

● an equal number of people from an under-represented group

● a certain amount of people from each under-represented group.

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But political parties cannot have a list withcandidates from only one protectedcharacteristic group unless it is sex or disability.

Sex:

Political parties can have lists made up of onlywomen or men if this will help get more peopleof that sex in Parliament or Council.

Disability:

Political parties can have lists made up of onlydisabled people. They cannot say which type ofdisability.

The Equality Act 2010 says that, if they wantedto, MPs could ask political parties to tell them theprotected characteristics of all their membersstanding for elections.

This has not happened but it would show howgood a political party was in including as manypeople as they could.

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People who are members of a political party andpeople wanting to be members must not betreated unfairly because they have a protectedcharacteristic. This does not apply to marriage orcivil partnership.

To make sure they do not treat anyone unfairlypolitical parties can:

● make sure their rules on how to join theirparty are fair

● ask people with protected characteristicswhat they think about their plans and ideas

● provide training for party members

How political parties should treat their membersand people wanting to join the party

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● take any complaints seriously

● look for anything that might make disabledpeople be treated unfairly and change thingsso this does not happen.

Political parties must give people with protectedcharacteristics the same opportunities as otherpeople to join the party.

A political party can not be unfair to peoplewanting to become members. It can not justhave members who share one protectedcharacteristic. It can not get rid of a memberbecause of a protected characteristic.

It must not give someone a lower type ofmembership because of a protectedcharacteristic.

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A political party must make sure all memberscan get party benefits and all the party has tooffer. The party must make sure that everyonecan take part in:

● local and national meetings, committees,conferences and events

● party elections

● being chosen to be a candidate in anelection.

Parties must also make sure that all memberscan have copies of the party rules and policies,newsletters and online groups.

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The Equality Act 2010 says that political partiesmust make reasonable adjustments fordisabled members.

Reasonable adjustments are a way ofchanging something to make sure disabledpeople can take part.

Political parties need to make the reasonableadjustments they think disabled people mayneed, so that disabled people can have thesame rights and benefits as all members.

This might mean providing free extra equipmentand services or providing information in largeprint.

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A party member with a protected characteristicwho thinks they have been treated unfairlyshould tell the party. The member can make aclaim in court.

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The law decides how much money a politicalparty or candidate can spend when they arestanding for election to a parliament or council. Itis against the law to spend more money than isallowed.

If a candidate is disabled, they can be allowed tospend extra money on themselves if it is due totheir disability.

The Scottish Government gives disabled peoplestanding for council elections extra money, ifthey need it because of their disability. Thismoney cannot be spent on anything else.

There will also be extra money for disabledcandidates standing for the next ScottishParliament election.

Extra money to help disabled candidates

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