Six days to second reading: the Women’s Democracy Group takes its case to the Lords
By Elect Her
This afternoon, six days before the Representation of the People Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords, the Women’s Democracy Group will gather in Residence 1 to put our amendments in front of the people who can table them.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, Chair of The Jo Cox Foundation, is hosting.
Joining us will be peers from across the House, MPs’ offices, officials, academics and journalists, alongside the organisations that make up the coalition.
Who we are
The Women’s Democracy Group brings together Elect Her, The Jo Cox Foundation, Centenary Action, the Fawcett Society, 50:50 Parliament, , Compassion in Politics, the National Council of Women GB, the University of Roehampton and Shout Out UK, working alongside the Online Safety Network and the Electoral Reform Society.
What unites us is one aim: a Parliament that looks like the country it serves, and a politics that people can enter a politics that people can enter with full support, knowing they are safe.
What we’ll be asking for
Amendments that matter!
Jennifer Nadel of Compassion in Politics will introduce the group and the thinking behind it: a set of amendments that strengthen democracy at every stage of the journey into, through and beyond elected office.
Helen Pankhurst of Centenary Action will open on enabling a diverse democracy: restoring the Access to Elected Office Fund so that disabled candidates aren’t priced out of standing, and finally commencing Section 106 of the Equality Act so we know who parties are actually selecting.
Dr Hannah Phillips of The Jo Cox Foundation will set out the case on safe participation: candidate safety guidance from the Electoral Commission reaching every candidate on nomination, protection for candidates’ families and staff, reflecting domestic abuse offences in electoral law, and making privacy the default for candidates’ home addresses, as the Speaker’s Conference recommended.
Amelia Fairney and Anita Okunde of Shout Out UK, with Professor Bryony Hoskins of the University of Roehampton, will make the case for a duty on the Electoral Commission to educate young people about democracy and media literacy before they are old enough to vote, and to train the teachers who will deliver it.
Tallulah Belassie-Page of the Online Safety Act Network will close the speeches with the argument for an elections code under the Online Safety Act, so that the protections we have online apply when they matter most.
Why this moment matters
When the Bill left the Commons last week, the minister said threats to candidates are “totally unacceptable”, committed to working with the Electoral Commission on a code of conduct and safety guidance, and promised to review the law on domestic abuse offences against candidates.
The government has accepted the principle.
Today is about turning principle into text, and the Lords is where that happens.
And this isn’t abstract, as Anna Dixon told the Commons last week - this is personal…
a constituent was recently convicted of threatening to kill her, having written that he would “work hard to find out where you live”.
She had opted out of publishing her address.
What happens next
Second reading is on Monday 14 September.
Peers who join us today can raise our amendments then, and table them for committee stage immediately after. Our event briefing, with the reasoning, the specific details and a contact for each amendment, is available to any peer or office who would like it -
How you can help?
If you know a member of the House of Lords, this is the time to ask them to look at it.
We’ll share our reflections on the day here later this week.
Parliament should look like the country it serves.
That starts with making it safe to stand.
Let’s finish the job, together.
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Blog idea or comment piece?
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