Former MP says early elections should be cancelled to promote diversity

Cancelling early elections could allow more women to take part in politics, according to one former lawmaker.

Bethan Sayed, who resigned from the party at the last Senedd election to be with her baby son, said women would receive better support from political parties if the general election date was set in advance.

Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a general election last month surprised many people, including members of his own party.

Opinion polls suggest that around half of Wales’ next MPs could be women, creating a gender-balanced parliament for the first time.

“It often becomes a knee-jerk reaction. [for political parties]” said the former Pride Kamuli councillor.

“‘How do we find women to enhance a particular list and make us look good?’ versus thinking strategically about why that woman is a better candidate for that area, that community.”

Saeed said he felt that political parties that rely solely on candidates running for office would find it more difficult to encourage women.

“When you approach women, they will hesitate. They will lack confidence. They will wonder if they have the time to do all this. It’s a very complex situation and not something that any one person should have to deal with.

“I think political structures and political institutions should help and support women and different people from different communities to come forward so that they feel supported and they feel encouraged by the process of running for office.”

Cathy Owens of political consultancy Deline said its research suggested Wales would elect a “significant number” of female MPs in July, but that parties still had room to improve.

“We know that out of the 32 members of parliament, there will probably be 15 or 16 women, and that’s not a bad thing,” she said.

“You know, that’s because Labour has had a very good record on gender equality recently and will win a lot of seats. Some of the other parties haven’t done so well.”

Changes to Welsh constituency boundaries will mean there will be eight fewer Welsh MPs in the next parliament.

“To change systems at any level, we have to take direct action,” Owens said.

“We need to have a positive impact on equality between political parties, not just for women. We’re talking about ethnic minority candidates. We’re talking about candidates with disabilities. We’re not doing enough to make the sample of representation in parliament more equal.”

The Welsh government is seeking to introduce gender quotas in the Senedd, which would require political parties to ensure that at least 50% of their candidates are women.

Susan Banducci, professor of politics at the University of Exeter, said it was a “democratic problem” when parties denied people the opportunity to vote for the candidates they wanted.

“We surveyed over 2,000 respondents about their thoughts on female representation. [in Westminster],” she said.

“It’s clear from the responses we got that over two-thirds of respondents wanted to see more female representation. They agreed that it was important.”

Prof Banducci said those surveyed had different political beliefs and sought to be “representative of the British public”.

She said those surveyed believed that “political parties” and “the media” were responsible for the lack of diversity in politics because they do not select and promote women.

“In the survey, when people were asked why they wanted to see more women elected, the most common answer was that they wanted women’s voices to be equally heard in Parliament.

“We also asked whether they thought Congress could be more supportive, but not many said yes.

“I guess their expectations that women would be more civil were not as high as their expectations that this would lead to better, more fair decision-making.”

A Labour spokesman said almost 50% of Welsh Labour candidates are women.

“Labour recognises the need to ensure candidates reflect the society they wish to represent,” they said.

“We are proud to launch the Bernie Grant Leadership Programme, named in honour of the late pioneering Labour MP Bernie Grant, which aims to increase the representation of black leaders in the Labour Party and give them all the tools they need to succeed.”

“First Minister Vaughan Gething has announced plans to establish the Mari Rees Fund in memory of Labour activist and candidate Mari Rees, who died in 2011. The fund will focus on developing and training black, Asian and minority ethnic members of the Welsh Labour Party and trade unions, and will support them with candidate selection, elections and promotion within the party.”

“Women candidates are being elected in the most winnable constituencies,” a Pride Kamuli spokesman said.

“However, we recognise there is still much more to do to improve representation. To this end, we support statutory measures to increase diversity in Senedd elections and will develop a mentoring programme to support candidates from under-represented backgrounds in the run up to 2026.”

“As a party proud to represent all of Wales, we want to ensure our candidates fully reflect the diverse demographics of our country.”

A Reform UK spokesman said the organisation had not considered any other factor in selecting candidates than: “Is this person the best person to represent the party?”

“Positive discrimination is not a factor to be considered in a society where all people are equal,” they said.

The Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties were also given the opportunity to make their comments.