"The wider the diversity of those involved in our political process – and the broader the range of life experience – the stronger our democracy becomes." Caroline Lucas MP and councillor Blossom Gottlieb explain why they’re campaigning to permanently reinstate hybrid council meetings and what you can do (This is something we at Mumsnet have been working on through our Mums in Politics campaign - more on our campaign page).
"Who can forget the viral lockdown video of Handforth Parish Council, where a group of men bombarded Jackie Weaver with menacing and angry curses? Whether or not Jackie Weaver had the authority, this was an important expression of local democracy in action, taking place on Zoom during the middle of a pandemic.
This meeting was able to happen because, during the depths of the Covid-19 crisis, emergency regulations were adopted to allow local council meetings to be conducted remotely. Sadly, those regulations have since been foolishly scrapped by our Government.
For many years before the pandemic struck, council meetings could only be held in person. For single mums, this could mean having to bring young children along. For carers, this could mean having to leaving loved ones and relatives at home unsupervised. For disabled people, this could mean a long and complicated journey to a town hall that, more likely than not, lacked basic accessibility requirements.
It is therefore unsurprising that local councils have long been the preserve of white men, all of a similar age. Recent data from the Fawcett Society found that only a third of local election candidates were women, and the top five most common names were David, John, Paul, Richard and Peter.
Then came the Covid pandemic, and everything started to change. The emergency regulations were adopted, council meetings were allowed to take place remotely, and for the time that they lasted, local democracy felt revolutionised and re-energised.
It’s something I also noticed in the House of Commons, as hybrid voting was trialled for the first time. Before, MPs had been dragged to the Commons to vote in person when nine months pregnant, when severely ill, or when relatives were dying; but this trial finally allowed MPs in those and similarly difficult situations to vote from home. It put efficiency and accessibility at the heart of our Parliamentary democracy like I’d never seen it before.
Yet in May 2021, the Government decided to end the emergency regulations, and return to in-person only meetings – thus reinstating that major obstacle faced by so many disadvantaged people in engaging with our democratic systems.
Politics is about people. A thriving democracy requires the representation and active involvement of people from all different walks of life: irrespective of age, gender, disability, ethnicity, sexuality or religion. The wider the diversity of those involved in our political process – and the broader the range of life experience – the stronger our democracy becomes.
And for people to feel that politics really matters to them, it needs to be brought closer to home – to be done with them, not to them. That means less power for Westminster, and more power for our nations, regions and local authorities – where people have a better chance of influencing it.
If we want more diverse and disadvantaged people to play an active role in our democracy, and enrich it so much more in the process, we need to understand the obstacles those people face in order to participate in it, and do all we can to knock them down.
So it’s no surprise that Local Government Association data from this year found 72% of councillors felt a hybrid model for local council meetings – rather than the current in-person only model – could attract a far greater diversity of people to stand in local elections. And it is these people who can go on to make positive change in communities up and down the country.
That’s why I’ve worked with Green Party councillor Blossom Gottlieb, to put forward an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling on the Government to permanently reinstate hybrid council meetings. And we need members of the public to urge their MP to sign it – to send the strongest possible signal to the Government that this change really matters. You can find your MP here.
Democracy is precious – it belongs to us all. It is now incumbent on us politicians to do everything we can to bring that power to the people, and make politics truly accessible."
If you've got another 5 mins spare after contacting your MP, you can also sign this petition and ask your councillor to sign our open letter. Please bear in mind our Talk guidelines when responding and keep comments and questions related to the subject of the guest post.