Events

'Opening up democracy - communicating with all your constituents, especially the hard to reach'

Monday 5 July, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Houses of Parliament

Speakers:

Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker
Jenny Watson, Chair, Electoral Commission
Helen Goodman MP, Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions
Martyn Lewis CBE, President, United Response
Yosief Semere, young voter with a learning disability

United Response held an event in partnership with Dods, The House Magazine and ePolitix.com in Parliament. It proved to be an essential introduction to engaging with all voters, including those with learning disabilities, and explored the prospects for a new, accessible democracy.

In the past, very few of the 1.5 million people with learning disabilities in the UK exercised their right to vote. This changed in 2010 when, for the first time ever, accessible manifestos were produced by all three major political parties, triggering a major rise in the numbers of people voting. This move towards a more accessible, engaging democracy provides a platform for greater engagement of people with learning disabilities in the years to come, not to mention people with low literacy (up to 25% of the population) or anyone who has ever found democracy confusing. MPs cannot ignore these constituents.

At the event, guests heard from and talked to people with learning disabilities who benefit from accessible communication first hand.

MPs support a more accessible democracy

January 22nd 2010

Andrew Dismore, chair of the joint committee on human rights, was one of the speakers at a parliamentary reception yesterday, encouraging MPs to make democracy more accessible for people with learning disabilities.

The reception hosted by disability charity, United Response, was the climax of a three-year campaign, funded by the Electoral Commission, to explore how people with learning disabilities can better engage with the democratic process.

United Response's Every Vote Counts project has produced two sets of interactive guides designed to break through barriers.

The first is targeted at people with learning disabilities, and the second provides political parties with the tools and information to make politics easier to understand for those people with learning disabilities. The guide is available online at: www.everyvotecounts.co.uk

Dismore, who led the human rights committee to produce the first ever select committee report in accessible format, told the audience that the Electoral Commission - and politicians - have a key role to play in making democracy more accessible to all.

Former newsreader and president of United Response, Martyn Lewis, urged the MPs present to sign an early-day motion on the matter, which already has 105 signatures.

Of the 80 per cent of people with learning disabilities supported by United Response in England actually registered to vote, only 16 per cent used their vote at the last general election.

The campaign to up this number to 40 per cent already has cross-party support, demonstrated at the reception by Justine Greening, Conservative MP for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields:

"All parties are supportive of making sure we can go into the next election, with a more open politics than we have ever had before."

Many supporters of United Response's campaign were present at the reception including MPs Stephen Williams, Sir George Young, John Austin, John Barrett, Betty Williams, Patrick Mercer, David Heath and Edward Timpson.

Dame Philippa Russell, chair of the government's Standing Commission for Carers and a lifelong disability campaigner, championed the use of easy-read material for everyone, not only those people with a learning disability.

This should be taken as a key message to all political parties when releasing their manifestos.