This month’s general election may have potentially changed the political landscape in Westminster in more ways than one. In addition to the unexpected shifts in power, there has also been an increase in the number of disabled MPs taking up seats in the House of Commons.
The number of disabled MPs has risen from two in the last term to a total of five this time around. This has been welcomed by disability rights groups as a move in the right direction for fairer representation for disabled people. But they say more still needs to be done to truly reflect the disabled population in the UK.
Less than 1% of seats in Parliament
The increase of three MPs more than doubles the number of seats held in the lower chamber by representatives with a disability. But these MPs still account for less than 1% of seats in parliament. Disability equality campaigners say that as one in five of the population self-identifies as disabled, the number of MPs with a disability needs to grow to echo that.
Jamie Szymkowiak, founder of the One in Five campaign, which calls for more disabled MPs to represent the population more accurately, has highlighted costs as one of the biggest factors stopping disabled people from standing for election. Access to Elected Office (AEO) fund was established in 2012 to help disabled people to overcome potential barriers and stand for election. It offered grants to help candidates pay for extra costs, such as sign language interpreters.
But it was put on hold in England in 2015. Szymkowiak suggests the government needs to do more to help disabled people to cover these costs and highlights that the Scottish Executive has set aside £200,000 to help disabled people.
Who are the disabled MPs in the House of Commons?
- Marsha de Cordova is a newly elected Labour MP for Battersea. She is registered blind and is a campaigner for disability rights. In her victory speech she said: “As a visually-impaired person myself, I feel passionately about the rights of disabled people. Accessibility in our public places and on public transport still falls short of what is reasonable.”
- Jared O’Mara is another newly elected MP for Labour, who has cerebral palsy. He won the Sheffield Hallam seat from former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. He has written about the importance of political parties being represented by disabled candidates and has said: “I feel that every disabled candidate, whatever the party, could be better supported by the powers that be and more should be done to get disabled people with a wide range of disabilities into public life.”
- Stephen Lloyd is a Lib Dem MP who is deaf. He returns to the commons after losing his seat in 2015.
- Conservative MP Paul Maynard who has cerebral palsy, retained his seat.
- Robert Halfon, who has cerebral palsy and osteoarthritis, is another Conservative MP who was re-elected on June 8th.
Mark Atkinson, chief executive of Scope, told the BBC that: “Whilst there is more work to do, this is a positive step forward in combating the under-representation of disabled people in public life.”
