Equality Act 2010: Section 106

Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right. One of the things that is still to be determined is precisely what protected characteristics will be included under Section 106. In the EHRC guidance to political parties was a range of actions that could be taken to ensure diversity, including support for people with disabilities and other actions. We should be very proud that many of the political parties have taken action. We need greater transparency so that we can see what progress has been made.

[Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green (CB)]

My Lords, I completely agree that measuring the number of people who are applying to participate in politics is a vital mechanism to enable us to manage that process. Does the Minister have any thoughts on the emerging trends—including increased hostility online, for example —that might prevent women being involved in different levels of politics across all different parties, on what some of the barriers to participation for women and other minorities are, and on what impact that might have on democracy in general?

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes a really important point. Sadly, many people out there seek to stop the widest possible engagement in our political process. We have seen that through harassment and intimidation of voters, electoral staff and campaigners, and particularly women Members of Parliament, and what we have seen has been shocking. That intimidation, which is not just restricted to women, has a huge impact on the willingness of people to seek public office. That is why we are taking specific action, making plans to extend the disqualification order to protect electoral staff, empowering courts to hand out tougher sentences to people who abuse those who uphold our democratic traditions, and removing the requirements for candidates’ home addresses to be published. It is a sad indictment of where we are, but those are important protections for our political process.