Question time

When politicians such as David Blunkett have proved themselves at the highest levels of political life, why are there still so few disabled people in the Houses of Parliament? Sunil Peck investigates

Disabled people have risen to become some of this country’s most well-respected parliamentarians. There are David Blunkett and Anne Begg in the Commons, Jane Campbell in the Lords, and Jack Ashley has served in both Houses, to name but a few.

But there are no more than a large handful of MPs and peers who declare an impairment, and disabled MPs particularly are still rare.

This doesn’t apply further down the political ladder. Disabled people are well represented in local government, where around one in ten councillors is disabled.

So does the parliamentary system itself make it difficult for disabled people to participate in politics at a national level?

Former home secretary David Blunkett (right), Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside since 1987, says it can be difficult to acquire the high profile and experience to be selected as a parlia­mentary candidate, particularly where more traditional routes to becoming an MP, such as trade unions and local government, are no longer so well-used.

Paul Flynn (pictured right) has been Labour MP for Newport West since 1987. He was not concerned that his arthritis would count against him when he fought that first successful election, because he was well-known in the constituency. “Also, you tend to over-compensate and work harder than anyone else,” he says. “You have to be seen to be active.”

Campaigning can be done over the phone, and posters and other printed material can be used instead of traditional knocking on doors, he says.

But the Commons can be a hostile place to work. One MP was using a wheelchair temporarily and had “great difficulties” securing a more accessible office from the whips. Another was having trouble walking down nine stairs and up another 20 to his office, but was told he would have to wait his turn behind a former secretary of state.

Flynn says: “The allocation of offices is used for party discipline and it’s used to reward people for voting for the government and being loyal. Disability is not the top priority.”

Anne Begg (pictured left), Labour MP for Aberdeen South since 1997, says the job would be demanding for anyone. She says a good education and employment background are vital. “I was a teacher for 19 years, I was active in the teachers’ trade union at a national level, so I had a profile and I had done work that would be challenging for anybody in a wheelchair. I had to fight very hard to get into teaching, so I had all of that in my background. So when people looked at me as a disabled person, they looked at someone who was capable of doing quite a demanding job.”

Begg says there are more disabled MPs than is commonly thought because some, like the Prime Minister, choose not to talk about their impairment in public.

She suspects that, while some MPs simply don’t identify themselves as being disabled, others keep quiet because of the perceived stigma.

“The problem with the general public is that disability [is often associated with] ill health. Until we can separate those two things out then I suspect that MPs with disabilities will continue to underplay their disability.”

Indeed, a report by the all party parliamentary group on mental health shows one in five MPs surveyed has experienced a mental health problem but has not disclosed it because of a fear of stigma and discrimination.

No wonder, perhaps, when archaic common law states that “lunatics” – those with mental health problems – are not allowed to stand for parliament, and any MP sectioned under the Mental Health Act for six months will automatically lose their seat.

So what about those MPs who acquire impairments once they have entered the Commons?

Andrew Turner, Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, was elected in 2005 with a majority of nearly 13,000. He had a stroke in 2006 and after a few months to recuperate, has resumed work.

He says he has been taken aback by the subsequent support from his constituents.

The example of Lord [Jack] Ashley (pictured right) proves that, once in the Commons, and with support, disabled MPs can do the job.

He lost his hearing a couple of years after entering the Commons in 1966 and remained an MP until 1992, although he doubts that he would have been elected for the first time as a deaf man.

“I think that the fact of me being in parliament and having been so busy on so many issues in the two years while I was hearing was very significant. It got the attention of the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, and he supported me staying in, and the local party supported me staying in.”

He did find it difficult. “Much of the dialogue was incomprehensible, but my wife helped me enormously and because of her I stayed in. But had I decided to get into parliament when I was totally deaf, I think it would have been impossible. I may be wrong, but I don’t think so.”

He is probably right, as there are no profoundly deaf MPs. “But anyone with any kind of disability, like using a wheelchair, will still find it difficult because of the common prejudice against disabled people,” he adds.

So is it any easier in the Lords?

Baroness [Jane] Campbell (pictured left) has been a crossbench peer since 2007. She chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s disability committee, and has also chaired the Social Care Institute for Excellence. But despite this background in public life, she says fighting an election would have been too demanding.

“I could not do several hustings meetings in one night. There is no way that someone like me could go through the arduous route of becoming an MP. You apply for the job in the Lords on your merits, you don’t go around the country trying to schmooze people to get elected.”

She expected the Lords to be a stuffy place full of doddering old rich men, but staff bent over backwards to accommodate her access needs. She has a room where she can lie down, with a fridge to store her medication. She keeps her speeches short and although her PAs are not allowed into the chamber to talk on her behalf when she is having breathing difficulties, other peers can read out her words instead.

Lord [Dominic] Addington has dyslexia, which he thinks helps him thrive in the Lords. He believes using the spoken word enables him to be more responsive during debates, although things can be difficult when he is “bombarded” with letters and memos.

“My main coping strategy is the telephone. I will not indulge in email conversations. I would much rather talk to someone in person. With a parliamentary briefing, I will generally ask to be talked through it.”

Baroness [Rosalie] Wilkins, a wheelchair-user, says the Lords is generally an accepting place, although no concessions are made when voting, with all peers given just eight minutes to reach the lobby.

Lord [Colin] Low has found the Lords friendly, although he has had to negotiate a couple of access issues. He can’t see the clock during debates, so an official taps him on the shoulder when he has one minute left to speak. And question time can be a bit of a free-for-all, but he says other peers are considerate when they see him stand up to speak.

But what of the future? Could we see more disabled people in Parliament, particularly in the Commons?

Saghir Alam, a commissioner for the Disability Rights Commission, and a member of the disability committee of its successor, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the government’s Equality 2025 advisory network of disabled people, failed to be selected as the prospective parliamentary Labour candidate for Sheffield Central earlier this year.

Although he was pleased to come second out of 50 candidates, he concluded that attitudes can be a significant barrier to disabled people. Local party members urged him to keep quiet about his physical impairment in case the selection panel thought he would not be able to cope with campaigning and canvassing. “I don’t think they did it in a negative way, I think they did it in a caring way. But it shows a perception that disability can hold someone back.”

The main parties appear to accept there should be more disabled MPs.

A Labour Party spokesman told us it works with the Labour disabled members group to encourage and support disabled people to stand for election as councillors and MPs. The disability spokesmen for the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, John Barrett and Mark Harper, also say their parties are looking at ways to increase the number of disabled people participating in politics.

Both claim the highly competitive job makes it unsuitable for some disabled people, although that does not prevent them playing an active role in public life.

Abigail Lock, Scope’s parliamentary affairs manager, has spent over two years researching the selection processes of the three main parties. She says inflexible processes and assumptions about what MPs should look like can exclude disabled people. And the extra costs faced by disabled people, who may need to use taxis, PAs or interpreters, must all be met from their own pockets.

She adds: “Even though diversity is currently high on the political agenda, none of the three main political parties have run any high-profile campaigns to increase the number of disabled people standing as candidates.

“Without a specific drive focusing on disability, barriers that are unique to disabled people will continue to be overlooked.”