For a Fairer, Reality-based Constitution

Lib Dem Spring Conference 2023 will take place in York from 17th to 19th March. On the agenda is a Constitutional Amendment brought by us which seeks to redress a specific anomaly in the way sex-based quotas for internal committees are organised.

Clause 2.4 of the Constitution currently reads:

2.4 The provisions of this Constitution shall be implemented with regard to the principle that men and women shall have an equal opportunity of participating at every level of the Party subject to the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (the Act).

All good. It then goes on:

2.5 Whenever this Constitution provides for the election by party members to a Federal Committee, not less than 40% or, if 40% is not a whole number, the whole number nearest to but not exceeding 40% of those elected shall self-identify as men or non-binary people, and self-identify as women or non-binary people respectively.

While 2.4 refers to “men and women”, reflecting the Equality Act, 2.5 inexplicably introduces “non-binary”.

Anyone uninitiated in “the gender debate” may find it helpful to know that, according to Wikipedia, “non-binary can be defined as ‘does not subscribe to the gender binary but identifies with neither, both, or beyond male and female’. The term may be used as ‘an umbrella term, encompassing several gender identities, including intergender, agender, xenogender, genderfluid, and demigender.’ Some non-binary identities are inclusive, because two or more genders are referenced, such as androgyne/androgynous, intergender, bigender, trigender, polygender, and pangender. Some non-binary identities are exclusive, because no gender is referenced, such as agender, genderless, neutrois, and xenogender.”

There is no physiological, material or even psychological basis to the concept of non-binary. It is, rather, believed to be an immaterial essence, akin to a soul, separate from one's physical self.

Under the current wording of clause 2.5, a committee of 10 composed of four men with a non-binary gender identity and six men without special gender identities would be considered as satisfying 2.5. 

It should also be noted that people who identify as non-binary are also explicitly included in the LGBT quota, in clause 2.6 C. 

Our Amendment therefore proposes the following:

“Delete Article 2.5 and replace with:

Whenever this Constitution provides for the election by party members to a Federal Committee, not less than 40% or, if 40% is not a whole number, the whole number nearest to but not exceeding 40% of those elected shall be men, and shall be women, respectively.”

Sex-based quotas are lawful under the Equality Act as “a proportionate way of achieving a legitimate aim” - namely having appropriate representation of women on internal committees. 

Men who say they are neither men nor women should not be included in the women’s quotas for these committees. To do so is not only absurd but unlikely to be deemed lawful if tested. A woman is defined in the Equality Act as “a female of any age”. Equally, women who have a non-binary gender identity should be entitled to benefit from positive action on the basis of their female sex, notwithstanding any gender-based identification. 

Our party has come a long way in terms of women’s parliamentary representation since 2016, when all but 1 Lib Dem MPs were men. Women now outnumber men in the parliamentary party, but internal party committees where important decisions are made remain largely male-dominated.  If we are serious about tackling this issue then the measures we apply need to be grounded in reality, material facts and the categories used in law, not feelings or identity based beliefs. 

We hope Lib Dems reading this blog will feel motivated to register to attend Conference, either in person or via a virtual ticket, and to support our Constitutional Amendment F15, which will be debated at 5:30pm on Saturday 18th March.