A think-tank report set out a package of proposals for reforming the process of selecting parliamentary candidates, in order to increase the diversity of MPs and enhance public participation.
Source: Rhys Williams and Akash Paun, Party People: How do – and how should – British political parties select their parliamentary candidates?, Institute for Government
Links: Report | IFG press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A new book provided a comprehensive gendered analysis of the contemporary Conservative Party. It examined how the party had sought to increase the number of Conservative women MPs, and the nature and role of its women's organizations. It also analysed how the party had sought to appeal to women voters in the 2010 general election, and how party members and voters were likely to respond to the party's feminization efforts.
Source: Sarah Childs and Paul Webb, Sex, Gender and the Conservative Party: From iron lady to kitten heels, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary | Bristol University press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A report for the equal rights watchdog examined the relationship between common pathways into politics and under-representation of groups protected by the Equality Act (2010).
Source: Catherine Durose et al., Pathways to Politics, Research Report 65, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jan