Campaign to Reinstate Funding for Disabled Candidates

On Wednesday 13th April 2022, on behalf of the first cross-party coalition with The Liberal Democrat Disability Association, Disability Labour and The Conservative Disability Group, we sent a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, calling on the Government to reinstate a centralised funding mechanism for disabled candidates. This was something that we called for in our ‘Breaking Down Barriers’ report.

Download The Letter

Click Here to Download Full Letter

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An image of the letter that we wrote to the Prime Minister, calling for Funding to be reinstated. You can see the Disability Policy Centre logo, and the logos of Disability Labour, Liberal Democrat Disability Group, Conservative Disability Group.

Meeting with the Minister for Disabled People

In January 2023, alongside Disability Labour, The Liberal Democrat Disability Association, The Conservative Disability Group, and the Disabled Women in Politics Network, we met with the Minister for Disabled People, Tom Pursglove MP. We discussed a range of issues, from the accessibility of Parliament, to improving selection procedures within political parties. Our main ask, however, was to reinstate the funding for disabled candidates, something that we called for in our ‘Breaking Down Barriers' report.

A photograph of Tom Pursglove, Barry, the Chair of Conservative Disability Group, Celia Hensman and Sarabajaya Kumar from Centenary Action. They are sat around a table, all smiling at the camera. On the screen are Chloe and Kirstie, smiling too.

Cross-Party Event with the Disabled Women’s Network

An image in the Houses of Parliament. There are lots of women sat around the table in Parliament, talking about how to improve access to elected office for Disabled Women.

In March 2023, with our Disabled Women’s Network partners, Elect Her and Centenary Action Group, we hosted a cross-party roundtable in Parliament. We were joined by Members of Parliament and Representatives from: The Conservative Party, The Liberal Democrats, The Women’s Equality Party, The Scottish National Party, The Green Party and Plaid Cymru. The event was attended by the Minister for Disabled People, and our main call was for Funding to be reinstated for Disabled Candidates.

Update: Campaign Success!

We are thrilled to say that thanks to our campaigning with our cross-party and charity partners, the UK Government are reviewing the funding for Disabled Candidates as part of their National Disability Action Plan Consultation.

Thank you all for being part of this process with us. We will be holding two events to gain your feedback, which you can sign up to here.

To submit your own response to the consultation, please click here.