The United Kingdom’s ‘Conservative’ Party has implemented new diversity quotas and guidelines for selecting candidates – would-be Members of Parliament (MPs). The targets include age as well as ethnicity and gender.
Diversity quotas are in place even before candidates are considered as the party’s “Sifting Committee,” which is responsible for sorting through applicants after applying for the position, must have specific characteristics:
“The Sifting Committee must comprise a minimum of one woman and one young person under the age of 30. The additional Association members of the Committee should reflect the different interests of the constituency, i.e. should have a balance of gender, age and ethnicity.”
After the initial sift, the Selection Committee must “recognise their responsibility” to ensure that candidates are chosen in a way that “displays diversity and variety and which has a due regard to the local profile of the constituency” and guarantees a balance of genders.
The selection rules also state that the process must be “inclusive and free from discrimination” and “fully acknowledge and embrace diversity,” except when considering female candidates, in which case “some degree of positive discrimination is permitted.” The rules add that anything considered “indirect discrimination” is prohibited; meaning, any requirement that could have a “disproportionate impact” on one group.
Former President Donald Trump highlighted the Conservative’s shift to the “far left” in an interview with Nigel Farage earlier this year. More recently, the party expelled a mayor for ‘repenting‘ after attending a Pride event.
