We need more disabled politicians – so don’t stop them standing for election

Ahead of local elections, three would-be politicians are fighting to get the government to reinstate a fund that helps them get out on the campaign trail

With only a week to go until the local elections in many parts of England, there’s one electoral shakeup the government wasn’t counting on: the fight for equality for disabled politicians. This month, three would-be MPs from across the political spectrum – each of them with a disability – launched a legal challenge against the government to force it to reinstate the access to elected office fund, the £2.6m pot of money intended to help disabled candidates campaign on an equal footing to any non-disabled rival.

To really understand why this matters, we need to go back to 2012 when the fund was launched. For three years, disabled candidates were offered grants of between £250 and £40,000 to help meet any potential additional costs incurred in standing for election as a local councillor or MP. The money could be used for anything from assistive technology for blind people, to a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, or a mobility car.

Continue reading... April 24, 2018 at 04:30PM