The Speakers Conference wants to hear from YOU!

10.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 12th Jun 2009

The Speaker's Conference was established by the House of Commons to look into the reasons why there are not more women, disabled people and people from ethnic minority communities in the House of Commons. It has to identify any particular difficulties people in these groups face in becoming Members of Parliament, recommend ways of supporting them, and recommend ways of tackling those barriers to their success.

The Speaker's Conference on Parliamentary Representation has now launched an online forum, in order to seek views from the public on the following questions:

What are the reasons why more women, people from ethnic minorities and disabled people do not become MPs?

Why do people think that to succeed in public life they have to hide aspects of themselves?

What would persuade you to represent your community?

What actions could be taken to address disparities in representation, and who should be responsible for change?

What are the problems and practical difficulties encountered, at any point in the process, for those in under-represented groups who wish to stand for election?

The forum can be accessed at http://forums.parliament.uk/speakers-conference/index.php?index,1 or via the main website, www.parliament.uk/speakersconference <http://www.parliament.uk/speakersconference. It will run until 23 June 2009. Comments from the forum will be considered by the Conference as it looks to find practical ways to tackle under-representation.