Background
Dadabhai Naoroji was the first ever BME member of the UK Parliament. In 1892, he contested the seat of Central Finsbury, campaigning on Gladstone’s platform of Liberalism, and was successfully elected with a majority of five. He lost his seat in the General Election of 1895.
Liberal Democrats had their second BME over a hundred years later when Parmjit Singh Gill won the Leicester South by election in 2004.
Award
The Dadabhai Naoroji Award will be presented annually at the Party Conference to the local Party that has done most to promote BME participants to elected office as Councillors, Assembly Members, Members of Parliament or Members of European Parliament.
This award is designed to encourage local parties to work towards the goal of increasing their ethnic diversity to more accurately reflect the areas they represent, and to recognise those that already make a great effort to involve different communities in their work.
The Award will consist of a Trophy Shield (Revolving between winners each year), Mini Shield (to be retained by the winners), and a cheque for £150. It will be presented by the Party President in the Party Awards slot prior to the Leader’s Speech.
Judging Panel
Entries will be judged by a panel consisting of:
- The Party President
- Chair of EMLD
- Party Chief Executive or nominee thereof
- A Nominee of the Federal Executive
- Sponsor of the Award for the Year
Judging Criteria
The Award will be open to all local parties in England, Scotland, and Wales.
In deciding upon a winner, the judging panel will consider the following criteria:
- The extent to which the membership of the local party reflects the BME population of their local area and the nation as a whole
- Local Party outreach programmes to BME communities to encourage membership and active involvement with the Party
- The extent to which BME members are elected to the Party Executive
- The number of BME council candidates and Councillors, and the proportion of BME candidates in safe seats
- The extent to which local BME members are encouraged and assisted to apply for Assembly and Parliamentary seats
- The extent to which BME candidates are encouraged to apply for the Parliamentary seat in their constituency
Application
The Dadabhai Naoroji Award will be presented to Local Parties for work that they have done (and plan to do) in the field.
These applications should comprise of a collection of the following – though not all are required, and if Local Parties have particular projects or documents they would like the judging panel to see, they are welcome to submit them.
- Descriptions of campaigns in and appealing to ethnically diverse communities
- Case studies of individuals recruited or affected by these campaigns
- Positions created or used to support campaigning in ethnically diverse communities
- Testimonials or case studies from BAME party members
- Evidence of encouragement of BAME members to run for elected office inside the party
- Descriptions of support offered to BAME members proposing to seek election / case studies withBAME elected to public office
Applications should be no longer than 5 pages in length, excluding graphics.
Applications should be forwarded to Rachael Clarke either at rachael.clarke@libdems.org.uk, or LDHQ, 8-10 Great George Street, London, SW1P 3AE no later than the 31st July 2012.
Applications should be accompanied by a covering note from a Local Party executive member who will act as the point of contact.
All nominations will be acknowledged on receipt. Decisions on successful applications will be made known to the relevant Local Party by 17th August 2012, and decisions on unsuccessful applications will be notified by the same date.
The winners will be formally announced at the September AutumnConference in Brighton (September 2012).
It is likely that presentation of the awards will take place immediately prior to the leader’s speech in theafternoon session of Wednesday 26th September 2012.