Diversity of the assessment panel
It is best practice to think about the diversity of the panel of people assessing potential candidates and widely advertise how and when you will be recruiting panel members. You may want to consider working with your groups or sections representing disabled people, LGBTI, women and ethnic minority people to recruit those on the assessment panel. If people from protected groups see people like themselves involved in vetting, they may be more likely to put themselves forward.
Be aware of unconscious bias. Research suggests we are more likely to recruit people who are like ourselves, or have similar experiences. It is important to be objective and consider whether each potential candidate has the skills, values and opinions your party values and requires.
It is therefore good practice for all panel members to undertake some equalities training. This could cover:
â— The barriers that people from protected groups experience in political parties;
â— The importance of equal representation;
â— Understanding unconscious bias and how to challenge it;
â— Good practice in conducting interviews;
You could use this toolkit chapter to help prepare your training or ask an external organisation – such as members of the Equal Representation Coalition – to provide support to you.
It is important to ensure that panel members awareness and knowledge of equalities issues remains up to date. We recommend panellists attend refresher training every 3 years.
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