Events, Activities and Elections

Recruiting new members

The information in this tool will help you take positive action towards equal representation in your party. However, equal representation at all levels will be very challenging for all parties in Scotland without an increase in the number of new members who are LGBTI, ethnic minority, women and disabled. Occasionally a flux of new members happens spontaneously because of an election or political event. However, more often parties need to prioritise recruitment in order to increase the number of members from these four protected groups.

Some actions you could try include:

  • Contacting people who indicated they would vote for you and asking them to join
  • Placing advertisements in publications which are popular with underrepresented groups
  • Running online or social media advertisement
  • Be open about the equality and diversity practices you want to improve on and clearly state that new members will be valued in helping you achieve this. If new members do give you things you need to improve make sure you acknowledge this
  • Highlighting your equalities policies, for example producing an LGBTI manifesto at election time

Different areas of Scotland have different demographics and therefore not all of the actions above will be relevant to every part of the country. In circumstances where it is challenging to recruit new people, you could consider focussing on valuing and increasing participation from current members who might be facing barriers to involvement.

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