Marking the Political Parties - LDA Citizen Jury

The Results - 2 April 2015

Learning Disability Alliance England (LDA) is the campaigning body for people with learning disabilities and their families. It unites:

• National Forum - the democratic representatives of people with learning disabilities

• National Valuing Family Forum - the democratic representatives of their families

• About 500 charities, advocacy groups and community organisations including Association for Real Change (ARC) and Housing & Support Alliance (H&SA)

LDA organised its Citizen Jury in order to:

• Get political parties to take people and their families seriously.

• Encourage people with learning disabilities, families and allies to get out and vote.

• Help people use their vote wisely - vote for parties that will protect the rights of people and families.

The Citizen Jury was held on 2nd April in central London. The Jury was made up of 7 people with learning disabilities and 4 family members. (A last minute illness meant the 5th family member was missing.) The Jury talked with one party at a time:

• The party spokesperson gave a short presentation.

• People asked questions of the spokesperson.

• Each person voted secretly - scoring the party on 5 different questions.

These are the 5 questions people voted on:

1. Do you think the Party understands that people with learning disabilities and their families have the right to a good ordinary life?

2. Do you think the Party was good at telling you (in words or in other ways) what they are going to do for people with learning disabilities?

3. Do you think what the Party is saying is close to what we said in LDA’s Manifesto for a Good Society?

4. Do you think the Party will listen to people with learning disabilities and their families?

5. Do you think the Party will fight for the rights of people with learning disabilities after the election?

The National Forum of People with Learning Disabiltiies and the National Valuing Families Forum set out our goal:

Our Manifesto for a Good Society

2. Advocacy

Being

listened to

for real

6. Education

High hopes,

help to learn

and grow

10. Health

Equal access

to the best

care and

advice

3. Family Life

Being loved,

and able to

love others

7. Work

Contribution,

value and a

fair reward

11. Safety

Independence

and freedom

from fear

1. Human Rights

The right

to be

ourselves

4. Community

Being a

citizen who

is a real part

of life

5. Income

Decent income,

the chance to

save and earn

9. Support

Respect

and help

to lead our

own life

8. Home

A place of

our own,

with people

we love

12. Justice

Fair treatment

and protection

by the Law

Thanks to Photosymbols for allowing us to use their images.

Four parties responded to our invitation and sent along good people who all worked respectfully with the Citizen Jury.

• Liberal Democrats - Baroness Barker - Spokesperson on Health in the Lords

• Green Party - Marion Turner-Hawes - PPC for Wellingborough, Member of Green Party Disability Group

• Labour Party - Kate Green - PPC for Stretford and Urmston, Labour Shadow Disability Minister

• UKIP - Star Etheridge - PPC for Wolverhampton North East, UKIP Disability Spokesman

On the following pages you can see the results of the secret voting.

• People marked each question on a 5 point scale (from Very Dissatisfied to Very Satisfied).

• 11 people voted and their marks were put together on score sheets.

• The scores were averaged out and totalled to give a score for overall satisfaction as a percentage.

Liberal Democrats

Baroness Barker

QuestionsVery

dissatisfied (0 points)

Dissatisfied (1 point)

Don’t know (2 points)

Satisfied (3 points)

Very satisfied (4 points) Points %

Q1. Understands 0 4 2 2 3 26 59%

Q2. Explains 0 3 5 3 0 22 50%

Q3. Promises 0 4 3 4 0 22 50%

Q4. Listens 0 1 3 3 4 32 73%

Q5. Fights 0 2 5 2 2 26 59%

TOTALS 0 14 18 14 9 128 58%

Scores for Liberal Democrats

0

4.5

9

13.5

18

Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Don't Know Satisfied Very Satisfied

Scores for Liberal Democrats

Green Party

Marion Turner-Hawes

Scores for the Green Party

QuestionsVery

dissatisfied (0 points)

Dissatisfied (1 point)

Don’t know (2 points)

Satisfied (3 points)

Very satisfied (4 points) Points %

Q1. Understands 0 0 0 3 8 41 93%

Q2. Explains 0 2 2 3 4 31 70%

Q3. Promises 0 0 0 5 6 39 89%

Q4. Listens 0 0 3 2 6 36 82%

Q5. Fights 0 1 3 3 4 32 73%

TOTALS 0 3 8 16 28 179 81%

0

7.5

15

22.5

30

Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Don't Know Satisfied Very Satisfied

Scores for the Green Party

Labour Party

Kate Green

Scores for Labour Party

QuestionsVery

dissatisfied (0 points)

Dissatisfied (1 point)

Don’t know (2 points)

Satisfied (3 points)

Very satisfied (4 points) Points %

Q1. Understands 0 0 3 5 3 33 75%

Q2. Explains 0 1 1 5 4 34 77%

Q3. Promises 0 2 5 1 3 27 61%

Q4. Listens 0 0 4 3 4 33 75%

Q5. Fights 0 1 4 4 2 29 66%

TOTALS 0 4 17 18 16 156 71%

0

4.5

9

13.5

18

Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Don't Know Satisfied Very Satisfied

Scores for Labour Party

UKIPStar Etheridge

Scores for UKIP

QuestionsVery

dissatisfied (0 points)

Dissatisfied (1 point)

Don’t know (2 points)

Satisfied (3 points)

Very satisfied (4 points) Points %

Q1. Understands 3 3 2 3 0 16 36%

Q2. Explains 4 1 4 0 2 17 39%

Q3. Promises 3 2 3 2 1 18 41%

Q4. Listens 4 3 1 1 2 16 36%

Q5. Fights 4 2 4 1 0 13 30%

TOTALS 18 11 14 7 5 80 36%

0

4.5

9

13.5

18

Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Don't Know Satisfied Very Satisfied

Scores for UKIP

Conservative PartySue Livett

One party - the Conservative Party did not send a representative. In fact they did not even reply to the invitation sent by Baroness the Professor Hollins and Gary Bourlet of People First England.

So, Sue Livett of LDA England presented on their behalf:

• Explaining why there was no Conservative speaker

• Describing the party’s record in office

• Sharing what the party was saying about its plans

Scores for Conservative Party

QuestionsVery

dissatisfied (0 points)

Dissatisfied (1 point)

Don’t know (2 points)

Satisfied (3 points)

Very satisfied (4 points) Points %

Q1. Understands 7 1 2 0 1 9 20%

Q2. Explains 5 5 0 0 1 9 20%

Q3. Promises 7 2 1 0 1 8 18%

Q4. Listens 8 2 0 0 1 6 14%

Q5. Fights 7 3 0 0 1 7 16%

TOTALS 34 13 3 0 5 39 18%

0

10

20

30

40

Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Don't Know Satisfied Very Satisfied

Scores for Conservative Party

In order of overall satisfaction:

First = Green Party with 81%

Second = Labour Party with 71%

Third = Liberal Democrats with 58%

Fourth = UKIP with 36%

Last = Conservatives with 18%

0

22.5

45

67.5

90

Greens Labour Lib Dems UKIP Con

81% 58%71% 36% 18%

a big Thank You to everyone who helped

make this happen

Join us in uniting for the rights of people with learning disabilities & their families:

www.learningdisabilityalliance.org