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Following the court admission that the Liberal Democrats discriminated against former Sutton and Cheam parliamentary candidate David Campanale, former Liberal Democrat Federal President Sir Simon Hughes said, “Having reviewed all the evidence and been present at all proceedings and appeals from September 2022 until the court case, I am clear that there was manifest discrimination in 2022 against David”.
He explained:
“In 2022, very shortly after David Campanale was selected as our party’s prospective candidate for Sutton and Cheam, some Sutton local party members campaigned to have him deselected – for reasons including his long-held personal and traditional Christian beliefs.
“I have known David since he worked for our party in parliament in the late 1980s. By party rules, Liberal Democrat candidates can nominate another party member to support them in dealing with deselection procedures. From September 2022 David asked me to support him through all party processes and appeals involving local, regional and English Liberal Democrat parties until his eventual replacement as a candidate in 2024.
“After four years of the most stressful and unpleasant time for David, it is entirely right and welcome that our party has at last admitted to David’s claims in the London County Court that he suffered illegal discrimination from Liberal Democrats on the grounds of his protected beliefs as a Christian. Having reviewed all the evidence and been present at all proceedings and appeals from September 2022 until the court case, I am clear that there was manifest discrimination in 2022 against David by some Sutton members, and then a series of failures by Sutton, London Region and English party officers to intervene appropriately to deal with this discrimination and on several occasions properly to follow party procedures. The party deselection procedure at the time also failed to comply with natural justice because it did not require the arguments for deselection and the candidate’s responses to be set out clearly in writing and shared with all local party members in advance of relevant meetings.
“David and his family greatly appreciate the support of many Sutton and other party members and friends. It is a great relief that this unacceptable and unhappy series of events is now nearing an end. In addition to remaining court decisions on claims by David for costs and damages, there should also be an unqualified official apology on behalf of the Liberal Democrats for all discrimination against David and for the failures of the party promptly and effectively to deal with this.
“Of course, people seeking selection as Liberal Democrat candidates must be open to questioning about their beliefs and faith. Candidates once chosen can also be democratically deselected if their performance as candidates is judged unsatisfactory by a decision of all local members after due process and thorough evaluation. But in choosing or deselecting political candidates for public office, discrimination by any party member on the grounds of any of the nine characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010 is clearly illegal – and this includes the religion or belief of Christians as much as all those of other faiths.
“As a member of the Christian church for all my life and a Liberal and Liberal Democrat member for over 50 years, I rejoice that so many Christians are and have been our party’s candidates, councillors, MPs and other representatives over the years, and that people of many other faiths are also regularly selected as candidates. Happily, I had not previously been alerted to any personal discrimination elsewhere against Christian candidates or members in our party.
“Long may this continue. Liberal Democrats and all members of democratic and law-abiding UK parties must respect that Christians, like those of other faiths, must be entitled to live and vote in accordance with the beliefs of their faith on matters of conscience – such as termination of life before birth and for dying adults. People with religious faith are as much needed in British politics now as ever. And I trust that there will be zero tolerance of any recurrence of discrimination in the future.
“David must be thanked for his public commitment to his faith and public life over many years and I hope that he will continue to serve our communities in both ways in the years ahead. I thank and congratulate, of course, all colleagues who stood in this year’s very important elections across London and other parts of England, and in Wales and Scotland. The UK and the world need liberal democracy more now than ever in my lifetime.
“Following the agreed court order in this matter, I shall now make some internal recommendations to our party Federal President and Leader and to English and London Regional officers for improved procedures and practice. In addition, I fully support the LDCF executive officers’ request for the party to agree urgently to hold an independent enquiry into David Campanale’s treatment and its implications. This may be more effective if conducted by someone who is not a Liberal Democrat activist or member, and I shall also make some suggestions about this. I have no plans to make any further public statement on this case in the near future.”
Simon Hughes was a barrister in practice before his election as an MP in 1983. Simon was Liberal Democrat President from 2004-8, and UK Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties from 2013-5. He is now Joint Honorary President, Southwark Liberal Democrats and Joint Hon Vice-President of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum.
Featured image by Jwslubbock – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
