Disabled people constitute a sizeable minority of the world’s population. Estimates from the World Health Organisation indicate that over one billion people are disabled — around 15% of the population. However, despite the size of the community, disabled people remain amongst the most politically marginalised social groups — with lower levels of education, income, and welfare. Indeed, it is rare to find examples of openly disabled people occupying positions of power. In this lecture I will draw upon a range of empirical work I have undertaken to demonstrate that there are significant ableist barriers preventing disabled people from participating in the political process – as voters, party members, political candidates, and elected representatives. I will argue that making politics accessible is important, and increasing the number of disabled representatives matters, and, that the lived experiences of disabled politicians can benefit the political representation of disabled people. One of the central demands of the disability rights movement—‘nothing about us without us’ —is at the heart of the analysis. Disabled people need to be part of political processes not just in relation to what we might think of as disability-related policy, but right across the entire policy spectrum to ensure that disabled people’s voices and views are represented.

Elizabeth Evans is Professor in Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work explores the relationships between social movements, political parties and political representation. She won the 2022 Political Studies Association Joni Lovenduski Prize, is the author of two books, and co-edited Confronting Privileges: Intersectionality in Feminist and Queer Movements with Eléonore Lépinard (2020). Her latest book, Disability and Political Representation, with Stefanie Reher, is forthcoming with Oxford University Press.

A recording of this lecture is available to listen to at this link