Labour attacked for candidate 'sexism'

Ann Clwyd and Julie Morgan want party rules changed

A Labour MP has accused members of her own party of "sexism" in failing to choose women as parliamentary candidates.

Julie Morgan said the prejudice was not deliberate but she urged the government to change the law to allow political parties to show positive discrimination in favour of women.

Julie Morgan :problems within the party

Seven Welsh Labour MPs are standing down at the general election.

In every one of those seats, local Labour members have chosen men to succeed them.

Mrs Morgan, MP for Cardiff North, blamed prejudice against women.

The 1997 election saw Labour gain 100 new female MPs across the UK.

Many of the so-called "Blair Babes"- including Mrs Morgan - were chosen from all-female shortlists. Such shortlists but they have since become illegal.

It is the nature of Wales and the prejudice against any women holding senior positions

Baroness Anita Gale

Mrs Morgan said she wanted the government to exempt political parties from sex discrimination laws.

"I think it is sort of sexism operating, but not at a conscious level," she said.

"It is a deep-seated instinct that we go for a man, which unfortunately means that women are still losing out."

But Baroness Anita Gale - who led the Wales Labour Party for more than a decade - said the problem had deeper roots.

Ann Clwyd MP: 'Ignored' by Welsh Grand Committee for a year

"We have got a big problem in Wales, the whole of Wales; it is not exclusive to the Labour Party or other political parties.

"It is the nature of Wales and the prejudice against any women holding senior positions."

Ann Clwyd - who made it to the Commons after winning the 1984 Cynon Valley by-election for Labour - has encountered problems of her own.

"When I first came here, there was quite a lot of hostility among some male Labour MPs," she said.

"I can remember standing for a whole year in the Welsh Grand Committee waiting to get called."

Ms Clwyd and Mrs Morgan hope that Labour's election manifesto will exempt political parties from sex discrimination laws, without which women will find it difficult to get selected by the party for seats in Wales.