How do voters perceive disabled candidates?

This project asks how voters perceive disabled election candidates and whether these perceptions influence their vote choice. While almost one in five people in the UK have a disability, the numbers are much lower among politicians, with currently only five MPs known to be disabled. This under-representation might hamper the representation of the interests of disabled citizens and dampen their political engagement. It also indicates unequal access to political office. While the underlying reasons are manifold, potential prejudices among voters not only pose an electoral hurdle but might also prevent disabled candidates from running and parties from nominating them. Understanding how voters perceive and evaluate disabled candidates is thus essential to addressing the barriers to elected office that disabled people face. Being the first to analyse this question, the project has great potential to influence the current and future efforts towards this goal by stakeholders such as the UK Government Equalities Office, parties' disability groups, and the One in Five campaign. Moreover, it will make important and novel contributions to the academic literature, which has largely ignored the role of disability among election candidates.

The project will draw on the rich body of research on other candidate characteristics, such as gender and race, which shows that they influence how voters perceive not only candidates' personality traits but also their political views and competences. Meanwhile, psychologists have found pervasive stereotypes about disabled people outside the political realm. In line with this evidence, disabled candidates might be perceived as less competent, but also as inspirational. Being disabled may also be associated with interest and competence in issues such as healthcare and with more left-wing views. However, such patterns are unlikely to be uniform, as disabled people are an extremely heterogeneous group, including those with physical or intellectual disabilities, hearing or visual impairments, or mental health issues. Some disabilities are visible, others hidden. I will explore the consequences of different impairment types and the resulting barriers for voter perceptions. Moreover, I will take an intersectional approach and investigate, for instance, if perceptions diverge between female and male disabled candidates. Meanwhile, voters' attitudes likely depend on their own experience with disability, but also their political views. Those who care about issues which they see disabled candidates as well equipped to handle might be more inclined to support them. Whether campaigns and the media portray disabled candidates as dependent or as ambitious and resourceful, overcoming various barriers on a daily basis, is likely to be crucial too. Finally, I will examine to what extent voters' perceptions of disabled candidates' views reflect those expressed by candidates themselves.

To answer these questions, I will conduct a set of original survey experiments among representative samples of the British public and compare them with data from Germany and Finland, using cutting-edge research designs and analysis tools. The three countries display important variance in electoral rules and comfort with disabled politicians. Survey experiments where respondents evaluate fictional candidates, some disabled and some not, are a powerful tool as they mimic reality and mitigate a range of biases. The data on citizen perceptions will be linked with data from candidate surveys. In this process, I will draw on my experience in analysing the political orientations of disabled citizens and candidates and in designing survey experiments. To achieve impact both within the academic community and on policy and society, I will disseminate the findings through academic presentations and publications as well as targeted briefings and reports for policy-makers and candidates and summaries for the public on blogs and social media.

The project has excellent potential to produce research that matters to society and politics. Disabled people represent a significant section of the population that is under-represented. Policy-makers in the UK have shown strong interest in the barriers facing disabled candidates, including attitudinal barriers. Finally, there is a lack of research necessary for adequately addressing these barriers. The proposed project will thus not only benefit the academic community but also provide important knowledge to policy-makers and other stakeholders. The overarching goals are to inform society, (aspiring) disabled politicians, and key political decision-makers about the stereotypes that exist about disabled candidates and to formulate and communicate recommendations that help them address attitudinal barriers. They will be based on novel and relevant insights generated on the basis of a sophisticated research design.

Five groups of stakeholders who are likely to be interested in the project, benefit from its insights, and use its findings in the development of policy and strategies to improve access and inclusion are (1) government bodies, (2) political parties, (3) disabled (prospective) candidates, (4) civil society organisations, and (5) the general public including disability communities.

The UK and Scottish governments are currently undertaking efforts to address the barriers facing disabled candidates. The Government Equalities Office has expressed its interest in my research and support for this project. The project findings about the role of voter attitudes in the low representation of disabled people in politics, delivered in the form of reports and briefings, will contribute to the evidence on whose basis new policy is formulated. As political parties will play an important part in the government strategies to address such barriers, they also constitute important beneficiaries. Moreover, they are likely to be interested in how disability can be framed to avoid negative stereotypes and in the perceived strengths of disabled candidates. This information might increase parties' willingness and ability to adequately support disabled candidates. The evidence will also be of great relevance to disabled office-holders and (future) candidates themselves who might be afraid to disclose their disability, seek evidence on how to best present it, or even hesitate to run out of fear of stigma and electoral punishment. I will communicate the project findings to these stakeholders through meetings, briefings, and via the project website and social media.

Civil society organisations promoting inclusion of disabled people and particularly those working in the political arena are crucial intermediaries, as they consult and pressure policy-makers and parties and support disabled candidates. Building upon my links with Inclusion Scotland, who work directly with the Scottish Government, parties, and candidates, I will establish additional contacts with organisations and communicate my results and policy recommendations via reports, briefings, and participation in events. Finally, disability communities as well as the general public are likely to be interested in the findings and can learn about them through blog posts, the project website, and social media. Particularly disabled people will benefit from the findings on stereotypes and ways to address them. Meanwhile, I aim to encourage the public to assess their own perceptions of disabled candidates as well as politicians from other underrepresented groups, and disabled people more generally. In addition to the reports, presentations, and online presence, a key part of my impact strategy is a workshop bringing together academics and representatives of the first four target groups. The goal is to discuss the implications of the evidence on perceptions of disabled candidates for the different stakeholders and to identify long-term opportunities for effective collaboration.