For many people with long term health conditions there can be a need to manage fatigue, and a period of time where their capacity to undertake work is reduced, in some cases in quite varied and unpredictable ways.

The nature of elected office generally places high expectations on the capacity of elected members, which can lead to some disabled people ruling themselves out, and to other people assuming they can’t perform the role. Job-sharing is one way to overcome this barrier and avoiding a significant portion of society being excluded from holding elected office.

There are many examples of successfully implemented job-sharing within employment and within some elected structures (e.g. some parties, some trade unions). By allowing job-sharing as an option for people standing for internal roles, you can increase the diversity of those taking part – which can also benefit carers and parents who might otherwise feel they could not commit the time (particularly, and predominantly, women).

Making this change may require changes to your internal rules and procedures. Certain aspects of equality law already requiring “reasonable adjustments” are already felt by some law experts to imply that this should be made available for public office, but achieving clarity about implementing this will require legislation change and work to address the practicalities (none of which are insurmountable).

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