Kennedy calls for positive discrimination

Charles Kennedy called yesterday for his party to use positive discrimination to get more Liberal Democrat women into Parliament as he prepared to fight for better female representation in Brussels.

The Liberal Democrat leader said he wanted the party to be representative of the electorate, adding that he would "like to see the party embrace some form of positive discrimination". Without positive action, he said, the party would continue to be dominated by men at parliamentary level. "We can't sit by and allow this situation to develop. I am absolutely determined about that," he said in an interview for BBC's Breakfast with Frost.

The Liberal Democrats have four female MPs – the lowest proportion in any of the three main political parties. Yesterday, a report by the Labour former minister Angela Eagle on women in politics singled out the party for its dismal record.

Tomorrow in Brighton, the Liberal Democrat conference will decide on the method for selecting candidates for next year's European elections. Mr Kennedy has made it clear to the executive of the English party that he wants one of the top two candidates on the lists for seats in the European parliament to be reserved for women. He has the backing of Baroness Williams of Crosby, the Liberal Democrat Leader in the Lords, and the MP Sandra Gidley. But others say only one of the top three candidates on the lists should be a woman.

Senior Liberal Democrats have criticised the party for failing to adopt more radical proposals to help women gain seats. Last year it rejected all-women shortlists.