Lib Dems vote to scrap EHRC trans guidance as party brands it ‘discriminatory and unworkable’
Ed Davey described the EHRC guidance as not “fit for purpose”. (Getty Images)
Liberal Democrat members have voted to reject the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) guidance on implementing the Supreme Court ruling on sex-based definitions, calling it “discriminatory and unworkable” at the party’s annual conference in Brighton.
The motion was passed easily on a show of hands, making the Lib Dems the first of the big three Westminster parties to call for a new approach.
Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he supported the motion in a BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview, telling listeners: “I do – I’ll be voting for it if I’m in the hall.”
The motion calls for the EHRC code to be revised, and for a dedicated cross-party parliamentary committee to review how the law should better protect trans people’s rights. It also said the existing code “places an undue burden on service providers”.
Speaking in favour, Lucas North told delegates: “The rights of women and the rights of trans people do not have to be placed on opposite sides of a manufactured culture war.” Another supporter, Rebecca Jones, said she was “tired of being a culture war prop”.
Opponents argued the party was moving in the wrong direction. Councillor Mark Johnston said: “That realism means accepting the Supreme Court determination last year is unassailable.”
Zoe Hollowood warned: “If we pass this motion, we are telling women we think they are second-class citizens… This policy is totally out of touch with both public sentiment and public priorities.”
Why the EHRC guidance is contested
In April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex only. The EHRC then issued formal guidance in May 2026 intended to help service providers balance trans people’s rights with requirements for some spaces to be single sex.
The guidance has been criticised for setting out that single-sex toilets and changing rooms must exclude transgender men and women when gender-neutral facilities are not always available.
Davey also described the EHRC guidance as not “fit for purpose”.
What it means for the Lib Dems
The Liberal Democrats are a UK-wide centrist party that has often positioned itself as pro-civil liberties and pro-EU, and has frequently supported LGBTQ+ equality measures in Parliament, including backing equal marriage and opposing Section 28 through liberal campaigning traditions.
In 2025, the party’s initial reaction to the Supreme Court ruling caused dismay among some members and campaigners, and Davey had remained silent on the EHRC’s post-ruling guidance at the time, prompting criticism from LGBT+ Lib Dems. A Lib Dem MP had also argued in Parliament that the EHRC’s draft single-sex guidance was “unworkable” in practice, calling for a “workable and inclusive proposal” instead.
