Thank you Madame Choir. We know that our democracy is stronger when it is fully representative. This is so it can understand, can discuss, and take action on the lives of all men and women from all ethnic backgrounds, in all parts of our country. .In order to have a truly democratic system, it is therefore vital that people from all backgrounds engage in the political processes. To allow people to have confidence to engage, it is vital that the system is representative both at a national parliamentary level and also at a regional level. At the parliamentary level: There is statistical evidence that there is an under representation of women and ethnic minorities within parliament, and we have already heard today of some of the ways in which the UK parliament is addressing this. However, there is a distinct lack of data surrounding sexual orientation. It is clear, nevertheless, that there are few openly gay members of Parliament in the UK with only one openly lesbian and no openly transsexual Members of Parliament.