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Sir Ed Davey backs scrapping women-only spaces code as Lib Dem conference erupts in trans rights row

From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026.

Sir Ed Davey, whose party's national poll rating has stalled at 10% — fifth place, behind even the Greens — as an internal revolt overshadows the Liberal Democrats' Brighton conference.
Sir Ed Davey, whose party's national poll rating has stalled at 10% — fifth place, behind even the Greens — as an internal revolt overshadows the Liberal Democrats' Brighton conference.

Sir Ed Davey has declared he will vote to scrap EHRC guidance requiring single-sex toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards to be used based on birth sex, not gender identity. The Lib Dem leader told BBC Radio 4 he backs an emergency motion branding the code 'discriminatory and unworkable', with a conference vote due at 5.10pm today. The EHRC guidance came into force last month following the 2025 Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex. Women's rights campaigners inside the party are warning the vote will hand Lib Dem MPs 'a really unpopular policy'.

Dr Zoe Hollowood, chair of Liberal Voice for Women, said Davey's support means he 'doesn't care about women's rights'.

Hollowood warned the motion is 'a sledgehammer to women's rights' and predicted it will pass because 'the room's going to be packed with activists'.

The emergency motion also pushes the party to formally adopt the position that 'trans women are women', a stance Hollowood called 'a completely unnecessary backward step'.

MoreDaily MailLib Dem trans row as Davey backs lifting women-only spaces lawThe TelegraphLib Dem leader Ed Davey backs scrapping ban on trans women in female lavatoriesGB NewsEd Davey faces 'toxic culture war row' as Lib Dems to debate 'trans women are women' motion
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