Sir Ed Davey has been left facing a “toxic culture war row” as Liberal Democrat members prepare to debate whether “trans women are women”.
Conference season in Brighton is now at risk of being overshadowed by the row as members look set to vote on motions pushing for more “inclusive” rules on single-sex spaces today.
The vote will take place after an emergency motion, which is also pushing the party to back the stance “trans women are women”, was selected by Liberal Democrat members.
However, the party’s sex-based activist group Liberal Voice for Women warned the policy would be nodded through ahead of the vote taking place at 5.10pm.
Zoe Hollowood, the chairman of Liberal Voice for Women, told The Telegraph: “We think this motion takes a sledgehammer to women’s rights.
“This motion will absolutely take us backwards, back into the culture wars, back into the toxic debate, and a completely unnecessary backward step.”
Ms Hollowood added: “The room’s going to be packed with activists. It will probably pass and it’s going to saddle our MPs with a really unpopular policy so we are feeling quite deflated.
“We thought we were starting to move on as a party, and Ed initially said he accepted the Supreme Court ruling. It just looks like we’re going backwards.”
Sir Ed Davey discussed the row on GB News
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The motion selected by members directly criticises guidance introduced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission earlier this year.
The guidance, which states only biological women should be able to use female toilets, was described by members as “discriminatory and unworkable”.
It calls for Parliament to appoint a dedicated cross-party committee to review how the law should be changed to “better protect trans people’s rights”.
The motion also states that “trans women are women” and “trans men are men”.
Members will vote on a proposal to scrap new guidance banning transgender women from female toilets and changing rooms today
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Sir Ed dismissed the suggestion the Liberal Democrats were at risk of being engulfed in a culture war row.
Speaking to GB News, the Liberal Democrat leader said: “I think we’re the most united party in British politics.
“And you know, if you go round the bars here at conference or go around the fringes and talk to people that I have, there’s a real spring in our step because we keep winning elections up and down the country.
“And what I want to do as party leader is make sure we get across our messages on tax cuts [and] how we can help people with getting the NHS much better.”
Sir Ed Davey came under fire over his comments in 2025
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Sir Ed added: “We said we supported the Supreme Court judgement; that was the law.
“But then we had to have the guidance to work out how people implemented it.
“And there’s been a genuine debate about that guidance.
“We think the guidance actually isn’t helpful to businesses, and you know if businesses are trying to implement the Supreme Court judgment, they need better guidance, and that’s the point.”
Trans activists protesting against the Supreme Court ruling | PA
However, last year’s Liberal Democrat conference was also overshadowed by a row about trans rights after members shut down a vote on biological men taking women’s roles.
Despite the gender-critical activists’ stated aim of pressing Sir Ed to exclude trans women from female-only roles, rival campaigners warned that the motion would “legitimise bigotry” and described its proponents as an “extremist faction”.
Sir Ed has also faced pressure over his stance on trans rights after calling for MPs to debate the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman.
The Liberal Democrat leader, who once said women can “quite clearly” have a penis, told GB News in April 2025: “A lot of people want to talk about how simple it is. It isn’t. It’s a bit more complicated, as indeed the ruling shows.
Sir Ed Davey will deliver his keynote speech tomorrow
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“I’ve read the 88-page ruling, and I’ll tell you what I think we should happen now, because people want to know what the practicalities are, and that’s the issue. We’re going to need guidelines and a debate about how we take this forward.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions. How does it work in practice? How is it enforced? These are real questions.”
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: “Liberal Democrats are champions of women’s rights and have pushed through numerous laws to improve women’s safety.
“That’s not in conflict with protecting LGBT rights in any way.
“We are proud to be a liberal party where our members have a range of views on all sorts of issues, but they can come together to discuss them in a friendly and constructive way.”