2Exclusion of candidate selection from 1976 Order
At the beginning of Part 6 of the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (S.I.1976/1042 (N.I. 15)) insert—
“43ASelection of election candidates
(1)Nothing in Parts 3 to 5 shall—
(a)be construed as affecting arrangements to which this Article applies, or
(b)render unlawful anything done in accordance with such arrangements.
(2)This Article applies to arrangements made by a registered political party which—
(a)regulate the selection of the party’s candidates in a relevant election, and
(b)are adopted for the purpose of reducing inequality in the numbers of men and women elected, as candidates of the party, to be members of the body concerned.
(3)The following elections are relevant elections for the purposes of this Article—
(a)parliamentary elections;
(b)elections to the European Parliament;
(c)elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly;
(d)elections to a district council.
(4)In this Article “registered political party” means a party registered in the Northern Ireland register under Part 2 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41).”.