Trans women will not be able to take part in formal proceedings, including speeches in the main hall and policy debates, but will be able to attend fringe events, which will be open to everyone regardless of their sex
Trans women will not be able to take part in the main session at the Labour Women’s Conference next year. It follows a legal review into how the event should operate after the Supreme Court ruled in April that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities legislation.
Trans women will not be able to take part in formal proceedings, including speeches in the main hall and policy debates, but will be able to attend fringe events, which will be open to everyone regardless of their sex.
It is understood the party considers the format to be the least restrictive way of balancing accessibility and compliance with the law. The Women’s Conference, which is usually held the day before the party’s annual conference in the same venue, was cancelled in 2025 after the party received legal advice in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
Prior to that ruling, Labour had allowed people to self-identify as a woman, so trans women could attend the event and also take part in “positive action” measures such as all-women shortlists. Labour launched a “comprehensive legal review” of the rules around its women’s conference following the Supreme Court decision, a spokesperson said, before confirming the 2026 event would go ahead with new attendance rules in a place.
The spokesperson continued: “This reflects our commitment to addressing the under-representation of women in the Party and compliance with the law.” It comes as the government continues to weigh a new code of practice in light of the ruling, guidance which issued to public bodies and businesses on how to apply the Equality Act.
The code has been redrafted by the equality watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and submitted to the government for ministerial sign off before coming into force. Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson received the draft three months ago but said she would take the time needed to “get this right” before publishing.
The EHRC under its current leadership has previously called on the government to sign off on the guidance quickly. Outgoing EHRC head Baroness Falkner of Margravine told the Times she was “so certain” of the lawfulness of the guidance and suggested one explanation for the delay could be that the government was “terrified of their MPs who would wish for trans self-identification or trans inclusion to prevail across all areas of society”.
She said the delay had led to a “grey zone” being created around single-sex spaces. “Some organisations are implementing [the ruling] in one way, others are not,” Baroness Falkner said.
In response, a government spokesperson said it was “unapologetic about taking the time to produce legally sound guidance”. They added “rushed and flawed guidance” would be “utterly catastrophic and fail women across our country”.
Labour’s announcement comes after two high-profile organisations also issued new rules in light of the Supreme Court ruling. Earlier this week, the Women’s Institute announced it would no longer offer membership to transgender women. A day earlier, the UK’s girlguiding organisation said trans girls will no longer be allowed to join girl guide groups.
