This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A new civility awards scheme for politicians has been launched by members of the House of Lords and campaigners.

The annual Civility in Politics prizes will be given out to politicians who have shown courtesy and decency through their work, with categories of bridge-builder of the year and campaigner of the year.

The Labour peer Lord Wood, one of the figures behind the awards, said: “Everyone agrees that politics in the UK is facing a crisis of trust and a crisis of civility.

“As divisions and bitterness mount in the continuing debates around Brexit, we strongly believe that politics must respond not by mirroring these trends, but by resisting them.

“These awards are a small attempt by a group of people in public life – of different and no political persuasions – to shine a spotlight on politicians who argue their case with decency and civility, and are able to engage with people across the divides that threaten to scar our country.”

The launch follows a dramatic week in British politics in which Boris Johnson sparked fury among MPs for his continued description of legislation to block a no-deal Brexit as a “surrender bill”.

The prime minister was also heavily criticised for saying the best way to honour the memory of the murdered MP Jo Cox was to “get Brexit done”, while a host of MPs blamed the increasingly toxic debate around Brexit as contributing to a rise in abuse from the public.

Alison Goldsworthy, the founder and CEO of the Depolarization Project, is running the awards with Wood. Her organisation provides training courses to businesses, students and community groups on how to be open to other political views and change people’s opinions.

The awards are being funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and nominations open this weekend.

A shortlist will be announced in January, with an award ceremony in March 2020, and there will be a £3,000 prize donated to the winning politician of the year’s charity of choice.

The judges come from across the political spectrum and include the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb; Gawain Towler, the Brexit party’s director of communications; the Tory peers David Willetts and Sayeeda Warsi; and Isabel Hardman, assistant editor of the Spectator.