Vanessa Frake, Reform UK’s newly appointed justice adviser, states that trans women should NOT be automatically barred from female prisons

Vanessa Frake, Reform UK’s newly appointed justice adviser and former prison governor, has said that trans women should NOT be automatically barred from female prisons.

Frake, who oversaw high-profile inmates such as Rose West and Myra Hindley during her career, argued that decisions on housing trans prisoners should be made on a case-by-case basis, guided by individual risk assessments. “There are equally vile women as there possibly are trans women,” she told The Times, adding that blanket bans show a lack of understanding of how prisons operate.

Her comments come amid heightened scrutiny of prison policies following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that affirmed biological sex as the legal basis for access to women-only spaces, including prisons. The ruling allows for the exclusion of trans women from female estates under equality law.

Reform UK has since clarified that Frake’s views do not represent official party policy. A spokesperson told PoliticsHome that while Frake will advise the party on justice matters, her stance on trans prisoners is her own.

The issue has drawn criticism from Conservative MP Rebecca Paul, who campaigns against the inclusion of trans women in female prisons. Paul cited the presence of seven trans women in HMP Downview, a women’s prison in Banstead, and called for their immediate relocation.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood responded that those inmates are housed in a trans-only unit and reaffirmed Labour’s commitment to maintaining strict placement policies for trans women convicted of violent or sexual offences.