Not another male MP!

The lack of female representation in UK political parties.

Equal numbers of men and women DO vote! (WOO HOO equality!) Despite this positive, there are also 9.1 million women in the UK who do NOT vote (Campbell and Childs, 2015). One reason for this is might be is the lack of female representatives in the house of commons. Women are seriously underrepresented. When women are not in power, women’s issues are not discussed and inequality continues.

Since the Qualification of Women act 1918, women could become Members of Parliament (Fortescue, 2018). The first sitting MP was Nancy Astor (Turner, 2018)! Woo hoo, way to go Nancy! Since Nancy, 552 women have won elections and have become MPs (Uberoi et al, 2020).

In 2019, 34% of MPs elected were women (Uberoi et al, 2020). This graph shows a increase in female politician’s since 1979. From the 552 women who have been elected, 306 of them are Labour MPs and 172 are Conservative (Uberoi et al, 2020).

However, this is still not good enough!

We understand that women experience inequalities in society but, democracy is meant to express equality. The divide in between female and male politicians shows that women are underrepresented in the UK.

WHY DO WE CARE? 

When there are fewer women in parliament, there are less women representing women’s issues. Research has shown that female politicians represents women’s interests more strongly than male one’s do (Höhmann, 2019). Surprise, surprise!! Female MP’s share similar experiences to other women, meaning they experience the same problems (Höhmann, 2019).

Now, I know what you are thinking, what is a woman’s issue?

Well, Campbell and Childs suggest that women’s issues include: woman and paid work; mothers and childcare; carers and the ‘cared for’; violence against women and girls; and public life (2015).

For these issues to be discussed and changed in politics, women need to be symbolically represented; it is argued that those who are not women cannot fully represent women (Childs, 2004). However, it is not that simple!

Even when women become MPs they are supposed to fulfil more than one representative role. This means that even if a female MP tries to share an opinion or interest, they have to have support from other MPs. When the majority of these MPs are men, women MPs do not get the support to change anything in parliament (Childs, 2004).

BUT!!

If 50% of the house of commons were women, then maybe women’s issues would get discussed and there would be potential for change.

WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT THIS?

In 2013, a campaign called 50:50 parliament, created by Frances Scott, hit the public sphere. They do what they say on the tin: campaign for an equal gender split in parliament. Their aim is to make politics inclusive, about time! Give this video a watch for more info!

In 2016, they launched the #AskHerToStand campaign. This means that you can nominate women you know to become MPs! This means that women are given the confidence they often need to run for parliament!

“This time last year I was an ordinary 50:50 supporter. Frances and the 50:50 team inspired me and made me believe that I too could be an MP. We need more women to be given the confidence and support to succeed in politics, that’s why I’m proud to back 50:50’s #AskHerToStand campaign” (Rosie Duffield, cited from 50:50 parliament)

If reading this has made you think of someone in particular, then click HERE to sign them up!

These women who become politicians then act as role models for young women. The term role model is used as it may encourage more women to begin a career in politics (Wolbrecht and Campbell, 2007). This may create a snowball effect, where more and more women want to participate in politics. 

Another effect is that when women see other women in politics it can encourage them to engage more politically (Wolbrecht and Campbell, 2007). This means that the 9.1 million women who did not vote in the 2010 election, will be more inspired to participate in politics and vote, because of a 50:50 government! 

For me, it is a no brainer, politics should be equal. The nature of democracy is equality, but we allow an unequal parliament, the very face of democracy, to rule the UK. For people to feel like their voices are being heard they should be able to look at an MP in the house of commons and feel like they are being represented. I DO NOT believe that we can claim to live in a democratic system whilst simple inequalities, like a gender divide, are still present in the UK. Men and women, whether trans or cis, should have equal numbers in our political system!

Women of the UK, 

get out there, 

be confident, 

and have your say!!

 

Bibliography:

50:50 Parliament (No date) 50:50 Parliament. Available at: https://5050parliament.co.uk/ (Accessed: 25 May 2020). 

Campbell, R and Childs, S (2015) All Aboard the Pink Battle Bus? Women Voters, Women’s Issues, Candidates and Party Leaders. Parliamentary Affairs. 68. 206-223. 

Childs, S. (2004) New Labour’s women MPs: women representing women. London: Routledge.

Fortescue, A (2018) 100 years of women MPs – how far have we come? Sky News. 21 November 2018. Available at: https://news.sky.com/story/100-years-of-women-mps-how-far-have-we-come-11559171 (Accessed: 25 May 2020)

Hohmann, D (2019) When Do Female MPs Represent Women’s Interests? Electoral Systems and the Legislative Behaviour of Women. Political Research Quarterly. 

Turner, L (2018) Ask Her to Stand: What’s stopping women becoming MPs? BBC News. 21 November 2018. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46294509 (Accessed: 25 May 2020)

Uberoi, E. Watson, C and Kirk-Wade, E (2020) Women in Parliament and Government. Briefing paper. Available at: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01250/SN01250.pdf (Accessed: 25 May 2020). 

Wolbrecht, C and Campbell, D (2007) Leading by Example: Female Members of Parliament as Political Role Models. American Journal of Political Science. 51(4). 921-939.