It’s been 100 years since women got the vote, but have things progressed for women in politics as much as they should have?
This blog will focus on gender inequalities in politics, it will mainly focus on women`s involvement in politics. This blog will illustrate how there is lack of representation of women in some aspects of the United Kingdom political system. In addition, this blog will attempt to offer an explanation to the lack of women representation in some aspect of politics.
In 2018, it is the 100th year anniversary since women were given equal rights to vote compared to men. This achievement was made possible by the suffragette movement in the UK. The movement began in 1832 but it was not until 1928 when women were given equal rights to vote through the equal franchise act (1928). As you can see in the United Kingdom, there has always been gender inequalities in the political system. This claim is supported by Burns (2007), who argues gender gap within politically engagement is a persistent factor across democracies. This suggests that gender inequalities has always been an issue and will continue to be an issue. This raises the question, what gender inequalities are present in politics?
What gender inequalities are present in politics?
Figure 1 shows the percentage of women in the United Kingdom Parliament and Elected bodies by party. Taken from House of Common library (2018).
Figure 1 shows that between existing parties in the United Kingdom, Conservative party has the lowest percentage of female elected in the House of commons, only 21% of females are elected by the Conservative party. The party with the largest elected females in the House of Common is Labour party, they have a percentage of 45%. There is huge difference of 24% between Labour and Conservative party.Furthermore, figure 1 shows that Conservative party has the lowest percentage of female elected in the House of Lords, they elected 25% of females. Whereas, Liberal Democrats Party with the highest number of elected female in House of lords has 34%.
These findings show that in all the existing parties, the men are elected more by the parties in both House of Common and House of Lords. An alarming aspect of these findings is that Conservative party has the lowest number of female in House of Common and House of Lords, this is alarming because in last two elections, the winning party has been Conservative party. Therefore, it could be argued that Conservative party being in power is fuelling gender inequalities in politics because it is putting more men in position of power and authority compared to women. we can see that in politics gender inequalities does exist in the United Kingdom but how does it compare with other countries around the world? Are gender inequalities in United Kingdom political system worst or better compared to other countries?
Figure 2 shows women in national parties around the world. Taken from House of Common library (2018).
Figure 2 shows a ranking of countries in regards to the number of females in their parliament, the country with the highest number of females in their parliament is Rwanda. In Rwanda, there are 61% of females in their parliament. However, in United Kingdom there are only 32% of females in the parliament and United Kingdom is ranked 38th in the world ranking. There is a difference of 29% between these two countries, this finding suggest that United Kingdom need to improve massively if they want to achieve the level of gender equality in politics as seen in Rwanda. Moreover, as a man, I find these figures upsetting because if my sister, partner or friend has a dream to work in the parliament in the United Kingdom. These figures seem to suggest that they are more likely to fail to fulfil their dream due to their gender rather than their ability. We have established in the blog that there are gender inequalities in politics in the United Kingdom but we have yet to explore how these inequalities are formed.
Why do these gender inequalities in politics exist in the United Kingdom?
Kurtzleben (2016) argued one reason why there is lack of women in politics is that it is not a family friendly environment. It is not family friendly environment because no matter where an MP is located, in order to fulfil their role properly, they often have to come to Westminster. This means that women who have children will find it hard to juggle their political career with motherhood. This obstacle could be argued is what discourages women who want and have children from politics.
Overall, even though it has over 100 years since women were given equal right to vote, there are still gender inequalities that exist in politics. There is huge difference between the number of women elected by a party compared to men in both House of Lords and House of Commons. In celebration of the 100th year since women were given equal rights to vote, we should use this opportunity to highlight these gender inequalities in politics and try to reduce them.
Reference:
Burns, N. (2007). Gender in the aggregate, gender in the individual, gender and political action. Politics & Gender, 3(1), 104–123.
House of commons library (2018) Women in Parliament and Government briefing paper Number SNO1250 12 February 2018. London: House of Commons.
Kurtzleben, D. (2016). Almost 1 in 5 Congress Members Are Women. Here’s How Other Jobs Compare. Available: http://www.npr.org/2016/06/11/481424890/even-with-a-female-presumptive-nominee-women-are-underrepresented-in-politics. Last accessed 3rd April 2017.