200 not out? Female voice soars
A RECORD number of women MPs are likely to be elected to parliament on June 8, even if Labour slumps to its worst result since the war, new analysis has revealed.
It is predicted 200 women could take their place in the House of Commons if the Conservatives win an increased majority, up nine on the total elected at the 2015 general election.
The number is roughly the same whether there is only a small swing to the Tories or they enjoy a landslide victory.
Were Labour to defy the opinion polls and end up the largest party in a hung parliament, however, the number of women MPs could rise as high as 212.
The Press Association calculated the figures by projecting the seats that would change hands on June 8 based on a variety of outcomes.
A minimum of 200 women in the House of Commons, which has 650 MPs, would mean nearly one in three female members.
Around 92 would be Conservatives, the largest number in the party’s history and a big jump on the 68 elected in 2015.
Labour would have around 82 female MPs, down from 99 in 2015 and well below the party’s all-time high of 101 in 1997.
Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, welcomed the likely rise in female MPs, but described the increase on 2015 as “glacial”.
“It shows there is much more to be done to achieve gender equality in politics and public life,” she said.
“Whatever the result on June 8 – and it looks like there will be a small rise in the proportion of women elected – parties need to up their game, not just for the next Parliamentary elections but for our councils, metro mayor roles and institutions across the UK.
“We cannot settle for incremental change.
“It’s time for some real momentum on women’s representation in politics.”
The PA’s figures also show that, were every party to win exactly the same seats as at the 2015 general election, 206 female MPs would be elected, up 15 on the number in 2015.
In the event of a large Tory majority, the amount of female MPs in England could fall from 177 to 167.
By contrast, the number in Wales and Scotland would increase, from nine to 10 and 18 to 20 respectively.
Angela Crawley, SNP equality spokesperson, said: “The SNP is committed to securing equality, and in recent years the SNP has led the way with Scotland’s first woman First Minister and the UK’s first gender-balanced cabinet – as well as significantly increasing the number of SNP women representatives at Holyrood, Westminster and in local government.
“While significant progress has been made we know there is still more to do to ensure full equality for women and other under-represented groups. A vote for the SNP on June 8 is a vote for a strong team of SNP MPs that will champion equality and much- needed reforms of the broken Westminster political system.”
The Scottish Conservatives were criticised for a lack of diversity during the local elections campaign after it emerged that fewer than one in five of their town hall candidates were female.
Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman Annie Wells said: “Around a third of Scottish Conservative candidates for the General Election are female.
“This is a huge improvement, demonstrating we’re absolutely committed to getting more women right to the top in politics.
“After the successful launch by myself, Ruth ( Davidson) and the Prime Minister back in March, it’s great to see so many more of our supporters feeling more encouraged to put their name on the ballot paper.”
Scottish Labour said 50% of its
candidates in the General Election were women.
A spokesman said: “Women are under-represented at almost every level of power in Scotland and by locking out that experience and talent we are putting limits on our nation’s potential.
“Scottish Labour has taken the lead in delivering more balanced slates of candidates and we have a 50/ 50 split this year, with 29 women and 29 men contesting every seat in Scotland we do not currently hold.”
Northern Ireland would see no change, with two female MPs elected.
Leader of the Women’ s Equality Party, Sophie Walker, said the projected increase was a reason for celebration, but highlighted that the election of 200 female MPs would still place Britain behind countries such as Zimbabwe, Uganda, Spain and Mexico in terms of female representation in parliament. She said: “This is particularly worrying as we move towards Brexit and the drafting of the Great Repeal Bill: government must be closely scrutinised to ensure the continuation of women’s rights to equal pay, pregnancy protection and parttime workers’ rights.
“Women’s Equality support proportional representation, which is shown to work better for women and minorities and bring the diversity of experience that Westminster needs.”
Frances Scott, director of the 50: 50 Parliament campaign group, which advocates an equal split among male and female MPs, said the projections were positive, but warned that there was a long way to go before the gender representation gap was filled.
She said: “Of course it’s good that it’s going in the right direction, but it’s appalling that it’s still like this.”
Ms Scott said she believed women required greater levels of encouragement and consideration in order to stand for election.
She said: “I think sexism still exists. Women( are) still subjected to dreadful comments when they stand.
“I think it’s about giving women self-confidence.”
Equalities minister and Conservative candidate for Gosport, Caroline Dinenage, said she found the projections “encouraging for the future”.
Ms Dinenage is standing for re- election against five other candidates in the south coast constituency, including two women: Monica Cassidy of the Green Party, and Ukip’s Chloe Palmer.
She said: “From the Conservatives’ point of view, for a good number of our retiring seats we have female candidates, and it’s particularly heartening they were selected not from allfemale shortlists, but entirely on their own merit.”
She added: “I would hope that we continue to make progress on this, because parliament is more effective when it reflects the people it represents.”