Female politicians help UK climb gender gap progress league

A HIGHER number of women in Government has helped the UK emerge as one of the “most improved” countries on a leading gender gap index that otherwise showed the global gap widening for the first time since 2006.

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap report showed the UK climbing five spots in 2017 to rank 15th out of 144 countries, up from 20th a year earlier.

The index – which measures gender disparity across health, education, the workplace and political representation – saw the UK make its biggest gains in government representation, helping increase its standing in that specific measure by seven places to rank 24th.

The proportion of women in Parliament came in at 32 per cent compared with 29 per cent a year earlier, while the number of women in ministerial roles stood at 30.8 per cent versus 23 per cent in 2016.

That was measured alongside the years that the UK has had a female head of state over the last 50. Adding to Margaret Thatcher’s long stint in office, Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership brought that total to 12.5 years.

Together, it helped the UK stand out as one of the most improved countries in the index rankings overall, alongside the likes of Canada, Spain, Barbados, France, Denmark and Bulgaria.

But the UK is still lagging behind its 2006 standing, when it came ninth out of 115 countries, and has only closed three per cent of its overall gender gap, which now stands at 77 percent, according to the WEF. It added that one of the main challenges for the UK is making meaningful improvements to the prospects for women in economic participation and opportunity, where progress has stalled. Britain is also 95th when it comes to estimated earnings income, though it noted small increases in the number of women in professional, technical and senior roles.

Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF, warned that countries which fail to integrate women risk falling behind economically.

“We are moving from the era of capitalism into the era of talentism,” he said. “Competitiveness on a national and on a business level will be decided more than ever before by the innovative capacity of a country or a company.

“Those will succeed best who understand to integrate women as an important force into their talent pool.”

A deer silhouetted against the autumn sunrise at Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire made for a stunning view yesterday. The Studley Royal deer park is a much-loved part of the estate. It is home to more than 500 wild red, fallow and sika deer.