MPs want to see more women candidates

The Government is facing a call from MPs to legislate to ensure at least 45% of parliamentary candidates fielded by political parties are women.

The Commons Women and Equalities Committee said the lack of women MPs relative to the numbers of men represented a “serious democratic deficit”.

It called on ministers to set a target for 45% of all representatives in parliament and in local government to be women by 2030.

It said the goal should be backed by legislation setting a statutory minimum proportion of female parliamentary candidates in general elections for each political party, with fines or other sanctions for those that failed to comply.

“While the goal is equality, we recognise the difficulty inherent in setting this statutory minimum at 50%; such a precise target would be difficult to meet while also ensuring that men did not become under-represented.

“A minimum of 45% would therefore be acceptable,” it said.

It urged the Government to bring forward legislation in the current parliament so that the new requirements could be brought into force if the proportion of women MPs does not increase significantly at the next general election in 2020.

Currently, just 30% of MPs are women with the UK ranking 48th globally for female representation in the lower or single legislative chamber.