Westminster is still far from achieving gender equality
Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about the first time I stood for parliament. It was back in 2001. Labour were onto their second landslide and I was going up against John Prescott. I was only 21, but I knew enough about politics to realise that I didn’t have much of a winning chance that time.
I had never really thought about standing as a candidate before. But all it took was that one campaign, a sixpoint swing to the Lib Dems and kicking the Conservatives down to second place for me to catch the bug.
And I owe much to Polly Martin, then chair of the party’s youth wing, who told me all those years ago that I’d make a good candidate and asked me to stand.
Yesterday marked the centenary anniversary of the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, which gave women the right to stand for election to parliament. This is a hugely important milestone, deserving of celebration across the country.
It’s a good excuse to leaf through the history books and remind ourselves of the brave women who first dared to enter Westminster and stake their claim to power. And to take stock of the amazing women from all parties currently representing their fellow citizens in the House of Commons, the Scottish parliament, the Welsh assembly, European parliament and our councils up and down the country.
But we must not get carried away with our self-congratulations. Being able to stand for election does not mean equal power in politics. It was only in last year’s general election that the total number of women MPs ever elected to the House of Commons overtook the number of men currently serving as MPs. Outside of parliament, only a third of councillors in England are women, with even fewer in Wales (28 per cent) and Scotland (24 per cent).
One hundred years on, this is simply not good enough. So where are we going wrong? There are five main barriers to women entering politics – I like to think of them as the five Cs: cash, caring, culture, confidence, and the closed club.
Political candidacy is costly. Estimates from a decade ago put the cost of a successful candidacy at £40,000. Of course, this is a barrier for both men and women. But when men take home two-thirds of our national income, having the cash is a significantly bigger problem for women.
In our cut-throat political system, you have to be prepared to put your head above the parapet. But from a young age we tell girls that they shouldn’t blow their own trumpet – it isn’t ‘ladylike’
Women still take on the lion’s share of caring responsibilities – whether it’s for children or elderly relatives. And parliamentary hours and rules are not geared towards accommodating those with caring responsibilities. I got first-hand experience of that earlier this year, when my constituents were cheated out of a crucial Brexit vote while I was taking care of my two-week-old baby.
In the cut-throat political system we have in the UK, you have to be prepared to put your head above the parapet and be confident in your ability to get the job done. But from a young age we tell girls that they shouldn’t blow their own trumpet – it isn’t “ladylike”. The unfortunate truth is that being a “lady” won’t get you the top job in this environment.
The male-dominated corridors of Westminster can also make women feel uncomfortable in other ways, which were highlighted by last year’s MeToo movement. Even women who are in a position of power are not safe from predatory men in parliament. While my party was in government, one ministerial colleague told me she would always ensure she was seated on the opposite side of the table when having a meeting with a particularly tactile minister.
And finally the closed club. Finnish parliamentarian Johanna Sumuvuori explained how her male colleagues on the finance committee would joke that they’d already made all the decisions in the Finnish parliament’s men’s sauna before they arrived to the meeting, dubbed the “sauna committee”. There might not be saunas in Westminster, but much of political decision-making is similarly concentrated in the hands
of those inside the club, who tend to be men.
Much of the responsibility to get more women elected is down to political parties. I am proud that a third of Lib Dem MPs are women, and I know we must work harder still to spot and nurture talented women at all levels in our party. However, we can all do something to make politics more diverse. Here are three simple actions each of us can take.
Count. Look at the number of men and women standing as candidates, becoming elected representatives, speaking at events, the split of journalist bylines in newspapers – and challenge parties, organisers and media outlets when women are not fairly represented.
Talent-spot. Do you have friends, family or colleagues who could be the next woman MP, MSP, assembly member or councillor? Then encourage them to stand. The #AskHerToStand campaign offers on how to do that as well as providing support for women candidates.
Speak up. Write to or go to see your elected representative, and ask them what they are doing to make politics more representative. It’s very hard for politicians to ignore even just a handful of letters about the same issue.
So, yes, let’s celebrate the centenary of women being able to stand. But let’s not pretend we’ve got this sorted. We are still a long way from 50:50 representation in parliament and in our other elected institutions. We know what the problems are, so let’s sort them, because it would be a tremendous failure if we have to wait another hundred years for equality in politics.
Jo Swinson MP is the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats