Why Aren't There More Women in British Politics?

AuthorMeryl Kenny
Published date01 September 2015
Date01 September 2015
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/2041-9066.12094
12 POLITICAL INSIGHT SEPTEMBER 2015
In many ways the 2015 General Election
was a return to the norm: a one-party
government led by Conservatives.
The results for women, however, were
historic. An unprecedented high of 191
women MPs (29 per cent) were elected to the
House of Commons on 7 May, an increase of
48 from the immediate post-2010 election
results. At one stage during the summer, ve
of Britain’s main political parties were led by
women – including interim party leaders
Harriet Harman (Labour) and Sal Brinton
(Liberal Democrats).
But while the gains made in women’s
representation at Westminster are to be
welcomed, women continue to be under-
represented at all levels of British politics.
Women are more than half of the population,
but less than a third of MPs, 41 per cent of
UK MEPs, 34 per cent of MSPs, 42 per cent
of AMs, and 19 per cent of MLAs. The 2015
election results put the UK in only 36th place
worldwide for women’s representation,
lagging behind several of its European
counterparts, as well as many African and
Latin American countries – including the
world leader, Rwanda (which has 64 per cent
women in its Chamber of Deputies).
This article evaluates the lessons learned
from the 2015 Election, as well as the future
prospects and actions needed for further
progress on women’s political representation
in British politics. It argues that despite the
gains made in 2015, there is a still signicant
distance to travel before we reach equal
representation in Britain, and that further
increases are unlikely without greater
commitment by all of the parties and without
the use of strong equality measures.
The ‘Problem’ of Women’s
Under-Representation
What explains the continuing democratic
decit of women’s representation in UK
politics? The causes have been well-studied,
with some scholars attributing women’s
low election rates to problems of supply,
focusing on the question of who decides to
run for oce, while others highlight issues
of party demand, focusing on whether
parties discriminate against particular
types of candidates (Norris and Lovenduski
1995). Those who advocate supply-side
explanations suggest that the social bias
Why Aren’t There
More Women in
British Politics?
Despite gains in May’s General Election, women remain heavily under-represented in British politics.
Meryl Kenny examines the evidence and asks if the time has come for gender quotas to deliver real change.
Image: © Press Association.

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