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Women in Politics and Chris Watson Natasha Mutebi Shadi Danechi Public Life Paul Bolton

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Women in Politics and Chris Watson Natasha Mutebi Shadi Danechi Public Life Paul Bolton BRIEFING PAPER Number 01250, 2 March 2021 By Elise Uberoi Women in politics and Chris Watson Natasha Mutebi Shadi Danechi public life Paul Bolton Contents: 1. UK Parliament 2. UK Government 3. Other elected bodies in the UK 4. Parliamentary and political firsts for women (UK) 5. Women in politics: international context 6. Women in public life 7. Firsts for women in UK public life www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary 2 Women in politics and public life Contents Summary 3 UK Parliament and Government 3 Devolved legislatures and local government 3 International comparisons 3 Public life 4 1. UK Parliament 5 1.1 Members of Parliament since 1918 5 1.2 Candidates in general elections 7 1.3 The 2019 General Election 8 Ethnic minority women in the House of Commons 9 Women’s activities in the 2019 Parliament 9 2. UK Government 10 3. Other elected bodies in the UK 12 3.1 Devolved legislatures and London Assembly 12 3.2 Local government 12 England 12 Scotland 13 Wales 13 Northern Ireland 13 4. Parliamentary and political firsts for women (UK) 15 5. Women in politics: international context 17 5.1 Presidents and prime ministers 17 5.2 Overseas parliaments 17 Speakers of national parliaments 17 Proportion of women in national parliaments 17 Entry of women into national parliaments 20 5.3 The European Parliament (European Union) 20 6. Women in public life 21 6.1 Women in public bodies 21 6.2 Women civil servants 21 6.3 Judges 23 6.4 Armed forces 24 6.5 National Health Service 25 6.6 Teaching 26 Schools 26 Higher education 27 6.7 Police 29 7. Firsts for women in UK public life 31 Cover image: Women Members of Parliament Stand Together © UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor (2016) 3 Commons Library Briefing, 2 March 2021 Summary In both politics and public life in the UK, women have historically been underrepresented. In recent years, their proportion has increased, although in most cases men remain overrepresented, especially in more senior positions. This briefing presents statistics on a range of positions in UK politics and public life, held by women. Data on the demographic characteristics of different workforces tends to be limited, so it is not possible to include intersectional analysis (such as of disabled women). UK Parliament and Government There are 220 women MPs in the House of Commons. At 34%, this is an all-time high. The proportion of women grew slowly until a jump in the 1990s, as shown in the chart below. % Women MPs elected at general elections since 1979 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 Sources Rallings and Thrasher, British Electoral Facts 1832-2006, 2012. House of Commons Library Briefing Papers (10/36) General Election 2010; (7186) General Election 2015; (7979) General Election 2017; (8749) General Election 2019. Since 1918, 552 women have been elected to the House of Commons; 55% were first elected as Labour MPs and 31% as Conservatives. There are 223 female Peers - 28% of the Members of the House of Lords. Five ministers in the current Cabinet (23%) are women. The highest proportion of women in Cabinet was 36% between 2006 and 2007. Devolved legislatures and local government 47% of Members of the Welsh Parliament are women, as are 36% of the Scottish Parliament and 36% of the Northern Ireland Assembly. About 36% of local authority councillors in England are women. 26% of councillors in Northern Ireland are women. The proportion rose to 29% in Scotland after the 2017 elections and sits at 28% in Wales. 40% of members of the London Assembly are women. International comparisons In January 2021, there were 10 women serving as Head of State and 13 serving as Head of Government. At 34%, the UK is in 38th position for the proportion of women in the lower (or only) house of parliament. 4 Women in politics and public life Rwanda has over 61%. Cuba also has a female majority in parliament. In the European Parliament, 41% of MEPs are women. Public life The proportion of women in public sector roles has increased in the past decades. Most recent data show that 44% of public appointments were women, as were 54% of civil servants, 32% of judges, 11% of the armed forces, 77% of NHS workers, 86% of nursery and primary school teachers and 31% of police officers. Across these organisations, women tend to be in more junior roles, although the proportion of senior roles held by women has steadily increased. 5 Commons Library Briefing, 2 March 2021 1. UK Parliament As of February 2021, 220 Members of the House of Commons (MPs) are women. This is a record high, and 34% of all MPs. 220 were elected at the 2019 General Election, up from 208 at the 2017 General Election, and 191 in 2015. Of the women MPs elected at the 2019 General Election, 104 were Labour, 87 Conservative, 7 Liberal Democrat and 16 SNP. 51% of Labour MPs elected in 2019 were women, compared with 24% of Conservative MPs, 64% of Liberal Democrat and 34% of SNP MPs.1 Women were admitted to the House of Lords following the Life Peerages Act 1958 – 40 years after they had been permitted to stand for the House of Commons. Baroness Barbara Wootton of Abinger was one of the first four Life Peers to be approved for admission to the House. Baroness of Swanborough was the first woman to actually take her seat in the House of Commons as a Life Peer in 1958. Baroness Strange of Knokin was the first woman to take her seat by virtue of being an hereditary Peer, in 1963.2 The proportion of women has varied with reforms over time. It had reached 20% by January 2009.3 As of February 2021, 223 (28%) of the 800 Members of the House of Lords are women.4 The chart below summarises women’s membership of both Chambers as of 22 February 2021. Women in the UK Parliament, by party (Feb 2021) Con Lab LD SNP Other Total House of Commons 24% 52% 64% 32% 30% 34% House of Lords 26% 34% 37% - 23% 28% Source: UK Parliament, Members of the House of Commons & Members of the House of Lords 1.1 Members of Parliament since 1918 552 women have been elected as Members of the House of Commons since first being permitted to stand in 1918. In that year Countess Constance Markievicz was elected to represent Dublin St Patricks, but as a member of Sinn Féin she did not take her seat. The next year Nancy Astor became the first woman to sit in the Commons after winning a by-election in Plymouth Sutton for the Conservatives. 1 House of Commons Briefing Paper (6652): Women Members of Parliament; Library Briefing Paper, General Election 2019: full results and analysis 2 House of Lords, Library Note, Women in the House of Lords 3 Inter-Parliamentary Union (accessed 28 February 2019). The IPU records snapshots of membership at particular points. 4 UK Parliament website, Members of the House of Lords. 6 Women in politics and public life Gwyneth Dunwoody broke Barbara Castle’s record for longest continuous service as a female MP. Mrs Dunwoody was elected in 1974 and served for thirty-four years until her death in April 2008.5 Harriet Harman now holds the record for the woman MP with the longest continuous service, having served for almost 39 years since the October 1982 Peckham by-election. Of the 552 women MPs ever elected, 306 (55%) were first elected as Labour and 172 (31%) as Conservative MPs. A full breakdown appears in the table below. Women MPs elected by Party, 1918-2021 Party Number % of total Labour 306 55.4 Conservative 172 31.2 Liberal Democrats* 31 5.6 SNP 26 4.7 Sinn Féin 4 0.7 DUP 3 0.5 Ulster Unionists 3 0.5 SDLP 2 0.4 Alliance 1 0.2 Green 1 0.2 Independent 1 0.2 Independent Unity 1 0.2 Plaid Cymru 1 0.2 0.0 Total 552 .. Note: (*) Includes those from predecessor parties. Sources: House of Commons Briefing Paper (6652) Women Members of Parliament; UK Parliament website, Members of the House of Commons (accessed 21 February 2021). The chart below shows the number of women MPs elected at general elections since 1918, by party. 5 Since Dunwoody was also an MP between 1966 and 1970, she served for thirty-eight years in total. 7 Commons Library Briefing, 2 March 2021 Women MPs elected at general elections, by party 1918-2019 250 200 Con Lab 150 LD Other 100 50 0 1918 1924 1935 1951 1964 1974 (F) 1983 1997 2010 2019 Until 1997 women had never made up more than 10% of all MPs; until the late 1980s the proportion had always been below 5%. The proportion rose to 18% following the 1997 General Election when 120 women were elected. The current level – 34% – is the highest ever. 1.2 Candidates in general elections The number of women candidates has risen at almost every general election since 1966. The exceptions were 2001, when there were 36 fewer than in 1997, and in 2017, when 60 fewer women stood than in 2015. In the latter case, though, the proportion of female candidates rose from 26% to 29% as there were fewer candidates overall. In 2019, there were 1,123 female candidates which was the highest number and proportion (33.8% of all candidates) on record.
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