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Citation for published version (APA): Hertner, I. (2021). Gender and British Politics. In B. Jones, P. Norton, & I. Hertner (Eds.), Politics UK : 10th edition (10 ed., pp. 244-265). Routledge-Taylor Francis.

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1 Introduction : 0 5 : 4 9 246 Politics UK Part 3 Representative process

The fi rst part of this chapter focuses on descriptive representation by highlighting the slow increase in the number of women and the LGBTQ community in Parliament (the House of Commons and the ) and central government. It highlights that, whilst the number of women has gone up, Parliament is still not truly representative. In addition, most of the pres- tigious and powerful positions in Parliament and government have been, and continue to be, held by men. It also demonstrates that Scottish and Welsh politics have been more feminised since devolution began in the late 1990s, while Northern Ireland is beginning to catch up. The second part of this chapter discusses the substantive representation of women’s and LGBTQ issues by British governments from to . It stresses that a lot of has been made when it comes to gender equality legislation and anti-discrimination policies. At the same time, it is argued that the governments’ austerity agenda from 2010 onwards, as well as the management of Britain’s exit from the European Union (‘Brexit’) and the Covid-19 pandemic have affected women disproportionately, and in particular those who are less well off, and those from ethnic minorities. The fi nal part of this chapter discusses the extent to which British politics is a friendly environment for women and the LGBTQ commu- nity. Here, the culture and working conditions inside Parliament but also the broader cultural context (the media and social media) are taken into account. It is demonstrated that female politicians – even the most powerful – are regularly patronised and trivialised in Parliament and in front of the camera. Most worryingly, MP candidates, and in particular female candidates, have been harassed during recent election campaigns and on social media.

gained electoral equality with men, as the Representation of The slow increase of the People (Equal Franchise) Act gave all women the vote at the age of 21. women in Parliament In the following years, the number of female MPs rose and Government only slowly, reaching 15 in 1931. Still only 24 female MPs were elected in the 1945 general election, and this number The House of Commons did not increase markedly for another 50 years. Indeed, until 1987, the proportion of female MPs always remained below In its long history, Parliament at Westminster has never been 5 per cent. In 1992, the share of women elected to the House gender-balanced. So far, the highest share of female MPs was of Commons rose to 9.2 per cent and then doubled to 120 achieved in the 2019 general election, which resulted in 34 women MPs (18.2 per cent) at the 1997 general election. Since per cent of female MPs. But let us go back in time to see when then, the number of female MPs has risen less dramatically. women were fi rst elected, and how we got to where we are Figure 11.1 illustrates the increase in female MPs, both in now. In 1918, some women over the age of 30 (those who numbers and as the overall percentage. met a property qualifi cation) got the right to vote, aft er the With its 34 per cent of female MPs, the House of Commons suff ragettes had tirelessly fought for ‘Votes for Women’. In currently takes thirty- ninth place in a global comparison (see addition, the Parliament (Qualifi cation of Women) Act was Table 11.1 ). passed in 1918, which allowed women to stand as candidates Why has it taken the House of Commons over a hundred and be elected as MPs. In the same year, Countess Constance years to achieve even a 1:3 female/male gender ratio? For a Markievicz was elected to represent Dublin St Patricks, but as start, the UK’s majoritarian electoral system that is used to a member of Sinn Fé in she did not take her seat in the House elect MPs, ‘fi rst past the post’, is partially responsible for the of Commons. Th is decision was in accordance with Sinn low share of women in the Commons. Existing scholarship Fé in’s ‘abstentionist’ policy which still holds today. Th e year demonstrates that female candidates have signifi cantly higher aft er, Nancy Astor became the fi rst woman to sit in the House chances of being elected under a list proportional system of Commons aft er winning a by- election in Plymouth Sutton than under any other system (Stockemer 2007 ). However, for the Conservative Party. Yet it was only in 1928 that women the key explanation lies with the UK’s two major parties of

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300 40% Female MPs (N) Candidates (% female) 35% 250

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N 100 10% Candidates/MPs (% female) Candidates/MPs (% 50 5%

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Figure 11.1 Female Members of Parliament and candidates, change over time

Table 11.1 Percentage of women in parliaments around government, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. the world In both parties, there were cultures of explicit and inexplicit . For a long time, the two parties also refused to imple- Ranking Country MPs (% female) ment gender quotas, which are the quickest and most eff ective 1 Rwanda 61.3% way to achieve gender parity inside parties, parliament, and 2 Cuba 53.2% government. Furthermore, local party organisations have 3 Bolivia 53.1% traditionally held control over the selection of MP candidates. Party leaders at Westminster interfering in the candi- 4 Mexico 48.2% date selection process was not welcomed by local parties. 5 Sweden 47.3% Historically, most constituency parties chose men (white, 6 Grenada 46.7% and usually from a middle- class background) over women 7 Namibia 46.2% in winnable seats, as this was seen as a lower risk. For the 1997 general elections, the Labour Party had introduced all- 8 Costa Rica 45.6% women shortlists (AWS) in half of the winnable seats for the 9 Nicaragua 44.6% fi rst time. Th is decision was controversial amongst the party. 10 South Africa 42.7% Aft er all, Labour’s roots are in the (overwhelmingly male) labour movement and, at the time, many of the major trade 11 Senegal 41.8% unions were dominated by men. Th e AWS led to a sudden 12 Finland 41.5% increase in female MPs in 1997, the year of Labour’s landslide 13 Spain 41.1% election under . Since 2005, Labour has success- 14 Norway 40.8% fully employed all- women shortlists in all elections (Kenny 2018 : 129). As a result, it now has the highest proportion of 15 New Zealand 40.0% female candidates and MPs. 15 Timor- Leste 40.0% As the example of the Labour Party shows, party ideology 17 France 39.7% matters when we examine female representation. Across Europe, left - wing parties (labour, social democratic, workers 18 Mozambique 39.6% parties and green parties) have been better at representing 19 Argentina 38.8% women (as well as the LGBTQ community and ethnic/ reli- 19 Ethiopia 38.8% gious minorities) than conservative and liberal parties, who 39 United Kingdom 32.0% oft en oppose quotas. From 1918 until 2019, Labour has had the highest overall number of female MPs: of the 552 women MPs ever elected, 55 per cent were fi rst elected as Labour

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650 Women Men 550

d 450 e t c e l e s

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-50 Conservave Labour Liberal Democrat Others

Figure 11.2 Number of MPs elected in 2019 (gender)

and 31 per cent as Conservative MPs (House of Commons 2019 snap election, 64 per cent of LibDem MPs (seven out of Library 2020 ). 11 MPs) were female. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party con- Th e Conservative Party is slowly catching up with Labour. tinues to oppose all-women shortlists. In 2016, Conservative Between 2005 and 2020, the number of female conservative Party chairman Patrick O’Loughlin argued that imposing all- MPs has almost quadrupled, in part due to the Women2Win women shortlists on Conservative associations might create campaign led by female Tory MPs, with the support of feelings of resentment, which would not help those female party leader , who was keen to feminise the MPs or candidates once they are selected. party and thereby win more female voters. In 2005, under Not only has the number of female MPs increased over Cameron’s leadership, the Conservative Party’s headquarters time; women have also been appointed or elected to some of also drew up a ‘Priority List’ of parliamentary candidates, of the House of Commons’ most prestigious and powerful jobs. whom 50 per cent were women. As a consequence, in 2010, Amongst such roles are those of the speaker of the house , the number of female Conservative MPs had more than the leader of the house , and select committee chairs. Th e doubled, from 17 to 49. Compared to the 257 male MPs, this fi rst (and only) woman to become Speaker of the House of was still a modest overall result. Aft er the 2019 elections, still Commons was Betty Boothroyd (Labour Party) in 1992, only 24 per cent of Tory MPs were women, whilst for the fi rst having previously served as the deputy Speaker. We should, time the Labour Party had slightly more women MPs (51 per however, also note that from 1970 to 1973, Tory MP Betty cent) than men. Figure 11.2 shows the number of female and Harvie Anderson was the fi rst female deputy Speaker of the male MPs elected in 2019 (per party). Commons. More recently, a growing number of women have Perhaps the most remarkable case is that of the Liberal become deputy Speakers. In parts, this is due to the fact that Democrats. Between 1918 and 2019, only 5.6 per cent of in 2010, a gender quota was written into the Standing orders the Liberal Democrats’ MPs have been women (House of for the election of the deputy Speakers. Commons Library 2020 : 5). Indeed, the 2015 general election Another high- profi le role is that of the Leader of the returned an all- male group of MPs, aft er the LibDems had House of Commons. At the time of writing, four women lost the majority of their seats. Th e big gender gap was now MPs had been Leaders of the Commons: Ann Taylor (1997– identifi ed as a problem. Future (and fi rst female) party leader 1998), (1998– 2001), Jo Swinson initially opposed a gender quota, but eventually (2007– 2010), and (2017– 2019). Th us, the came to endorse all- women shortlists, arguing that her party fi rst three female Leaders of the Commons were in power had been complicit in the application of all- men shortlists. In during ’s reign. 2017, the LibDems implemented all-women shortlists in key MPs can also gain infl uence and become experts in par- seats for the fi rst time, and over half of their female candidates ticular policy areas by becoming chairpersons of the House stood in potentially winnable seats (Kenny 2018 ). Aft er the of Commons’ select committees. In 1992, Conservative MP

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Marion Roe became the fi rst female chair of a departmental In 2015, the Committee for Women and Equalities was select committee – the Health and Social Care Committee. created to fill an accountability gap. The UK government Since then, the number of select committees chaired by has legal commitments to uphold principles of equal rights. women has slowly increased, but the majority of select Whilst the post of the Minister for Women and Equalities committees are still chaired by men (Childs 2016 : 22). Th ere was created in 2014 (the job was previously done by par- is, however, gender disparity between the parties when it liamentary under- secretaries of state), there was no select comes to putting forward candidates for committee chairs. In committee to scrutinise that office until 2015. The creation January 2020, when the select committee chairs were elected, of the committee was welcomed by many, and its member- only 9 per cent of the Conservative candidates for committee ship is almost entirely female. Both the select committee chair elections were women, compared to 70 per cent of membership and the position of the Minister for Women candidates for the Labour party (Nice 2020 ). and Equalities are de facto, and seen as, women’s jobs. The Focusing our attention on the membership of select job of the Minister for Women and Equalities is added committees, the picture is a little more complex. From on to another portfolio, as the holder has also been the 1979 until 2016, women were slightly overrepresented on Secretary of State for International Trade or for Work and committees relative to the proportion of female MPs in Pensions. Table 11.2 lists the committees that were chaired the House of Commons as a whole (Goodwin et al. 2020 ). by female MPs in recent years. However, female MPs were, and continue to be, much Recently, more attention has also been paid to the descrip- more likely than their male counterparts to be assigned to tive representation of the LGBTQ community in the House committees dealing with lower-status, ‘feminised’ policy areas, of Commons. Aft er the 2019 general elections, there were 54 such as health, women and equalities, work and pensions, MPs (up from 48 in 2017) who openly defi ned themselves as education, etc. Th ese policy areas tend to be less prestigious, LGBTQ: 24 from the Conservative party, 19 from Labour, 9 but no less important than the ‘masculine’ policy areas, such from the SNP, 1 from the LibDems, and 1 independent MP as defence, foreign aff airs, Northern Ireland aff airs – to name (see LGBT MP n.d. ). Th e SNP stands out, with 21 per cent of but a few. Female committee membership is therefore highly its MPs belonging to the LGBTQ community. Commentators concentrated in a small number of committees. Interestingly, labelled the House of Commons ‘the gayest parliament in the the home aff airs committee has been chaired by a woman, world’. However, none of the MP candidates who identifi ed Labour MP , since 2016, and the membership as trans or non- binary was successful in 2019. of the committee has been strongly female. In most countries, home aff airs are perceived as a highly prestigious, and there- fore, masculine policy area (Krook and O’Brien 2012 ) and the The House of Lords post of the Home Secretary usually goes to men. Goodwin et al. ( 2020 : 23) point out that in UK politics, home aff airs Women were only admitted to the House of Lords in 1958, should rather be categorised as a medium- status policy area four decades aft er women were granted the right to stand as (as compared to the high politics of foreign aff airs), which an MP. Yet campaigners had fought hard for female represen- might explain its recent feminisation. tation in the Lords. Margaret Haig Th omas, Viscountess Despite the steady increase in the number of female Rhondda (1883– 1958), a feminist, former suff ragette, and committee members, two recently created select hereditary Peer fought for women like herself to be able to take committees – the International Trade and Exiting the up their seats in the House of Lords, but her case was opposed European Union committees – both have male chairs, and their in 1922 (Parliament.uk 2020 ). Hence, there were women who members are predominantly male. In fact, the International were hereditary peers, but they were not allowed to sit in the Trade Committee only had one female member when it was House of Lords (House of Lords Library 2015 ). Th e only fi rst set up, making it one of the worst committees in terms of people who were permitted to sit in the Lords were men: her- gender balance. Th is clearly matters, as Brexit has been on the editary peers, a small number of judges known as ‘Lords of top of the government’s agenda since 2016. New trade deals Appeal in Ordinary’ (or ‘Law Lords’) and bishops. A number have to be negotiated with the US, China, India, etc. Women of private members’ bills and petitions were presented during will be aff ected by Brexit, and their absence on these select the 1920s and aft er the Second World War, but it took until committees refl ects poorly on Parliament. Generally, the the for women to fi nally be allowed low levels of female representation in the high- status select to sit in the Upper House as life peers. Baroness Wootton of committees can mean that the gender regime in Parliament Abinger was the fi rst woman to receive letters patent as a life reproduces itself (Lovenduski, 2012 ) and that some of the peer in the House of Lords in 1958. During the fi rst decade important and prestigious legislative work lacks the input of of women’s admittance to the House of Lords, less than 10 female MPs and, therefore, a more diverse perspective. per cent of new appointees were female. Th is is unsurprising,

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Table 11.2 Female chairs of Select Committees, House peers comprised the largest group of peers in the chamber of Commons before New Labour’s reforms of the House of Lords in 1999. In Parliament Committees and chairs April 1998, there were 759 hereditary male peers and 17 her- editary female peers, just 2% of all hereditary peers. However, 2019– Finance: the proportion of female legislators in the House of Lords Home Affairs: Yvette Cooper almost doubled overnight when the House of Lords Act was International Development: Panel of Chairs: passed in 1999. Th e purpose of this Act was to improve polit- Petitions: Catherine McKinnell ical representation in the second chamber so that no party or Procedure: group had overall control of the House of Lords. Increasing Public Accounts: women’s presence in the Lords was not a priority of reform, Statutory Instruments: but a by- product (Eason 2009 : 404). Still, the result was an Women and Equalities: increased women’s presence from 8.8 per cent to 15.8 per cent. 2017– 19 Home Affairs: Yvette Cooper As of October 2020, 28 per cent of peers were women. Environmental Audit: Why are women still underrepresented in the upper Transport: Lilian Greenwood chamber? To answer this question, we will briefl y examine Public Accounts: Meg Hillier the appointment procedures of peers, all of which have his- Petitions: Helen Jones torically disadvantaged women. Women and Equalities: Th e membership of the House of Lords is composed of Treasury: life peers (which make up the largest number), hereditary Business, Energy and Industrial peers, and bishops. Life peers are appointed by the Queen on Strategy: the advice of the Prime Minister. Th e Prime Minister decides Health: Sarah Wollaston how many peerages he or she will recommend. By conven- Liaison Committee: Sarah Wollaston tion, when recommending peerages for members of political 2015– 17 Home Affairs: Yvette Cooper parties other than their own, Prime Ministers take advice Environmental Audit: Mary Creagh from the leader of that party. In addition, the House of Lords Transport: Louise Ellman Appointments Commission (HOLAC), which was set up in Public Accounts: Meg Hillier Petitions: Helen Jones 2000, makes recommendations for non- party political peers Women and Equalities: Maria Miller and vets party nominations for propriety. Eason (2009 ) points Health: Sarah Wollaston out that since the HOLAC has been responsible for making cross- bench appointments to the Lords, the number of 2010– 2015 Work and Pensions: Anne Begg female peers has increased. Still, successive Prime Ministers Transport: Louise Ellman Backbench Business: Natascha Engel have not appointed enough women. Recent Prime Ministers Public Accounts: have recognised the lack in gender balance and increased the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Anne share of female life peers, but gender parity remains wishful McIntosh thinking. Table 11.3 lists the peerage creations (by gender) by Environmental Audit: Joan Walley Prime Minister in power. Health: Sarah Wollaston As Russell (2000 : 100) has pointed out, part of the reason Source: www.parliament.uk/about/ parliament- and- women/ why there are still fewer female than male life peers is that women- in- parliament- today/ select- committee- chairs/ , adapted by the share of female MPs has been low. Many life peerages are the author. given to people who were previously MPs. As the share of female MPs is increasing, we can expect the number of female given that the basis of a life peerage is connected to profes- life peers to increase, too. sional achievement. At the time, few women had the oppor- Second, there is the group of hereditary peers. Although tunity to have the kind of career that would have resulted in certain peerages may pass to women, the vast majority of a life peerage. titles may only be inherited by a man. Th is principle of male In addition, women were excluded from receiving preference primogeniture is still in place. Th e House of Lords hereditary peerages until the Peerage Act 1963 came into Act 1999 removed all but 92 hereditary peers, known as operation. Yet, as Eason ( 2009 : 403) points out, ‘this equalising ‘excepted hereditary peers’. In 2020, the Countess of Mar – the of opportunity still privileged male political presence because only woman amongst the remaining 92 excepted hereditary the bulk of hereditary peerages descend down the male line’. peers – retired, and her successor had not yet been elected. Th e process of primogeniture, whereby heirs are usually male, Th ere have been a number of attempts to reform the principle has historically disadvantaged women’s presence. Hereditary of male preference primogeniture. Th e House of Commons

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Table 11.3 Peerage creations by gender, by Prime In November 2014, however, the Church of England adopted Minister in power (as of August 2020) legislation to allow women to be ordained as bishops, and Prime Minister Female Male Total the fi rst female Church of England bishop was consecrated in January 2015. Half a year later, legislation was passed to enable Macmillan 7 83 90 new female Church of England bishops to take a seat in the Douglas- Home 2 27 29 House of Lords – more quickly than would otherwise have Wilson 14 129 143 been possible. Previously, the places in the House of Lords reserved for bishops were fi lled in the following manner: fi ve Heath 8 40 48 bishops (the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Wilson 11 72 83 Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester) would have Callaghan 5 55 60 been automatically granted a seat, whilst the remaining 21 Thatcher 27 189 216 positions would have been fi lled on the basis of seniority. Under these terms, a woman appointed as a diocesan bishop Major 29 142 171 would have had to wait until she was the most senior bishop Blair 89 297 386 in order to take a seat in the Lords or be appointed to one Brown 10 26 36 of the fi ve positions automatically granted a seat. Th us, the Cameron 83 163 246 Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 introduced provisions that stipulate that a vacancy amongst the 21 non- reserved May 17 28 45 seats of the Lords Spiritual will be fi lled by a female English Johnson 20 39 59 diocesan bishop, ahead of male English diocesan bishops. In Note: Please note that Prime Minister in power refers to the absence of a female English diocesan bishop, the longest- the Prime Minister in power at the time when the peerage serving male bishop will fi ll the place as normal. Th e provi- was announced, not necessarily the Prime Minister who sion is set to last until 2025. Th e fi rst female diocesan bishop recommended the individual appointment. to join the Lords was Rachel Treweek, the Rt Rev. the Lord Source: House of Lords Library (2015 : 35) adapted by the author. Bishop of Gloucester, on 7 September 2015 (House of Lords Library Briefi ng, 2017 ). Since then, Christine Hardman (2016), Viv Faull (2018) and Libby Lane (2019) have also Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee’s 2011 entered the Lords on the basis of this Act, shortly aft er report on the rules of succession to the Crown recommended becoming diocesan bishops. Th us, four out of seven vacant that the government should also consider ending the system bishop seats in the Lords in the fi rst fi ve years of the Act were of male preference primogeniture in hereditary peerages. Yet, taken by women. In addition (but independently of the Act), the government responded in 2012 by saying that changes to Sarah Mullally entered the House of Lords ex offi cio when she the rules governing succession to hereditary titles would be was appointed Bishop of London in 2018. complicated to implement fairly and should be treated as a Interestingly, female peers – despite their low numbers – separate issue from the rules of the succession to the Crown have held some of the most prestigious and high-profi le posts, (House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform namely: the Lord Speaker , the Leader of the Lords , and Select Committee 2012 ). Since 2013, there have been a few committee chairs. Indeed, the fi rst two Lord Speakers were attempts to change the law on the principle of male prefer- women: Baroness Hayman (2006– 2011) and Baroness ence primogeniture through Private Members’ Bills in the d’Souza (2011– 2016). Meanwhile, the fi rst female Leader House of Lords. In 2019, the Conservative MP for Shipley, of the Lords was Baroness Young, appointed by Margaret , sought to make provision for the succession Th atcher in 1981. Since then, six other women have become of female heirs to hereditary titles with his Hereditary Titles Leaders of the Lords, and at the time of writing, Baroness (Female Succession) Bill. It failed to complete its passage Evans of Bowes Park held the post. Th e post of the deputy through Parliament before the end of the session. In response Leader of the Lords was held by a female peer, Baroness to questions about the government’s opinion of this bill, the Wootton, for the fi rst time in 1967. Th us, both in the Lords acting minister for the Constitution in the Cabinet Offi ce, and the Commons, women held deputy roles long before Kevin Foster, reiterated that the issue was ‘complex’ (House being in charge. We still lack long- time data on the female of Lords Library 2020 ). membership of the Lords’ select committees. An interesting Th e third group of members are the bishops. In the House observation is, however, that in recent years, women have of Lords, 26 places are traditionally reserved for bishops. Until become chairs of the committees that are coded as masculine, November 2014, only men could become bishops, which such as the International Relations committee, the Finance meant that these 26 places were eff ectively reserved for men. committee, and the EU external aff airs sub-committee.

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Since the late 1990s, a number of LGBTQ peers have felt offi ce are selected. In turn, party members select their local confi dent to ‘come out’ in public. Th e fi rst openly gay Peer candidates for parliamentary elections. As women remain was Lord Alli, who was appointed in 1998. Whilst there aren’t underrepresented inside parties, this has implications for the any offi cial numbers, at the time of writing over twenty peers parties’ policies, choice of leaders, selection of candidates, (from the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the and their image. Th e UK Independence Party (UKIP) and LibDems) were openly LGBTQ. Most notably, the Baroness other right- wing populist parties in Europe have a particular Hunt of Bethnal Green was appointed to the Lords in 2019. problem with women. Th ese are ‘men’s parties’ and breeding Hunt was the (openly gay) outspoken Chief Executive of grounds for ‘toxic masculinity’ (Daddow and Hertner 2019 ). Stonewall, a UK- based charity promoting the rights of the As mentioned earlier on in this chapter, the Labour Party LGBTQ community. Upon her appointment, Hunt said that and the LibDems have implemented diff erent types of quotas she ‘will continue to do everything in my power to achieve to enhance female representation in parliament. But when acceptance without exception for all LGBT+ people and we consider the number of women at the very top of the two advocate for equality for all communities both here and parties, their record is at best mixed. Whilst Labour remains internationally’. Th e peerage of Hunt can be seen as a major the party with the highest total share of female MPs, it has step forward in the symbolical representation of the LGBTQ never had a female non-interim party leader. Harriet Harman community in British politics. Furthermore, her expertise on was interim leader for a few months in 2010 and 2015 aft er LGBTQ issues might enhance the substantive representation and had stepped down as party of the LGBTQ community in the House of Lords. leaders. Yet there was no shortage of female candidates in Labour’s recent leadership elections. In 2015, when became party leader, two male and two female Political parties and the candidates were in the race. Ahead of the 2016 snap lead- ership election, Corbyn stood against one other male candi- gender gap: from the date (and won). Th e 2020 Labour leadership election stood out in terms of its feminisation: was the only grassroots to the top male candidate. Initially, four women were in the contest, One of the reasons why there are fewer female MPs and peers but two women dropped out before the fi nal ballot. In the is that political parties in Britain tend to be unrepresentative end, Keir Starmer won the leadership contest. of the population when it comes to gender (but also regarding (see Profi le) was elected deputy party leader, following in the their age, social class, level of education, employment, and footsteps of two other women, Margaret Beckett (1992–1994) ethnicity). In 2017, only 30 per cent of Conservative Party and Harriet Harman (2007– 2015). members were female, compared to 48 per cent of Labour Th e fact that Labour has not yet had a female leader might members, 48 per cent of Green Party members, 43 per cent appear puzzling, but there are a number of explanations, such of SNP members, and 38 per cent of LibDem members (Bale as the patronising media coverage of female candidates, who et al. 2019, 32– 34). Only 26 per cent of the UK Independence are oft en judged by their looks, a biased party membership Party’s (UKIP) members were female in 2017. Th us, now- that tends to see men as more experienced – even when male adays, the more left - leaning parties tend to attract more and female candidates have equal levels of experience, and female members than their right-wing counterparts. Between misogyny within the Labour Party’s inner leadership circle – 2016 and 2017, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Labour’s especially under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. female membership increased by 10 per cent. Th is signifi cant Meanwhile, the LibDems elected their fi rst female leader, increase in female members should not surprise us. Aft er all, Jo Swinson, in 2019. Yet Swinson lost her seat in parliament women are much more likely than men to be primary carers in the same year’s elections, and with it, the party leadership. and work in the public sector, and they had borne the brunt Th e Green Party of England and Wales has had several female of the austerity measures which Labour opposed much more leaders in the past and a gender-balanced leadership duo since strongly under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. 2016. Even UKIP has been led by a woman, Diane James, in Th e parties’ gender gap at the grassroots matters for a 2016, although she resigned aft er 18 days due to a lack of number of reasons. For a start, Britain’s party members support from within the party. Th is leaves the Conservative increasingly take part in important decisions, such as leader- Party as the UK’s only major party of government to have ship elections and referendums on important and contentious been led by two women. issues. Th is gives them a lot of power. Th ey also maintain the It is also worth noting here that all of the UK’s major local party branches and campaign for their party during parties have established offi cial LGBTQ groups that cam- and outside of elections. Most importantly, perhaps, they are paign for LGBTQ rights inside and outside of their parties. the parties’ ‘talent pool’ from which candidates for public For example, the Labour LGBT+ group (formally called Gay

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PROFILE

Angela Rayner (1980–) Angela Rayner, Member of Parliament for Ashton- under- Lyne since 2015, has been serving as Shadow and deputy leader of the Labour Party since April 2020. Between 2016 and 2020, she was Shadow Secretary of State for Education. Rayner stands out from her colleagues in Parliament, many of whom come from a middle-class background and have university degrees. Rayner grew up on a social housing estate, raised by her mother, who had mental health problems and could not read or write. Rayner left secondary school at the age of 16 when she was pregnant, raising her son alone. Later, she attended college and qualifi ed as a care worker. During this time, she joined Unison (a trade union) and went on to become Unison’s most senior elected offi cial in north west England. In 2014, she was selected to become a Labour candidate, arguing that ‘times are too tough for too many and we need real people, with real life experience to bring a bit of common sense to policy-making in Westminster’. As an MP, Rayner has voted in favour of paying higher benefi ts over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability. She also voted in favour of gay marriage and stronger LGBTQ rights.

Labour Group) is a socialist society which has existed since leader in 1975, aft er two lost general elections. Th eresa May 1975 – and the LGBT+ Labour Councillors Network that became party leader and Prime Minister in 2016, aft er David was established in September 2018 to support Labour’s local Cameron had lost the Brexit referendum and stepped down. councillors and candidates identifying as LGBTQ. Meanwhile, As the (male) top contenders for the job, Boris Johnson and the LGBT+ Conservatives Group was set up in 2006 as the , destroyed each other’s chances of becoming successor of the Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality, a party leader and Prime Minister, two women were left in campaign group fi rst created in 1975. Th e LibDems launched the race: Andrea Leadsom and Th eresa May. Leadsom, a LGBT+ Liberal Democrats in 1988 (when it was called key Leave campaigner and environment secretary under Democrats for Lesbian & Gay Action). Th ese are just a few Cameron, gave an interview in which she declared herself to examples. Other parties, such as the Greens or the SNP, have be more in touch with voters than May, stating that ‘genuinely also set up designated groups for their LGBTQ members. All I feel that being a mum means you have a real stake in the of these groups campaign for more descriptive, substantive, future of our country, a tangible stake’. Aft er apologising to and symbolic representation of LGBTQ people inside their May (who does not have children) and aft er much criticism parties and UK politics more generally. from the media and some of her party colleagues, Leadsom decided to withdraw from the leadership contest. Th e prem- iership was May’s, but she was dealt a bad hand, becoming From the backbenches to the Prime Minister when her party and the country were deeply frontbenches: women in government divided over Brexit. Let us now have a look at the share of female Secretaries Th e UK’s two female Prime Ministers, Margaret Th atcher of State and their portfolios. Th e fi rst female MP to become (1979–1990) and Th eresa May (2016–2019), rose through the a minister was Margaret Bondfi eld. She was minister for ranks of the (predominantly male) Conservative Party. Yet, Labour in Ramsay MacDonald’s 1929– 31 Labour govern- both Th atcher and May became leaders at a moment of crisis, ment. Between the 1920s and the early 1990s, only seven like many other female party leaders around the world. ‘In other women served as cabinet ministers – amongst them, other words’, Kenny ( 2018 : 132) writes, ‘women oft en come to Margaret Th atcher. Yet, when Th atcher was Prime Minister, power when the job at the top is least desirable and are left to only one other woman was appointed to her Cabinet during clean up for someone else’s mess.’ Th atcher became the party the entire eleven years. It was Janet Young, who as Leader

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only woman out of these four. Overall, there were 39 female PROFILE Government Ministers and Whips in 2020, which amounted to a third of the 117 individuals in Government. Th us, so far, not a single government has been gender- balanced. (1956–) In recent years, a small number of women have been in Theresa May, Member of charge of some of the high-prestige departments that are trad- Parliament for Maidenhead since itionally coded as masculine, such as home aff airs (Th eresa 1997, was the UK’s second female May, 2010–2016; , 2016–2018; Priti Patel, 2019–), Prime Minister and leader of the defence (, 2019), international trade (Liz Conservative Party from 2016 Truss, 2019– ) or as gender neutral (but low- prestige), such until 2019. Before becoming Prime Minister, May was as international development (Priti Patel, 2016–2017, Penny the UK’s longest serving Home Secretary (2010– 2016) Mordaunt, 2017– 2019; Anne- Marie Trevelyan, 2020– ). in over 60 years. She also served as Minister for Women Having more female secretaries of state in positions of power and Equality (2010– 2012). and prestige enhances the symbolic representation of women. When May was fi rst elected to Parliament, she was Still, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused of running one out of only 13 female Conservative MPs. Over an ‘incredibly blokey’ government when it emerged that the years, May has supported the feminisation of the the most important cabinet committees, where many of the Conservative Party. In 2002, when she was chairman of government’s strategic decisions are taken, were predomin- the Conservative Party, she warned the delegates at the antly male. Not one cabinet committee was gender- balanced, party conference that they were seen as ‘the nasty party’, and six out of 15 did not have a single female member. out of touch and unrepresentative of modern Britain. It is also noteworthy that no woman has ever been In 2005, she co- founded Women2Win , a mentoring Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is considered the most and pressure group that helped female Tories become prestigious cabinet post aft er that of the Prime Minister. Still, candidates and enter Parliament. Yet, May’s record on in 2020, the new Labour leader, Keir Starmer, appointed women’s and LGBTQ issues is very mixed. Whilst she Anneliese Dodds as shadow chancellor – the fi rst woman was the driving force behind the 2015 Modern Slavery to hold this position. Th us, in Whitehall, women have only Act and the 2017 Domestic Violence Bill, her support slowly started to rise to positions of executive power. Th is is of austerity politics and her draconian immigration unsurprising: across the globe, the more women there are in policies made life harder for poorer and migrant parliament, the more female ministers there are – and in non- women. During her time as an MP May became more traditional roles. Th e number of female Secretaries of State is supportive of LGBTQ rights. therefore likely to increase over time.

of the House of Lords was not permitted the responsibility Gender and Scottish, of running a department. Generally, when women became Secretaries of State they were in charge of briefs that are coded Welsh, and Northern as feminine, such as health and social aff airs, education, and pensions. Th is pattern started to be interrupted by Tony Blair, Irish politics who appointed women to some of the more prestigious posts. Th is section provides a brief overview of the feminisation of For example, Margaret Beckett was appointed Britain’s fi rst Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish politics. It demonstrates female by Blair in 2006. Blair had appointed that the political institutions and politics in all three nations fi ve women to his 1997 government, which was the fi rst to have become more feminised since the devolution process include more than two female ministers at the time. Th e began in the late 1990s. Still, the extent of feminisation varies highest number of women ministers serving in a cabinet was between the three. eight (36 per cent), from May 2006 to May 2007, under Blair Th e creation of the new political institutions in Edinburgh, (House of Commons Library 2020 : 8). Cardiff , and Belfast off ered a window of opportunity to learn At the time of writing, following the February 2020 re- lessons from Westminster, where – despite the 1997 spike shuffl e, there were six women in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet (27 in female representation under New Labour – women had per cent of the 22 full cabinet posts). One of these posts was remained underrepresented. Women thus organised and unpaid and held by Amanda Milling (minister without port- campaigned for better representation at Holyrood (the folio). In addition, there were four ministers who could attend Scottish Parliament) and the Welsh Parliament. Equality- Cabinet, but Suella Braverman (the Attorney General) was the seeking reformers in Scotland and Wales infl uenced the shape

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of the new devolved institutions. For instance, equal oppor- from 2007 to 2008, and from 2015 to 2017. It is tunities committees in the legislatures and equality units in also noteworthy that in Scotland, between 2015 and 2017, the government were created, and family- friendly sitting hours two main opposition parties (the Conservatives and Labour) were introduced (Mackay and McAllister 2012 ). What is were led by women (Ruth Davidson and Kezia Dugdale). more, decision-makers committed to gender equality in policy Th is has not yet happened in the other parts of the United making and implemented new legal responsibilities to pro- Kingdom. In Wales, Leanne Wood was leader of Plaid Cymru mote equality of opportunity (including the powerful statu- from 2012 to 2018. Prior to the late 1990s, Plaid Cymru was tory equality duty in Wales). It is therefore unsurprising that an overwhelmingly male party but it began to feminise post the fi rst elections to the newly created parliaments represented devolution. So far, the Welsh Conservative Party and Labour a sea change in women’s representation. In Scotland, 37 Party have been led by men, and, unlike Scotland, Wales has per cent of members of the new Scottish Parliament were not yet had a female fi rst minister. female – an event that Kenny (2013 ) describes as a ‘gender When it comes to the descriptive representation of the coup’. In Wales, women comprised 40 per cent (rising shortly LGBTQ community, the Scottish Parliament had 7 per cent of thereaft er to 42 per cent) of the new Welsh Parliament. Th ese openly gay MSPs in 2016. Also, in 2016, four out of Scotland’s results were achieved through gender quotas, used by the six party leaders (the Conservatives’ Ruth Davidson, Labour’s Labour party in Scotland and Wales, and matched by formal Kezia Dugdale, Ukip’s David Coburn and the Greens’ Patrick or informal measures by the two left ist nationalist parties, the Harvie) were openly lesbian, gay or bisexual. Having LGBTQ (SNP) and Plaid Cymru (the Party of people in positions of political leadership in Scotland has Wales; see Russell et al. 2002 ). been important in enhancing the symbolic representa- Since the late 1990s, women have generally made up 30 tion of the LGBTQ community. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in to 40 per cent of members aft er each parliamentary election. 2015, the Rainbow Europe Index identifi ed Scotland as the At the Welsh Parliament, aft er a by- election in 2006, 31 best country in Europe when it came to legal protections for out of 60 Assembly Members (AMs), or 52 per cent, were LGBTQ people. Meanwhile, there are about 5 per cent of women (House of Commons Library 2020 : 10). Meanwhile, LGBTQ AMs in Wales. Here, the LGBTQ community and the results of the 2016 Scottish parliamentary elections were their rights have a lower profi le than in Scotland. disappointing for gender parity, as only 34.9 per cent of female Northern Ireland has been led by a female executive since Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) were elected, January 2020: First Minister Arlene Foster (Democratic exactly the same proportion as in the previous elections of Unionist Party, DUP) and deputy First Minister Michelle 2011. In fact, the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections remain O’Neill (Sinn Fé in). Yet, since devolution began, women have the high point of women’s representation in Scotland (at been underrepresented in the Northern Ireland Assembly 39.5 per cent). While in 2016 the SNP and Labour’s use of (Stormont). In 2013, when only 19 per cent of the Members quotas made a diff erence, the overall number of women of the Assembly (MLAs) were female (the same percentage as has stagnated due in large part to the strong performance in 2011) it was noted that in the European context, ‘with the of the Conservative Party across Scotland: only around 19 exception of Italian regional legislatures, the Northern Ireland per cent of Scottish Conservative candidates were women in Assembly has the lowest female representation of comparable 2016, and one of their regional lists, Highlands and Islands, devolved institutions in Western Europe’ (Northern Ireland was men- only (Kenny et al. 2016). Th e Scottish Parliament Assembly 2013 : 3). Initially, the low number of female MLAs launched a campaign in 2019 aiming to get more women to was explained with reference to Northern Ireland’s violent become MSPs. confl ict over its constitutional status during the late twentieth In Scotland and Wales, women have also gained more pos- century. Aft er all, men were much more likely to be involved itional power in recent years, which has done much for the in violence during the Troubles, and as the power- sharing symbolic representation of women. One of the most powerful parliament was predicated on bringing together organisations women in British politics is Nicola Sturgeon, who became formerly involved in violence and encouraging them to fi rst minister of Scotland (and SNP leader) in 2014, having engage in peaceful political participation, women were oft en served as deputy fi rst minister from 2007 to 2014. She is excluded. During the peace talks leading to the signing of the fi rst woman to hold the position and the fi rst female the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the Northern Ireland leader of any of the devolved UK administrations. Th e other Women’s Coalition (NIWC) sought to represent women from major parties in Scotland have also been led by women over the diff erent sides of the confl ict. However, large numbers of the past two decades. Th e Scottish Conservative Party was led male politicians sought to exclude them by heckling them by Annabel Goldie (2005–2011) and Ruth Davidson (2011– during talks, in order to silence them. Since the late 1990s, 2019). Unlike the UK Labour Party, the Party the number of female MLAs has increased slowly. By the time has also been led by women: led the party of the May 2016 elections, 28 per cent of MLAs were female.

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On International Women’s Day 2016, a cross- party Society therefore called for a code of conduct against sexism Women’s Caucus was launched in the Northern Ireland to be introduced, and an eff ective Standards Committee to Assembly to tackle the under- representation of women in enforce it. Fawcett also asked the UK Government to require political life. Th e 2017 snap elections returned 30 per cent parties to collect accurate election candidate diversity data, of female MLAs. Northern Ireland’s biggest parties, the to enable a better understanding of how women, ethnic Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn F é in, are now minorities, disabled people and the LGBTQ community are both led by women, following the resignation of leading represented at the local level. Th is data is currently not sys- political fi gures Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson. In tematically collected, and it is therefore diffi cult to get a full addition, since October 2016, the Alliance party has been picture of the representation of the LGBTQ community in led by a woman, Naomi Long, who was also appointed as local government. In recent surveys, 8 per cent of candidates Minister for Justice in 2020. Th us, despite the initial hurdles, for local council elections in England and Wales declared to politics are beginning to feminise in Northern Ireland. What be gay, lesbian, bisexual or other (Equality and Human Rights is more, in December 2019, the second openly gay MLA Commission 2019 ). was elected. Th is could be seen as a sign that Stormont and In the UK’s devolved nations, local government is even Northern Irish politics more generally might become a more less gender- balanced than in England. Th us, in Scotland’s LGBTQ- friendly place. Still, the situation is complex, and local councils, only 29 per cent of elected representatives LGBTQ rights remain contested in Northern Ireland. As were female in 2020 (up from 24 per cent in the previous Hayes and Nagle ( 2016 ) demonstrate, LGBTQ rights have elections) whilst in Wales, 28 per cent of local councillors become entangled with the struggle for ethnonational rights were female in 2020 (up from 26 per cent in the previous in Northern Ireland. Irish nationalist parties have supported elections). In Northern Ireland’s 2019 local elections, 26.4 per stronger LGBTQ rights because they see them as compat- cent of elected local councillors were women (up from 25.1 ible with the advancement of the equality agenda and the per cent in the previous elections). Th ese low levels of female demand for minority rights. Unionist parties, by contrast, representation are largely due to the lack of party quotas at resist LGBTQ rights as they view them as a Trojan horse the local level. It is, however, worth highlighting that the share deployed by nationalists to attack unionist identity. Th is view of female local councillors in Europe is 33 per cent, meaning is also shared by Northern Ireland’s Protestant community. that more needs to be done across Europe to enhance gender Th us, in post- peace- agreement Northern Ireland, the diff e- diversity in local politics. rence in support for LGBTQ rights between the two main communities – Unionist and Nationalist – has now become ‘a war by other means’ (Hayes and Nagle 2016 ). The UK’s governments from Thatcher to Gender and local Johnson: representing government women’s and LGBTQ Let us now turn our attention to the descriptive represen- tation of women and LGBTQ people in local government issues? across the UK. Th e lack of diversity when it comes to gender, Having equal gender representation inside the UK’s polit- ethnicity, disability in local government across the UK was ical institutions is a matter of justice. Another important highlighted in a damning report published by the Fawcett question to ask is whether having more female political Society in 2017. Th e report states that in 2017, only one in leaders makes a diff erence for women. Th is refers to Hanna three local councillors in England was a woman, up only 5 per- Pitkin’s notion of substantive representation, or the represen- centage points in two decades. Furthermore, in the devolved tation of women’s interests. Existing research shows that regions, all of the six elected metro mayors were men, and having a critical mass of female politicians makes a diff e- just 12 per cent of combined authority representatives were rence, as women politicians are generally more inclined than women. Following the 2019 local elections in England, 35 men to attach importance to women’s issues (Childs 2004 ). per cent of local councillors were female (Fawcett Society Having gender-balanced political institutions is therefore not 2019 ). Furthermore, Fawcett highlighted that a third of just a matter of justice, but also of fairness. female councillors had experienced sexist comments Th ere is a growing interest in whether and how female from their colleagues, and that many LGBTQ women had politicians represent women’s interests. But what are experienced multiple forms of discrimination. Th e Fawcett women’s interests? For a long time, scholars interested in the

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representation of women’s interests had a feminist (left -wing) Margaret Thatcher and the bias and argued that right- wing/ conservative governments representation of women’s and did not represent women’s interests, as they did not challenge LGBTQ issues the patriarchy, did too little to promote women’s careers (e.g. by refusing to implement gender quotas or by neglecting to As Britain’s fi rst female Prime Minister, Margaret Th atcher is improve childcare provision) or ignored the gender pay gap. a particularly intriguing case. Her election was important for Yet, right- wing/ conservative parties and governments also women’s symbolic representation. British political leadership represent the interests of women, namely, of their female could no longer seen as a male domain. It is, however, widely members and voters, who tend to be socially more conser- argued that Th atcher’s politics did not prioritise women’s vative (and economically more liberal). Th us, in recent years, issues, but that her dismantling of the British welfare state had scholars have broadened their focus and examined centre- overwhelmingly negative eff ects on women. In her analysis of right parties and their representation of women’s interests. Margaret Th atcher’s and ’s legacy when it comes Celis and Childs (2012 : 214) highlight that ‘given that to women and the family, Gillian Pascall ( 1997 ) argues that “women” are not a homogeneous but a heterogeneous group – women’s position as women at the end of the Conservative and because simply does not speak for, or to, all era was on balance better than it was at the beginning, in women – good representation is enhanced by “the making the sense that more women were in paid employment. Yet present of” complementary, competing and confl icting views many changes owed more to the women’s movement than on what women, and their interests and needs, are’. Still, while they did to Th atcher’s and Major’s policies. Under Th atcher, conservative parties represent the interests of their female the government unsuccessfully tried to restore the traditional voters, they have done less to enhance gender equality than family through measures such as the Child Support Act, in their left ist counterparts. Indeed, feminists have been more an attempt to restore the situation in which fathers were the willing to represent women’s interests and change policy for family’s breadwinners (and mothers stayed at home to do most women in a feminist way. of the care work). Nevertheless, the spread of market forces Acknowledging that women’s interests are very diverse – through the labour market, housing, and other social provi- are there at least some policy areas then can be defi ned as sion, as initiated by Th atcher, contributed to destabilising the ‘women’s issues’? At a fi rst glance, these are rather diffi cult family rather than restoring it (Pascall 1997 : 292). Th atcher’s to pin down, as almost all political decisions aff ect women. governments did not go back on equal opportunities legisla- Th ere are, however, a number of criteria that can be used tion, but they resisted further policies to make equal oppor- to identify whether parties’ claims constitute the substan- tunities compatible with motherhood and other caring roles. tive representation of women. According to Celis et al. Th us, more women entered the labour market in the 1980s (2009 ) (cited by Celis and Childs 2012 : 219), such claims and 1990s, but there was no extension of nursery provision would be: (1) directly constructed as being of importance to or rights to enable parents to combine paid and unpaid work women; (2) presented as only aff ecting women; (3) discussed responsibilities. in terms of gender diff erence; (4) spoken of in terms of During her premiership, Th atcher openly opposed the gendered eff ects; and/ or (5) framed in terms of equality promotion of a gay lifestyle in order to protect the trad- between women and men. Th ese criteria can help us under- itional family. In her memoirs, she wrote that: ‘Homosexual stand how political parties seek to address female voters. activists have moved from seeking a right of privacy to For example, in her analysis of women’s issues during the demanding social approval for the “gay” lifestyle, equal 2017 general election, Kenny ( 2018 ) demonstrates that the status with the heterosexual family and even the legal right UK’s parties addressed female voters by referring to issues to exploit the sexual uncertainty of adolescents’ (Th atcher such as sexual violence, the gender pay gap, parental leave, 1995 : 152). At the 1987 Conservative Party conference, she childcare, education, social care, and public services more declared: ‘Children who need to be taught to respect trad- broadly. itional moral values are being taught that they have the When it comes to the political representation of LGBTQ inalienable right to be gay’ (Th atcher 1987, cited by Smith interests, the analysis is also complex. Th e UK’s LGBTQ com- 1994 : 218). According to Smith ( 1994 ) Th atcher’s discourse munity is ideologically very diverse and spans across the pol- was deeply infl uenced by the homophobic media coverage itical spectrum. Still, we can categorise LGBTQ issues as those of AIDS. She also attempted to block explicit, public health that address the civil rights of LGBTQ persons: for instance, warnings about AIDS because they mentioned male sexual when political parties have called for equal rights for LGBTQ acts. Also, under Th atcher’s rule, in 1988, Section 28 of the persons, such as the right for same- sex couples to marry or Local Government Act was enacted – a law that stopped adopt children. More recently, trans- rights, such as gender local councils and schools ‘promoting the teaching of recognition, have become a political issue. the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family

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relationship’. In practice, teachers were prohibited from brought the age of consent for homosexual men and women discussing even the possibility of same- sex relationships in line with that of heterosexual sex. Furthermore, the ban on with students, and libraries were not allowed to have LGBTQ people serving in the armed forces was ended. New LGBTQ-themed literature on their shelves. Labour also extended adoption rights to LGBTQ individuals and couples and created civil partnerships. In 2003, New Labour also repealed Section 28 of the Local Government Tony Blair and the representation of Act, which had banned local authorities and schools from women’s and LGBTQ issues ‘promoting homosexuality’. In 2005, New Labour’s Gender Recognition Act entered into force, allowing people with When New Labour entered government under Tony Blair in gender dysphoria to change their legal gender. 1997, promoting gender equality was a key concern. Indeed, a Women’s Unit (which later on became the Women’s and Equality Unit) was created at the heart of government to scru- David Cameron and the representation tinise all legislation to ensure that policies across all areas were of women’s and LGBTQ issues women- friendly and would promote gender equality. Th e unit worked primarily on the following themes: reducing the When David Cameron became leader in 2005, the gender pay gap, improving work- life balance, increasing the Conservative Party lacked electoral competitiveness on number of women in public life, improving women’s access women’s and LGBTQ issues. Since the mid- 1990s, the to public services, and combatting domestic violence (Squires Conservatives had lost younger women’s votes to New and Wickham- Jones 2004 : 86– 87). Over time, the unit’s Labour. Indeed, manifestos from 1992 to remit narrowed around economic issues, which, according 2005 depicted women mainly as caregivers and, mostly, as to Squires and Wickham- Jones ( 2004 : 93), was unsurprising, mothers, whereas men were depicted as inhabiting the public given that New Labour’s arguments for equality were shaped sphere (Childs et al. 2010 : 208– 211). Th ese images looked in terms of economic effi ciency and competition rather than outdated for younger, working women. gender justice. David Cameron wanted to modernise the party and saw Under New Labour, a series of important welfare reforms feminisation as part of this agenda. He was keen to get more in the domain of work-life balance were passed. Most notably, female candidates elected to Parliament. Also, he wanted to through the Employment Act 2002, the right to take leave appeal to female voters with a range of new policies focusing when a child is born was extended to women and men, as well on the balancing of work and family life, combatting violence as the right for parents of young children and those with other against women, and addressing women’s needs in the context caring responsibilities to request (but not necessarily receive) of international development (Campbell and Childs 2015 ). fl exible employment. Th ese reforms signifi cantly extended His aim was to attract middle-income mothers (the so-called welfare rights for women – whilst, however, neglecting paid ‘mumsnetters ’) as the party had now widely accepted women’s father’s leave as an important way to promote gender equality (and mothers’) entrance into paid employment (Childs and amongst parents. New Labour also oversaw a wide- ranging Webb 2012 : 123). Before being elected, Cameron had also reform of childcare and early- learning services focusing on claimed that a conservative government would be the ‘most the supply, aff ordability, quality, governance, and diversity of family- friendly government ever’ (Annesley and Gains provider. Th e number of childcare places doubled between 2012 : 718). 1997 and 2007, and a number of measures were introduced Once elected, the Conservatives under Cameron’s lead- to make childcare more aff ordable. Th ese measures had an ership entered a coalition with the LibDems (2010– 2015) important impact on families and, in particular, mothers, who and, from 2015 onwards, ruled as a single-party government. increasingly worked full-time. New Labour also introduced Th eir policy record on women can be described as a ‘mixed the minimum wage, which benefi tted women most, as they bag’. On the one hand, domestically and internationally, the made up the majority of low- paid workers. Another policy coalition government introduced a number of measures to benefi tting primarily women was the creation of specialist address women’s health, combat violence against women, domestic violence courts. At the same time, however, lone and support women in the developing world. For instance, parents’ benefi ts were cut despite strong opposition from stalking was made a specifi c criminal off ence, and an action within the Labour Party. As the majority of single parents plan was introduced to combat female genital mutilation. were (and continue to be) mothers, this policy hit some of the Moreover, a modern slavery bill was implemented in 2015 poorest and most vulnerable women. (Campbell and Childs 2015 : 160). In an eff ort to stress his Blair’s New Labour government also made some signifi - commitment to the family and marriage as an institution, cant progress in promoting LGBTQ rights and equality. It Cameron introduced a tax break for married couples (and

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civil partners) in 2015. His government also made fl exible of domestic abuse cases. She also sponsored the Modern working easier for women. Slavery Act 2015, which sought to tackle human traffi cking. At the same time, spending on welfare benefi ts for the On the other hand, she presided over a draconian immigra- UK’s poorest families had shrunk by almost a quarter aft er tion regime and the indefi nite retention of pregnant women nearly a decade of David Cameron’s austerity politics, and at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Centre (Kenny 2018 : 134). the bulk of these cuts hit the poorest hardest. Austerity had As Prime Minister, May was accused of failing to priori- a disproportionate impact on women’s lives, as women use tise women’s refuge services in spite of her claims to tackle more public services and are the majority of welfare benefi t domestic violence (Reeves 2020 ). As part of David Cameron’s recipients. Th is is because women are more likely to be poor, a austerity agenda, between 2010 and 2017, 17 per cent of spe- consequence of a looser attachment to the labour market due cialist women’s refuges had to be closed for lack of funding. to their traditional role as unpaid carers. Women also make When it comes to LGBTQ issues, May’s voting behav- up the majority of the public- sector labour force (Women’s iour changed over time, following the party line. In 1998, she Budget Group 2018 ). Cuts to public spending and to public- voted against reducing the age of consent for homosexual sector jobs therefore made many women unemployed or acts from eighteen to sixteen. However, she voted in favour work in low- paid and temporary jobs, which increased their of gay marriage in 2013. It is also worth mentioning that in fi nancial insecurity. Women are also more likely to have to 2018, May’s government launched a public consultation in make up for lost services by increasing the amount of unpaid order to understand gender recognition in more detail and care work they perform in looking aft er elderly, disabled explore ways in which the system created by the 2004 Gender or young family members. Women from ethnic minority Recognition Act could be improved. Th e government’s backgrounds were hit even harder by austerity (Women’s response was postponed to 2020 and thereby became Boris Budget Group 2018). Johnson’s responsibility. During Cameron’s premiership, there were also elem- ents of social liberalism, as gay marriage was legalised in England and Wales. In February 2013, the House of Boris Johnson and the representation of Commons voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex women’s and LGBTQ issues Couples) Bill, although fewer than half of Conservative MPs backed David Cameron on the issue. Th e Prime Boris Johnson’s premiership (2019– ) has so far been Minister relied on the support of the LibDems and Labour, dominated by Britain’s exit from the European Union and by as there was considerable opposition within his own party, Covid- 19. Both crises have gendered eff ects. For a start, the both in parliament and at the grassroots. Th at gay marriage 2016 Brexit campaign was dominated by men, whilst women became law under a conservative-led government surprised (and in particular, Th eresa May) were arguably left to clean up many; aft er all, the diff erent leaders of the Conservative the mess. Also, the potential implications of Brexit for gender Party since 1997 and up until Cameron’s leadership had and gender equality were left out of the Brexit campaign. been at best tolerant of gay rights. Here, David Cameron’s Boris Johnson, a key fi gure of the Vote Leave campaign, commitment to protecting the family as an institution became leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister through marriage, and his attempt to modernise the image on the ‘get Brexit done’ ticket. Th e full political, economic, of the Conservative Party, serve as explanations. and social costs of Brexit remain unclear as the UK has not yet negotiated its future relationship with the EU. Still, experts warn that Brexit will have an impact on the UK’s social policy Theresa May and the representation of and, particularly, the gender equality framework. EU gender women’s and LGBTQ issues equality policies have played a signifi cant role in the member states’ labour market regulations. Guerrina and Masselot Th eresa May publicly identifi ed as a feminist by wearing a t- (2018 ) highlight two specifi c areas where women’s rights are shirt from the Fawcett Society, saying ‘Th is is what a feminist likely to be weakened as a consequence of Brexit: maternity looks like’. She also co- founded Women2Win , the conserva- rights and gender balance in corporate boards. Indeed, the tive group that supported David Cameron’s commitment to UK government’s position has restrained the EU’s ability to elect more women to parliament. Yet, her record on the pro- adopt more extensive maternity rights and stronger gender motion of women’s issues during her time as Home Secretary equality regulations. In both cases the UK government (2010– 2016) and Prime Minister (2016– 2019) has been deployed the business argument in order to stop the ratifi - described as ‘decidedly mixed’ (Kenny 2018 : 134). As Home cation of new gender equality policies. Considering the UK’s Secretary, Th eresa May introduced legislation criminalising past behaviour can help us understand continuity and change coercive control and ordered an enquiry into police treatment in government priorities in relation to EU and gender equality

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policies. Brexit means that British equity standards are ‘likely opposite sides shout, sneer and laugh at each other. In this to collapse without the EU minimum standards’ (Guerrina climate, consensus between the government and the oppos- and Masselot 2018 : 325). As Boris Johnson’s government has ition is rarely sought (and reached) and male and female MPs been accused of being a ‘boy’s club’ it seems highly unlikely are used to having to stand their ground. Yet female MPs in that it will focus its energy on introducing stronger maternity particular are exposed to patronising and condescending rights or other gender equality legislation. language in the House of Commons, occasionally from the EU membership has also had a very positive impact on Prime Minister, and in front of the whole chamber and the sexual orientation and gender identity rights in the UK. TV audience. In 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron told Brexit, Dunne ( 2019 ) argues, is unlikely to fundamentally Labour MP to ‘calm down dear’ during Prime alter these existing rights and entitlements, as there are few (if Minister’s Questions. Th is fuelled accusations by Labour’s any) movements to reduce or withdraw existing protections. deputy leader, Harriet Harman, that he was ‘patronising’ Still, the UK’s LGBTQ community will be deprived of future and had an ‘outdated attitude towards women’. In 2018, EU rights developments. Boris Johnson (Foreign Secretary at the time) was told off In 2020, following a public consultation initiated by by the Speaker of the Commons, , for being Th eresa May in 2018, the Johnson government ruled out sexist. Johnson referred to shadow Foreign Secretary Emily changes to the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. Ministers Th ornberry as ‘Lady Nugee’. ‘Th e shadow Foreign Secretary rejected calls from trans activists for people to be able to has a name, and it is not “Lady something”. We know what her self- identify their gender and change their birth certifi cates name is. It is inappropriate and frankly sexist to speak in those without a medical diagnosis. terms, and I am not having it in this Chamber’, John Bercow With regard to Boris Johnson’s response to Covid- 19, insisted. Th ese are just two examples of the patronising and critics are highlighting the eff ects on women, who are signifi - sexist discourses that are still used at the very top of the gov- cantly less likely to die from the virus but are bearing the brunt ernment to put women in their place – in front of everybody. of the ensuing economic crisis. In their analysis of the gen- Th e demeaning attitude towards women also manifests dered impact of Covid-19, the Women’s Budget Group (2020 ) itself in the behaviour towards female staff working at the stresses that in the UK, women are the majority of frontline Commons. In the aft ermath of the 2017 #MeToo movement workers, the majority of the low- paid, and the majority of against sexual harassment and sexual abuse, the House people with caring responsibilities, paid and unpaid. As a of Commons’ internal culture was in the news. A number consequence, women are more likely to live in poverty, more of male frontbench and backbench MPs (from both the likely to rely on public services and social security, and more Conservative and Labour parties) resigned and/ or were likely to be exposed to the virus. What is more, as women suspended from their party over sexual misconduct. Th e from ethnic minorities are overrepresented in the health most high-profi le case was that of defence secretary Michael sector, they have suff ered disproportionately from Covid-19. Fallon, who resigned from his post in Th eresa May’s cabinet Whilst it is too early to judge Boris Johnson’s overall record in November 2017, aft er allegations were made against him. on women’s and gender issues, we can nevertheless see that In March 2018, the House of Commons Commission decided Brexit and Covid-19 have aff ected, and will continue to do so, that there should be an enquiry into bullying and sexual har- women diff erently than men, but that the gendered eff ects are assment inside the Commons. Th e report, written by Dame largely ignored by a ‘boy’s club’ government. Laura Cox, stressed the gendered dimension of bullying and sexual harassment in the Commons: The bullying and harassment alleged, both The House of against Members of Parliament and other members of House staff, and the complaints of Commons: an inclusive lack of support from senior managers have an working environment for obvious gender dimension. The majority of the allegations, and almost all the allegations of women and the LGBTQ sexual harassment […] are made by women still employed in the House, or who were formerly community? employed there. (Cox 2018 : 69) Th e House of Commons is known for its antagonistic set- up: government (usually made up of a single party) and In August 2020, a (yet unnamed) Tory MP was arrested and opposition sit opposite each other in the chamber. During interviewed by the police over rape and assault allegations, public debates, the tone can be aggressive, as MPs from whilst a former Tory MP, Charlie Elphicke, was convicted for

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sexually assaulting two women, one of whom was a parlia- arsenal. Consequently, both have been unsheathed’. Vine mentary aide. One of Elphicke’s victims reported the assault and Th e received much criticism for this ridi- to Conservative party whips nearly one year before the police culing portrait of Britain’s most powerful politicians. Nicola was called. Sturgeon’s spokesperson was one of a string of politicians to Th e fact that the House of Commons has not been a criticise the tabloid over its headline, saying: ‘Brexit may risk very inclusive workplace was already highlighted in Sarah taking Britain back to the early 1970s, but there is no need for Childs’s 2016 report, ‘Th e Good Parliament’. In the report, coverage of events to lead the way’. Childs makes 43 recommendations as to how to make the Whilst the British tabloid media oft en trivialises female Commons a more diversity- sensitive workplace, in terms not political leaders, social media platforms have been accused of only of gender, but also ethnicity, disability, and social class. tolerating hate speech towards women. To be sure, aggressive Th e recommendations address three dimensions: ensuring Twitter ‘trolls’ have become a threat for many people in the equality of participation, improving parliamentary infra- public life. Still, in the UK, female leaders are targeted more structure, and making the House of Commons’ culture oft en and more violently than their male counterparts. As more inclusive. Amongst the issues that Childs fl agged up Dhrodia ( 2018 : 381) writes in her analysis of the 2017 gen- are: the lack of diversity amongst MPs; the lack of women eral election campaign, ‘online abuse against women is in the Commons’ leadership positions; parliament’s family- oft en sexist or misogynistic in nature, and online threats unfriendly working hours; the lack of proper parental leave of violence against women can be sexualised and usually provisions for MPs; and the culture inside the chamber. Th ese include specifi c references to women’s bodies’. Th e study also are all crucial points, as parliament should function as a role highlights that Diane Abbot, a black Labour MP and at the model for society. time shadow Home Secretary, received by far the most abuse on Twitter: she alone received more abuse during the total period of analysis than all female MPs from the Conservative UK media: a friendly Party and Scottish National Party combined. Female MPs of Asian origin also receive a lot of abuse, regardless of their environment for women party affi liation. Th is demonstrates that gender intersects with other characteristics, such as ethnicity, when it comes and the LGBTQ to online abuse. Indeed, much of the abuse that Diane Abbot and other female ethnic minority MPs receive on Twitter is community? both misogynistic and racist (Palmer 2019 ). In Britain, the tabloid press is very widely read. Indeed, the Religion also intersects with gender when it comes to right-wing Th e Daily Mail and Th e Sun are Britain’s bestselling online harassment. , a former Labour MP, newspapers. Both of them regularly trivialise, ridicule, and was exposed to antisemitic harassment which left her fearing ‘other’ female political leaders. Th ere are many examples but for her life. Six people were convicted of criminal off ences let us concentrate on some of the most high- profi le cases. against her – four from the far right, two from the far left . When, in 1997, 101 female Labour MPs entered the House In the end, Berger left the Labour Party (and joined the of Commons and the share of female MPs had doubled, LibDems) as she felt let down by the Labour leadership and the tabloid press referred to them as ‘Blair’s Babes’, thereby her local party in the fi ght against antisemitism. Furthermore, trivialising the female leaders. A few months before the 2010 a number of female conservative MPs decided against general election, Th e Daily Mail speculated on the future standing for re- election in 2019, citing online abuse as one make- up of the Conservative Party by introducing readers of the reasons behind their decision. Harassment via social to ‘Cameron’s Cuties: the 80 women likely to be among MPs media is of course ‘only’ one aspect of violence against women in the Tories new woman friendly party.’ Later, Th e Daily in elections; there is also intimidation via e- mail; people Mail also referred to the new intake of female MPs under loitering in candidates’ homes or other places they frequent; Cameron’s leadership as ‘Dave’s Dolls’ and commented exten- and sexual harassment. In their analysis of the 2017 general sively on their physical appearance (Mavin et al. 2010 : 559). election candidate survey, Collignon and R ü dig ( 2020 ) found When Prime Minister Th eresa May and Scotland’s First that four in every ten candidates experienced at least one Minister Nicola Sturgeon met to discuss Brexit in March type of harassment, and that female and young candidates 2017, Th e Daily Mail published an opinion piece entitled were targeted in particular. Th e most horrifi c crime against ‘Never mind Brexit, who won Legs- It’. In this opinion piece, a female politician was committed in the lead- up to the 2016 Vine wrote: ‘But what stands out here are the legs – and the Brexit referendum. Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in her West vast expanse on show. Th ere is no doubt that both women Yorkshire constituency by a neo- Nazi who uttered the words consider their pins to be the fi nest weapon in their physical ‘Britain fi rst’ and ‘keep Britain independent’ as he carried out

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the attack. Cox had campaigned for Britain to remain in the HIV- positive. Th e centre- left newspaper Th e Guardian European Union. Th us, for many people, but in particular referred to Chris Smith as ‘the pioneer who changed gay for women, political campaigning and being in public offi ce lives’. Still, the right- wing tabloid press remained homo- comes at a very high cost. If they speak out against misogyny phobic. In 1998, Th e Sun screamed on its front page for and racism, they receive even more abuse. Tony Blair to come clean about the ‘gay mafi a’ at the heart For a long time, a vicious tabloid press culture of black- of British public life. It aft erwards vowed to no longer ‘out’ mail and exposure made life diffi cult for the LGBTQ com- gay people ‘unless it was in the public interest’. Donna munity, especially if they wanted to participate in politics. Smith ( 2012 ) argues in her study of the press coverage of For instance, Peter Tatchell, the Labour candidate for LGBTQ politicians since the 1950s that there has been a Bermondsey in 1983, was the subject of a homophobic steady move away from intolerance and ridicule since the campaign. Th e ‘outing’ of gay MPs and peers had become late 1990s. Aft er all, public opinion about homosexuality a tabloid staple. A change in attitudes towards the LGBTQ has improved signifi cantly. What is more, Smith highlights community happened in the 1990s. Prime Minister John that David Cameron brought with him a calmer and fairer Major and Foreign Secretary supported approach to LGBTQ rights in the Conservative Party, and bringing down the age of consent for gay men from 21 to that the tone of media depictions has generally improved 18. When New Labour entered offi ce in 1997, a number of too. According to Smith, this indicates that the representa- LGBTQ candidates felt they could be open about their sexual tion of LGBTQ politicians in the British press will continue orientation. Labour MP Chris Smith became the fi rst openly to improve, but that we still have to wait for being gay not to gay MP and Secretary of State (for culture, media and sport). be newsworthy before gay MPs receive truly equal represen- Smith was also the fi rst political fi gure to admit to being tation in the press.

Chapter summary Th is chapter has highlighted the slowly increasing feminisation of British politics that has taken place since the late 1990s. Th e number of women in Parliament at Westminster, in central government, and in the devolved parliaments and executives in Scotland and Wales is signifi cantly higher than it was 20 years ago. Northern Ireland is also beginning to catch up. In addition, British politics has become a more open environment for the LGBTQ community, as the number of openly LGBTQ politicians, including those in leadership positions, is increasing. Despite such progress, a gender power imbalance persists, and particularly at Westminster, where female Secretaries of State remain in a minority and are oft en put in charge of the less prestigious, and lower-profi le, departments. Also, in parliament and the media – and in particular the right-wing tabloid press – female politicians are oft en patronised and trivialised, no matter how powerful they are. Most worryingly, increasing numbers of female candidates have been victims of harassment in recent years, and in particular those from ethnic and religious minorities. Whilst signifi cant progress has been made for women and the LGBTQ community when it comes to gender equality legislation and anti-discrimination policies over the past decades, the austerity agenda post- 2010, Brexit, and Covid- 19 have aff ected women disproportionately.

■ Recent crises – austerity, Brexit, and Covid- 19 – have Discussion points aff ected, and will continue to aff ect, women diff erently

■ In your opinion, should UK parties be legally obliged to than men. Why have recent British governments let this introduce gender quotas for parliamentary elections? happen?

■ Why are Britain’s political parties (on average) unrepre- sentative of the population? What could they do to attract more diverse members? Further reading In recent years, the role of women in British politics has gained ■ Why has the House of Lords, despite its poor gender an increasing amount of attention. Labour MP Rachel Reeves balance, seen more women in leading roles than the House ( 2020 ) has written a very accessible and up- to- date book on of Commons? the female MPs who changed British politics. Furthermore, ■ How has the appointment or election of LGBTQ people the longest- serving female MP, Harriet Harman ( 2017 ), has aff ected British politics? published her political autobiography describing the struggles

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she experienced as a feminist Labour MP in a very male polit- Childs , S. (2016 ) ‘The Good Parliament’. www.bristol. ical environment since the 1980s. In addition, Childs ( 2004 ) ac.uk/ media- library/ sites/ news/ 2016/ july/ 20%20 has analysed the role of Labour MPs in feminising New Jul%20Prof%20Sarah%20Childs%20The%20Good%20 Labour during the 1990s and early 2000s. Th e most exten- Parliament%20report.pdf (accessed 4 July 2020). sive study into the feminisation of the Conservative Party Childs , S. , Webb , P., and Marthaler , S. ( 2010 ) ‘ Constituting was written by Childs and Webb ( 2012 ). Th ose interested and Substantively representing women: applying new in the role of women in the House of Lords might want to approaches to a UK case study.’ Politics and Gender read Eason ( 2009 ). Meanwhile Mackay and McAllister ( 2012 ) 6 : 199 – 223 . and Murtagh ( 2008 ) have published very useful accounts on Childs , S., and Webb , P. (2012 ) Sex, Gender and the gender politics in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland post Conservative Party. From Iron Lady to Kitten Heals devolution. Th ose interested in how gender and race inter- (Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan). sect in British politics might want to read Palmer ( 2019 ). Collignon , S., and R ü dig , W. (2020 ) ‘Harassment and Finally, Smith’s (2012 ) study into the British press’s (chan- Intimidation of parliamentary candidates in the United ging) representation of LGBTQ politicians is intriguing, as is Kingdom .’ Th e Political Quarterly 91 ( 2 ): 422 – 429 . Robinson’s ( 2007 ) portrait of gay men and the Left in post- Cox , L. (2018 ) ‘Th e bullying and harassment of House of war Britain. Commons staff . Independent inquiry report.’ www.par- liament.uk/ mps- lords- and- offices/ offices/ commons/ media- relations- group/ news/ statement- on- dame- laura- Useful websites coxs-report- into- the- bullying- and- harassment- of- house- of- commons- staff - / (accessed 11 July 2020). ■ Women in the UK’s Parliament: www.parliament.uk/about/ Daddow , O., and Hertner , I. ( 2019 , online before print) parliament-and- women/ women- in- parliament- today/ ‘Interpreting toxic masculinity in political parties: A

■ Idea: Gender Quotas Database: www.idea.int/ data- tools/ framework for analysis .’ Party Politics . data/gender- quotas/ country- view/ 261/ 35 Dhrodia , A. ( 2018 ) ‘ Unsocial media: A toxic place for women .’ IPPR Progressive Review 24 ( 4 ): 380 – 387 . ■ IPU Parline: Percentage of women in national parliaments Dunne , P. ( 2019 ) ‘ Brexit: the likely impact on sexual orien- worldwide: https:// data.ipu.org/ women- ranking? tation and gender identity rights in the United Kingdom.’ month=5&year=2020 In: M. Dustin , N. Ferreira and S. Millns (eds) Gender

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