Women's Political Participation in the UK
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Women's political participation in the UK Women have fraditionally been under-represented in UK politica~institutions. Although women won the right to vote in 1918 they remained fewer than one in ten members of parliament until 1997. Since 1997 significant improvements have been made The number of women in parl~amenthas roughly doubled, and new institutions have been established with high proportions of women members These new institutions have also set out to operate in different hays, iislng new policy-making processes which are more inclusive of women and their concerns Political parties are makiig greater efforts to ensure that Nomen are represented, and rn one part of the UK a women's party has Deen formed Although there remains a iong way to go, the UK provides a useful case study of a co~ntryin transition Womer's representation is increasing and a new pol~ticalculture may be developing There is much debate currently about the d fference that women representatives will make The UK is also a case study of some of the obstacles preventing greater women's representation, and how they may be overcome Long traditions, and the design of political institutions, mean :hat the barriers to women s participation have been particularly high Recent changes have been helped by institutional reform, but have resuited primarily from positive action' adopted by political partles, following sustained campaigns by women activists These positive actlon systems, which have rigidly required selection of women candidates, have been controversial But they have proven to be effective, and their results in terms of women s representation have been widely welcomed Author Iioies Meg Russell has been Senior Research Fellow at the Constitution Unit, University College London since 1998. She was previously National Women's Officer of the Labour Party, and before that researcher to Labour's Shadow M~nisterfor Women. Joni Lovenduski is Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College, University of London. She is one of the UK's foremost experts in gender politics and has written widely in this area. Mary-Ann Stephenson is Director of the Fawcett Society, the UK's foremost campaigning organlsation on women's rights, where she has worked since 1996. She has led the Fawcett Society's work on women's representation and participation, and is author of various publications. d Current developments and issues In recent years the issue of women's As well as increased representation, new structures representation and participation in politics has been have been put in place at both UK and devolved a recurrent one in the UK. There has been a level to build women's perspectives into policy- number of significant developments which have making. Tony Blair honoured Labour's policy changed the landscape, and future controversies commitment to appoint a Minister for Women in seem likely. The UK is in a period of transition, and the cabinet (although this minister also had other provides many potentially interesting lessons for duties) and a new Women's Unit* was created in other political systems. the Cabinet Office. Government's mechanisms for consulting with women have been reformed, and The first significant change was the election of 120 there has been more attempt to seek the views of women MPs which came with Labour's landslide individual women. A policy of 'mainstreaming' election victory in 1997. This doubled the number gender equality through all of the government's of women in parliament (although the number of work has been formally adopted. women in the House of Commons was still fewer than one in five). In particular the election of 101 In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland a different Labour women MPs was widely celebrated. Labour approach has been taken. Promotion of equal had tried hard to attract women voters, through its opportunities has been built into all the new attitude to both representation and policy, and institutions, but this has been through a general succeeded in closing the 'gender gap' in voting equalities approach which also considers, for behaviour whereby women's votes have tended to example, race and disability issues. The Scottish favour the Conservatives. Parliament and Welsh Assembly both have equalities committees which aim to ensure that Next came the establishment of new devolved these objectives are adhered to. Consultation is institutions, as part of Labour's programme for central to all of these arrangements, and there have government. A new parliament was established in been attempts to improve consultation with Scotland, and assemblies were created in Wales women. Considerable effort has also been made to and Northern Ireland. These were areas of the UK ensure the culture of the new institutions is where the level of women's representation at different from that at Westminster. One aspect of Westminster and in local government had this has come through the proportional electoral historically been low. Yet in Scotland and Wales systems, which give no party an overall majority. (though not in Northern Ireland) the proportion of But the institutions have also adopted more women elected to the new institutions exceeded 'normal' working hours, different legislative thirty-five per cent. This represented a clear break arrangements, and are attempting to be more from Britain's record, with the levels of women's transparent and open through the use of new representation in the parliament and assembly technologies. closer to that seen in leading countries such as Norway and Sweden. -- * At the time of golng to press, the un~t'stitle had been changed to Women and Equal~tyUn~t. All further references to the unit use the former title. The conference of women parliamentarians, which began w~than address by US Senator Hillary Clinton, in the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh O David CheskinIThe Press Association The changes which have taken place raise a mechanisms in place. In autumn 2000 the Labour number of questions, and point to possible future Party started to say that it was prepared to change developments. One difficulty concerns the means the law to enable positive action to be used, and which political parties may use to boost women's there is now a commitment from government to do representation. The improvements which have this. Such a change could prove to be highly been made have been largely because of 'positive significant. action' mechanisms used by the parties to guarantee seats for women. However, there have Another controversy has arisen over the difference been legal challenges to these measures on the which women representatives have made. The basis that they are discriminatory against men. The new women MPs in particular have been criticised most effective measure used for elections to by the media for not making a sufficient impact on Westminster (all-women shortlists) has been ruled the culture of politics and the government's unlawful. Despite the hopes that a 'critical mass' of policies. These allegations are hotly contested by women at Westminster had been reached in 1997, the women themselves. One disappointment has and that the number of women MPs would been the lack of change to the adversarial nature continue to rise, numbers fell at the 2001 general of Westminster politics and the sitting hours of the election for the first time in more than twenty House of Commons, where MPs are frequently years. The political parties, for fear of legal detained until the early hours of the morning. Now challenge, had not put effective positive action that this pattern has been rejected by the new Women's political participation in the UK devolved institutions there are possibilities that new and replaced by a more general equalities unit, methods will be imported in the coming years. though in practice this did not happen. Women's However, the media, long immersed in the organisations argued strongly that there was still a Westminster culture themselves, have been need for a unit dedicated to promoting gender somewhat critical of the new institutions' working equality. Women continue to suffer multiple practices. disadvantages including being lower paid, taking most of the family caring responsibilities, being Media attention has also focused on the work of more likely to be poor in old age and remaining the Ministers for Women. The first Minister for under-represented in senior jobs and in public life. Women came under criticism when she, in her role as Social Security Secretary, cut welfare benefits to Changing the Women's Unit into a more general single parents. The news that her deputy was not equalities unit would have brought the UK being paid a ministerial salary attracted criticism for government into line with the arrangements in the creating the impression that women could be relied devolved institutions. There have been some on to work for lower wages than men. Both criticisms - particularly in Northern Ireland - that ministers were replaced at the first cabinet these arrangements result in women's concerns reshuffle. The new Minister for Women, Margaret being subordinated to other issues such as race or Jay, quickly sparked controversy by saying that she religion. It is really too early to judge how these was not a feminist. The work of the Women's Unit arrangements are working as the institutions are so has also been criticised, with some alleging that it new and their elected members are still adjusting is incorrect to focus on women when men can also to their roles. However, the creation of new levels be disadvantaged - for example, boys have been of government in the UK offers many opportunities shown to underperform in school. There were for policy-learning between institutions, and it therefore suggestions that the Women's Unit seems likely that new developments will continue would be closed down after the general election for some time to come.