The current electoral system is a huge barrier to seat access for female MPs
With less than a quarter of MPs currently women, a 50:50 parliament seems like a distant hope.
But there are grounds for optimism. Based on polling trends and an analysis of every party’s candidate for the upcoming election, the Electoral Reform Society has predicted that 192 MPs are likely to be elected this May – up 44 on the current 148. It would mean three in ten MPs would be women, the highest ever figure.
Parties are putting forward more female candidates than before, too, with every party except UKIP fielding a higher proportion of female candidates than parliament’s current make-up (see Table 1). And in target seats, Labour and the Conservatives are actually fielding a higher proportion of female candidates than their overall number, meaning they are clearly trying hard to get more women into the House.
This is good news. The predicted boost this May would see us rising up the world ranking for female representation in lower chambers from 56th to 36th. We’d finally be ahead of Afghanistan and other countries with less-than-positive track records on gender equality.
But we’d still not be world leaders, by any means. And while moving from 23 per cent women to nearly 30 per cent is a welcome rise, there’s one big barrier that’s blocking future progress: our electoral system.
Under First Past the Post, there are hundreds of effectively uncontested seats where parties have a big enough lead not to worry about opposition. That means many MPs can act as ‘seat-blockers’, occupying their seats for decade after decade.
Here’s the catch: the longer an MP has been in situ, the more likely he is to be a man.
As you can see in Table 2, there are 67 MPs first elected in 1992 or before who are standing again this May. 59 of them are men. Having held their seats for over two decades, we can guess that most of these men will keep their positions effectively unchallenged.
This is a major barrier in terms of increasing women’s representation in the future. We can’t allow the existence of safe seats to act as a block on reaching a 50:50 parliament. We need to reform our voting system.
Proportional representation isn’t a silver bullet, of course. It can only facilitate – rather than guarantee – more diversity in politics. But experience from other countries shows that nearly all of those with a high proportion of women in parliament use some form of PR. Moreover, larger multi-member constituencies would increase the likelihood that more women would be able to win seats, as voters would have a greater choice of winnable candidates. Under our current broken electoral system, less ‘traditional’ and ‘safe-looking’ candidates lose out.
Nonetheless, it’s good news that nearly 200 women will be elected in two months’ time. Let’s just make sure it doesn’t become a new ‘glass ceiling’.
Josiah Mortimer is Communications assistant at the Electoral Reform Society. Follow him on Twitter
Read the ‘Women in Westminster’ report here
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21 Responses to “This May will be a boost for female representation – but there’s a catch”
50:50 Parliament
Great to
50:50 Parliament
Around 70 countries have proportionally more women in their Parliament’s than the UK. This is under representation needs addressing. We are asking Parliament to debate and take action, please everyone add your voice by signing our petition at http://www.change.org/5050Parliament .
50:50 Parliament
Great article and report. Thank you Josiah Mortimer and the Electoral Reform Society.
Guest
The ERS are bunglers who supported AV.
And they want some of the worst forms of PR now – not eliminating the issues of tactical voting or doing much to tackle the way the left are so poorly represented.
With “friends” like these…
littleoddsandpieces
There are enough marginals in England to bring more allies to Labour than to the Tories, and deny Tory and Lib Dem sitting MPS those seats.
http://www.anastasia-england.me.uk
Because the poor of all ages, in and out of work, now outnumber all other voters in those marginals.
First Past The Post is not valid in the coming predicted most severe hung parliament in UK history.
Neither Tory nor Labour, even with partners, will get anything like a majority to rule government.
A group of partners need to get at least 323 MPs.
A coaliton, even support and confidence, can be more than 2 parties. This has worked successfull in other countries over many years.
This is the only way to get a secure stable government on Thursday 7 May.
The allies for the poor to vote for and getting nil media coverage, which is not helping the nation to have stable government and not a government that will fall only within 6 months of the election, again and again are:
– Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC)
fielding 111 candidates so 1/6th of the seats but getting
nil media coverage that is their right
– Class War
(great for the youth vote especially in London
fighting alongside the social tenant in and out of work
being socially cleansed out of the rich only resident city)
– Socialist party of Great Britain (Socialist GB)
– Mebyon Kernow of Cornwall
(support more social housing for local residents)
Cornwall has single figure Tory and Lib Dem marginals.
Labour could do better to curry favour with these parties and either direct or encourage trade unions to give each equal money for advertisements on such as:
bicycle ads / A Boards by jobcentres and foodbanks
and on the high street
Then a Labour / SNP / Plaid Cymru / TUSC / Class War / Mebyon Kernow / Socialist GB alliance, would shut out the Tories and possibly completely obliterate the Lib Dems.
And the nation could have secure and stable government for 5 years and starvation would all end.