Three quarters of MPs are men; 90% of Bank CEO’s are men; two thirds of public appointments go to men; almost 90% of Chief Constables and Police & Crime Commissioners [...]]]> NEW SEX & POWER REPORT FINDS WOMEN ARE MISSING FROM TOP ROLES IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC LIFE

Three quarters of MPs are men; 90% of Bank CEO’s are men; two thirds of public appointments go to men; almost 90% of Chief Constables and Police & Crime Commissioners are men; two thirds of local councillors are men

• Britain is falling down the global league tables when it comes to women’s access to power and representation in politics
• Continued ‘drift’ is inevitable without real, committed and targetted action
• Political parties should take steps to ensure an increase in the number of women candidates fielded in winnable seats at all levels of politics

The Counting Women In coalition has today published ‘Sex and Power 2013: Who Runs Britain?’  The report examines the presence -  or lack thereof  – of women in politically powerful positions in politics and other spheres of public life in the UK today, including the police, the education sector, the arts and the world of finance. It then goes on to consider the implications of a country largely governed by men, and makes a series of recommendations for tackling the dearth of women in influential positions. (1)

Key findings include:

•  just 22.5 percent of MPs are women, 21.7 percent of peers and 17.4 percent of the Cabinet. Women make up 13.3 percent of elected mayors and 14.6 percent of Police and Crime Commissioners.
• Britain is falling down the global league table when it comes to the representation of women in politics, as other countries move forward faster: in 2001 we were ranked 33 out of 190 countries, but by the end of 2012 we had fallen to 60^thplace. (2)
• women are similarly ‘missing’ in many other spheres of public life: just 36.4 percent of public appointments are women, 13.6 percent of the senior judiciary and 5 percent of Editors of national daily newspapers.
• women’s absence is particularly marked in finance and economy: there are no women at all on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee; women hold just 11.1 percent of UK Bank Chief Executive positions, 17.3 percent of FTSE 100 Director positions and make up just 15.1 percent of members of Local Economic Partnerships.

The report explores the impact of this dearth of women at the top tables of public life, and concludes that:

• The lack of diversity in public life weakens democracy and public confidence in it;
• Women make a positive difference to actual decision-making itself; excluding them from politics and other areas of public life means missing out on the substantial benefits greater involvement of women would bring, while also wasting the huge investment made in women and girls through the education system and beyond;
• A more diverse body politic with a wider spread of expertise and reflecting the life experience of both halves of the human race would be better placed to lead us through the complex times that face us;
• Real, committed and targetted action is required; failure to do so means the UK will continue to ‘drift.

The report makes six recommendations:

 1. Political parties should take immediate action to increase the number of women candidates at all levels of election with a view to fielding as many women candidates from as wide a variety of backgrounds and communities as possible in winnable seats in 2015. This should include active consideration of positive action measures in selection processes.

2. In order to enable everyone concerned to develop a much better understanding of the issues, a monitoring form similar to that used in recruitment for public appointments and applications for funding should be introduced. It would be completed and submitted to returning officers by all candidates together with nomination forms at all levels of election, and the results collated and published annually. This requirement should be implemented at the 2014 English local and European elections.

3. Government should pilot a new government-wide scheme in 2014 to increase women’s presence, profile and participation in the 2015 general election and beyond. This could be done by drawing together experience from the UK and abroad which could be used to improve both the participation and the candidacy of women of all backgrounds in Britain.

4. Government, political parties and others should act to implement the recommendations of the Speaker’s Conference Report published in 2010.

5. In addition to adopting the proposals for cultural change in public life contained in reports such as the Speaker’s Conference, the Councillors’ Commission, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Pathways to Politics, steps should be taken to develop a much wider set of proposals for improving the culture of both politics at all levels and the media coverage of them.

6. All organisations – public, private and third sector – should take steps to ensure that, at meetings and events, both women and men appear on platforms as speakers, and editors and broadcasters should also take responsibility for commissioning contributions from both women and men as commentators and experts. Individual citizens should be encouraged to object to men-only platforms, panels and programmes.

Nan Sloane, Director of the Centre for Women and Democracy said:  ‘This report shows a shocking absence of women from powerful roles in Britain. We are often told that it’s just a matter of time before we have equality, but we have already waited for generations; asking us to wait still more will change nothing, and the quality of decision-making in our democracy and public life will suffer as a result. There needs to be meaningful action now if next year’s report is to show real progress.’

Katie Ghose, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society said:  ‘These missing women offer the most vivid illustration of parliament’s failure to keep up with the times. Politicians will struggle to connect with voters as long as the combined talents and perspectives of half the population are shut out. Party leaders admit there’s a problem, but all have failed to find a lasting solution. It’s not a good look for the Mother of all Parliaments to be left lagging behind on the fundamental issue of women’s representation.’

Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society said: ‘It’s simply scandalous that in 2013 men still outnumber women 4 to 1 in parliament. If political parties don’t take urgent action, Britain will continue to fall down the global league table when it comes to women’s access to power and representation in politics. The number of women in the Cabinet is at a ten year low. Failure to increase the number of women around the top table of politics sends a message to other walks of life and to the next generation for whom we hope for something different, that excluding women from positions of power is acceptable. Women’s votes will determine the next election – remaining male dominated won’t help the parties on polling day.’

Ruth Fox, Director of the Hansard Society said:  ‘Parliament needs to show leadership in reflecting the people it governs and serves. Decisions made in Parliament affect women and men equally and the dearth of women in positions of political power not only reflects badly on the quality of our democracy, it also wastes the skill, expertise and life experience of half the population and sets a terrible example for other professions and industries. It’s time for Parliament and political parties to take concrete steps to increase the number of women in politics.’

Alex Runswick, Deputy Director of Unlock Democracy said: ‘The lack of female involvement in UK politics is a canary in the mining shaft; it is a particularly visible example of how the system fails to represent people more widely. Our democracy and public life is weaker because it misses the skills  experience and talents of over half the population. It is not enough to recognise the problem and simply hope that things will improve; we need Parliament and politicians to take urgent action.’ 

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For further information & copies of the report please contact:

Charlie Woodworth - Charlie.woodworth@fawcettsociety.org.uk / 020 7253 2598 /  07767297812

Claudia Laidlaw - claudia.laidlaw@electoral-reform.org.uk 020 7928 1622 / 0759 801 9738 

(1) The Centre for Women and Democracy, the Electoral Reform Society, the Fawcett Society, the Hansard Society and Unlock Democracy have joined together to form the Counting Women In coalition to address the lack of women in politics. We believe the under representation of women in Westminster, the devolved assemblies, and town halls around the UK represents a democratic deficit that undermines the legitimacy of decisions made in these chambers. Together, we will be fighting to ensure women have an equal presence and voice within our democratic system.

Copies of the full report “Sex and Power 2013: Who Runs Britain?” are available at www.countingwomenin.org.uk or from the above contacts.

(2) Since the report was written in late 2012, a series of elections have been held and the Inter Parliamentary Union league table (http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm) has been updated, we are now (in February 2013)  ranked joint 57^th  - with some 60 countries ahead of us.

The report will be published tomorrow (Monday 25th February) and will be available on this website from midnight tonight.

Among other things, the report finds:

‘Who opposes increases in women’s political representation?’  is the question [...]]]> A number of CWI supporters took part in a seminar hosted by Political Quarterly journal recently and the fruits of that discussion have just been published.  The latest issue contains a number of challenging articles on feminism and British politics drawing on the latest research.

‘Who opposes increases in women’s political representation?’  is the question asked by Professor Joni Lovenduski. She identifies at least eight types of opponents.The uninterested who think it does not matter; the complacent, who, if they think about it at all, believe women’s interests are well represented; the traditionalists who believe that politics is about the representation of class interests hence other inequalities are a diversion; the diversity advocates who argue that gender is only one of many identities;  their mirror image, the anti-essentialists who think that claims for more women ignore the great differences among women; the optimistic who think it is just a matter of waiting and the dinosaurs who think politics is best left to men. And each of these in different ways contributes to the eighth type, the mistaken who misread or misconstrue data about women in politics. For more download Joni’s article – its available free until the end of December 2012.

Looking for solutions  Ruth Fox explores whether legal guarantees might now be the best route to secure equality of representation following the repeated failure of the political parties to deliver any significant improvement in numbers through their own preferred, voluntary mechanisms. The article also explores how the arguments about ‘merit’ need to be tackled head on. You can also download this article for free until the end of the year.

There are 122 ministerial jobs in total and, following the reshuffle, women now hold 22 posts – a [...]]]> When he became Leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron  spoke of the need to end the ‘scandalous under-representation of women’. But in government his first ministerial reshuffle has failed to close the gender gap.

There are 122 ministerial jobs in total and, following the reshuffle, women now hold 22 posts – a rise of just one overall (or 18.2% of the Government). There has been a net decline in the number of women holding posts in the most senior ranks (Secretary of State and Minister of State level) and there are 9 government departments that remain ‘female free zones’. Research suggests the government’s economic and budget strategy is hitting women particularly hard so it’s increasingly worrying that the Treasury remains a department where there is no female voice at the decision-making table.

In 2009 David Cameron promised that, ‘if elected, by the end of our first Parliament I want a third of all my ministers to be female’. Half-way through the Parliament he has done little in this reshuffle to advance towards that goal. And with reshuffles an increasingly rare occurrence – as coalition government makes them more difficult to deliver – it looks increasingly likely that the Prime Minister will struggle to deliver on his promise in time for the next election.

Speaking on behalf of Counting Women In, the Electoral Reform Society’s Kate Ghose  has commented on the reshuffle and produced a briefing paper outlining the latest data analysis on the reshuffle.

Earlier this month the Irish Parliament (or Dáil) made history. It passed a law which says that at each general election each political party must ensure that at least 30 percent (40 percent in seven years’ time) of its candidates are female or risk [...]]]> Nan Sloane, Director of the Centre for Women & Democracy

Earlier this month the Irish Parliament (or Dáil) made history. It passed a law which says that at each general election each political party must ensure that at least 30 percent (40 percent in seven years’ time) of its candidates are female or risk losing half of it state funding. It did so after some controversy, but remarkably little given what you might expect, and certainly much less than similar proposals would have attracted in the UK. Are there lessons here for the rest of the British Isles?

There are, but they’re not necessarily the obvious ones, and they say as much about what we need to do about improving our democracy as a whole as they do about the position of women in it.

The first question to ask is what triggered such a development in what is normally thought of as a fairly conservative society. The answer is that it took a combination of factors to persuade the political establishment that it needed to change. The first is the dire economic situation, which, in a number of countries, has brought people to consider what the effect of the absence of women has been on how both governments and major institutions work.

In some countries – most notably Iceland – there has been a significant change in the gender balance of public decision-makers, and when the Irish general election in 2011 failed to deliver any improvement in terms of women elected, the incoming government (Fine Gael and their coalition partner the Labour Party) decided that something could and would be done.

Secondly, the Irish were fortunate in that some of the groundwork had already been laid. Before the election the Minister for Equality, Integration and Human Rights – Green TD (or MP) Mary White – had been working on strategies to get more women in Irish politics, and, as part of this, had opened talks with and between the political parties.

After the election, the new Minister, Labour TD Kathleen Lynch, picked this work up and, with the support of her boss, Justice Minister Alan Shatter, built upon it. As a result, the proposals which emerged had all-party support, at least in part, because they were seen as the result of proactive work by all four of the largest parties, including the former governing party, Fianna Fáil. This is remarkable, given the bitterness with which much of Irish politics is conducted, but was undoubtedly key to achieving progress.

Thirdly, quotas were not proposed as stand-alone measures or as part of equalities legislation. They are in fact embedded in a law designed to resolve some of Ireland’s problems around the funding of political parties (in particular by limiting donations and making political parties publish detailed accounts), and compliance with them is a condition of receiving the full amount of state funding provided to parties by an earlier Act in 1997. Thus the issue of women’s representation has been discussed as part of a much wider debate about how Irish democracy should work, and not just as a ‘women’s issue’. The bill was moved and supported by male ministers and party leaders as much as by female, and although women campaigned forcefully to ensure that the measure was passed, it was also publicly and robustly supported by senior political men, including the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny.

Fourthly, the penalties to be applied for failing to comply are real and meaningful. Irish political parties receive significant state funding which is to be used for things such as running costs, overheads and training (though not election expenses). In 2010 political parties received €5.38 million; halving this would therefore hit them hard. Moreover, the penalty will be applied for the full five year term of the Dáil, meaning that the loss would be significant in the long term as well as the short. Experience with similar systems in Spain (36 percent women MPs) and Belgium (38 percent) suggests that serious penalties, seriously applied, work.

And finally, the issue of state funding of politics is not in itself controversial in Ireland, which means that the mechanisms for introducing and enforcing quotas were much more obvious there than they are in the UK. In Westminster the mere mention of state funding makes most politicians flinch nervously, but experience in France – where the gender parity legislation only began to bite once the penalties were increased – demonstrates that whether used as a carrot or a stick, state funding is by far the most effective way of controlling how parties behave.

The combination of these five elements – the economic crisis, cross-party agreement, mainstream legislation, effective penalties and significant state funding – created in Ireland the climate in which quotas could come into being. These are lessons we could learn from and adapt, but whether or not we will is another matter. The fact is that, when it comes to having a representative democracy, our collective squeamishness over political and constitutional change generally leaves us stranded in the wake of our neighbours. At the moment, the only western European countries with a worse gender balance in their legislatures than the UK (currently 22 percent of MPs are women) are Ireland (15 percent) and Italy (21 percent). Various factors including the reduction in the number of seats and fewer MPs retiring mean that the likelihood of a significant increase in women MPs at the 2015 general election is low. Meanwhile Italy has a general election next year and could conceivably overtake us then, and Ireland will almost certainly overtake us in 2016.

Unless, that is, we learn from their experience and decide to do something, not just about the diversity of our democracy, but about the whole nature of it. That would mean having proper, grown-up conversations about things like state funding of political parties and the development of cross-party agreements over constitutional issues (rather than the point-scoring we see at the moment). Otherwise in four years’ time we will find ourselves propping up the European league table with no hope of getting off it for decades.

The choice is entirely ours.

With talk of a government reshuffle approaching in the Autumn David Cameron has the chance to work towards fulfilling his promise that 1/3 ministers would be women by 2015. Sign our petition to make him keep his word…

The continued under representation of women, which the Audit highlights as an area of concern, critically undermines democracy. A group that constitutes [...]]]> Democracy in the UK is in ‘long term, terminal decline’, according to the 2012 Democratic Audit released earlier this month. This study highlights the drastic need for political reform in the UK.

The continued under representation of women, which the Audit highlights as an area of concern, critically undermines democracy. A group that constitutes over half of the population makes up just 22% of the House of Commons, 22% of the cabinet and less than one third of English councilors. Greater diversity in government would lead to better decision making and would send a clear message that the exclusion of women from positions of power is not acceptable.

Find out more on Guardian news.

This is undoubtedly a positive development for the under representation of [...]]]> Following a vote in the House of Commons, parliamentary sitting hours are to be reformed. MPs have voted in favour of proceedings beginning earlier on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with business beginning at 11.30am and 9.30am respectively. See BBC news for more details.

This is undoubtedly a positive development for the under representation of women in politics. The new sitting hours will reduce the number of late night sittings, thus making parliamentary procedure more amenable to MPs with families. Currently, the House of Commons routinely sits until 10pm, which may have previously discouraged some women from standing for election.

To read more on the issue of the parliamentary reform read the recent report by the Procedure committee.

On 17 June, France elected a record number of women to its parliament.  This was one of several gains for women in French politics since the election of François Hollande as president on 6 May.  France has now overtaken the UK for [...]]]> Dr. Rainbow Murray, Reader in Politics at Queen Mary, University of London

On 17 June, France elected a record number of women to its parliament.  This was one of several gains for women in French politics since the election of François Hollande as president on 6 May.  France has now overtaken the UK for women’s representation, even if its goal of gender parity – inscribed in its constitution since 1999 – still remains somewhat elusive.

Unlike his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande honoured his promise of a parity government, with all posts other than prime minister being divided evenly between men and women.  Among these posts was a cabinet minister for women’s rights.  This is the first time France has had a full cabinet portfolio dedicated to women since 1986.  In the UK, women’s ministers have had to combine the portfolio with another position to attain cabinet status.  However, despite these promising gains, inequality persisted within the government.  A man was chosen as prime minister despite the opportunity to appoint the popular female party leader, Martine Aubry, who was left empty-handed.  And women were placed predominantly in “feminine” and less visible portfolios, with the most prestigious roles going almost exclusively to men.  In this respect, the new government was actually a step backward from Sarkozy’s first government, which featured several women in prominent and powerful roles.

In parliament, like many other countries, France has a partisan divide in terms of women’s representation, with parties of the left being much better at promoting women.  France introduced a parity law in 2000 which has failed to live up to the hype.  Although parties are compelled to field 50% women candidates, weak sanctions enable larger parties to avoid doing so, and many parties place most women candidates in unwinnable seats.  As a result, the number of women MPs went from 10.9% pre-parity to 12.3% in 2002 and 18.5% in 2007.  This year saw a more substantial rise to 26.9%, although this was still somewhat disappointing.  Hollande’s Socialist party were successful in selecting women in target seats, though their predominantly male incumbents prevented them from achieving full parity. In contrast, Sarkozy’s UMP party selected even fewer women than in 2007, and a number of its female incumbents lost their seats.  This is because many UMP women MPs were in marginal seats that the party never expected to win.  Once the country swung to the left, these women were the first to lose their seats.  Therefore, gains made by the left were counterbalanced by the low proportions of women elected on the right.

Within the parliament, a further blow came in the appointment of the Speaker.  This position carries significant weight in France, and had been promised informally to Ségolène Royal.  Royal vacated her parliamentary seat in 2007 to contest the presidential election; rather than displacing the MP who replaced her, she was “parachuted” into a neighbouring seat.  However, an ambitious male Socialist in that constituency ran against Royal as a dissident candidate.  Many UMP voters switched their backing to him in order to thwart Royal’s national ambitions, resulting in her defeat.  The Socialists reiterated their desire for a female Speaker, but without Royal, it was not possible to garner support for an alternative female candidate in time.  As a result, the Speaker is a man, and so are the leaders of all six party delegations within parliament.  The composition of parliamentary committees also reflects traditional gender lines, with women heavily over-represented in the least prestigious committees of social and cultural affairs, and under-represented in the powerful committees for finance and foreign affairs.  One consolation is that women now preside over the foreign affairs, defence and social affairs committees, equating to three women chairs out of eight.

Overall, women now enjoy greater presence in the French parliament and government, a few positions of power within parliament, and a full women’s rights ministry.  All these advances are to be applauded.  However, the gains are still smaller and slower than originally hoped, with most positions of power still occupied by men.  A new alliance of right-wing women has now been formed in protest at their very weak position.  The UMP had better listen to them, as the Socialists have now threatened to remove all state funding for any party not respecting parity.  If this becomes law, all parties will have to play ball by 2017 and France will leave the UK trailing far behind.

We recently published our  report on the 2012 local elections in England, the first of a series of three reports looking at the issues which impact on the numbers of women in local government. 2012 Local Elections.

Overall the trend over the last six years has [...]]]> Nan Sloane, Centre for Women and Democracy.

We recently published our  report on the 2012 local elections in England, the first of a series of three reports looking at the issues which impact on the numbers of women in local government. 2012 Local Elections.

Overall the trend over the last six years has been towards increasing women’s representation in local government, however that increase remains painfully slow, and although 2012 has proved a better year than most, it has still not resulted in a significant jump in the numbers of women overall.

31% of candidates this year were women, and 35% of councillors elected. In previous years these two percentages have been more or less the same, and the disparity this year is almost entirely caused by the cumulative effect of Labour’s positive action policy which, combined with good results, saw many women candidates in marginal seats elected.

The parties and women in the 2012 local elections

Conservative:        % of candidates who were female – 28%

% of candidates elected who are female – 27%

Labour:                  % of candidates who were female – 36%

% of candidates elected who are female – 40%

Lib Dems:             % of candidates who were female – 34%

% of candidates elected who are female – 34%

The Centre for Women and Democracy will be publishing the second local Election report in the series  in June, which will deal with some of the issues, such as retention in more detail. The third report in the series will be published later in 2012, and will examine the recruitment, retirement and retention of women in local government.

Nicholas Sarkozy promised a parity government but never delivered it. In contrast, newly elected French President, Francois Hollande, has fulfilled his election promise and appointed 17 women to his 34-member government. In addition to this historic achievement, he has also appointed a Women’s [...]]]> Ruth Fox, Director, Parliament & Government Programme at the Hansard Society

Nicholas Sarkozy promised a parity government but never delivered it. In contrast, newly elected French President, Francois Hollande, has fulfilled his election promise and appointed 17 women to his 34-member government. In addition to this historic achievement, he has also appointed a Women’s Ministry for the first time since 1986.

There has been some criticism that the portfolios allocated to the women are less powerful and influential than those of the men and certainly crucial posts – finance, foreign affairs, defence, interior, education, labour, reindustrialisation, agriculture – remain in the hands of men. It’s the ministries traditionally seen as more ‘social’ and ‘feminine’ – health and social affairs, culture, housing, sport and youth – that have been allocated to the women.

Interestingly, Hollande achieved parity without having to find a place for his former partner and 2007 presidential candidate, Segolene Royal (though she is now widely tipped to become President of the Assembly) and the Socialist Party leader and Mayor of Lyon, Martine Aubry. The women who have been appointed are, in the main, less prominent political figures, who lack a personal powerbase of their own and may therefore be more politically vulnerable in the future, heavily dependent on the President’s patronage. But we shouldn’t be too churlish about it: it’s a better outcome than has ever been managed in a British Cabinet.

Who are the names to watch? Well, the highest-ranking female member of the government is Christiane Taubira at the justice department; she’s been an MP for nearly thirty years and was the first black candidate to run for the presidency in 2002. The Green Party leader, Cecile Duflot, has also entered the government as housing minister.  A considerable number of the new female ministers are under 40, suggesting strength in depth for the future. Indeed, it’s the youngest woman, 34-year old Najat Vallaud-Beklacem, who is likely to become the face of the administration as she combines the role of official government spokesperson with her women’s rights portfolio.

The French political system allows the President to appoint ministers from outside the Parliament, making it easier to achieve parity as the recruitment net can be cast across a wider talent pool. But it’s anticipated that elections to the National Assembly (on 10 and 17 June) will also see a significant increase in the number of women MPs. At present only 18.5% of MPs are women (lower than the UK’s 22%!) but France has introduced quotas that require parties to run an equal number of male and female candidates. We’ll see next month what impact this has across the country.

David Cameron has only committed to appointing women to a third of ministerial posts by the next election. But Hollande’s example raises the bar: if parties look hard enough, there are plenty of good  women out there able to serve as candidates, MPs and ministers. The question is, are they willing to do more than just pay lip service to equality of representation?

Help us make Cameron keep his promise that 1/3 of his Ministers would be women by the end of his first term as Prime Minister. Sign the petition

Research by Counting Women IN coalition partner, the Centre for Woman and Democracy, has found that 31.8% of candidates in local elections this year are women, the highest number since all-out [...]]]> New research finds that this year there has been a 2% increase in the level of women candidates in the English metropolitan authorities.

Research by Counting Women IN coalition partner, the Centre for Woman and Democracy, has found that 31.8% of candidates in local elections this year are women, the highest number since all-out elections in 2004, although given that the low point was 29.6% in 2010 the variation is very small.

Labour has the highest percentage of women candidates (41%) with the Liberal Democrats at 34% and the Conservatives at 28%.

The 36 metropolitan authorities cover many of the the cities in the north and midlands of England and between them have a population of over 22 million.

The full report on  can be downloaded here.

Or for information about the number of women candidates in Scotland see this new blog by By Dr. Meryl Kenny (UNSW) and Dr. Fiona Mackay (Edinburgh).

By Sonali Campion, Intern at the Electoral Reform Society

Scotland and Wales put Westminster to shame when it comes to gender equality in politics. 35% of the Scottish Parliament are women, while Wales boasts 40%, in comparison to a measly 22% in London. [...]]]> Why gender equality still needs to be prioritised in our devolved institutions

By Sonali Campion, Intern at the Electoral Reform Society

Scotland and Wales put Westminster to shame when it comes to gender equality in politics. 35% of the Scottish Parliament are women, while Wales boasts 40%, in comparison to a measly 22% in London. However, as we approach the next round of local elections we must consider the more nuanced and worrying story that these impressive statistics conceal.

Women’s representation in the UK’s devolved institutions has declined since 2003 and, unless action is taken, it will continue to do so. The Electoral Reform Society’s report on Women’s Representation in Scotland and Wales offers an in-depth analysis on the challenges facing equal gender representation and why we cannot afford to be complacent.

The report rightly points out that there is a lot to be said for the achievements of Cardiff and Holyrood: women’s representation has not dropped below 30% in either Scotland or Wales since the devolved institutions were established. In 1999 both countries reacted against the exclusive and discriminatory politics of Westminster and sought to build on the principles of power sharing and equal opportunities. The 2003 election highlighted how successful these measures had been in getting more women into parliament, with Scotland achieving 40% and Wales reaching a staggering 50% – equal representation for men and women. The resulting impact on policy has been particularly noticeable in Wales where female Assembly members have played a fundamental role in raising issues such as childcare, domestic violence and equal pay.

The disappointing results of the 2011 elections however demonstrate that gender equality cannot be taken for granted and that complacency brought about by the successes of the early naughties has the potential to endanger the progress that has been made. Part of the problem is that the responsibility to implement gender equality lies with the political parties. The report shows that the rise and fall of women’s representation in the devolved institutions directly correlates to the fortunes of the Labour party, which has been the most active in taking positive action to get women into power. For example, Figure 1 reflects Labour’s more concerted efforts to promote female participation in the Scottish parliament. It also shows that the percentage of female SNP MSPs has been in decline since the first elections of 1999, demonstrating that the rise of the SNP (largely at Labour’s expense) has had a strong negative impact on the number of women in Holyrood.

Sustainability is another major issue. The report shows that while the devolved institutions have achieved greater women’s representation in government, little progress has been made when it comes to changing the political culture. As a result, the number of women aspiring to power remains low. For example, in the 2007 Scottish election, 36% of the candidates were women but by 2011 this figure had dropped to 30%. This increasing reluctance to even stand for election suggests that the political environment remains a deterrent to female candidates. Furthermore, the report indicates that only a very limited number of women who are in government hold top positions. The graphs below show that while there are upward trends in the number of female junior ministers, the number of female cabinet ministers is in decline in both Scotland and Wales.

So what happens next? We have come to a crossroads in the development of a more representative democracy in our devolved institutions. On the one hand, the hostility to positive measures such as zipping or all-women shortlists mean that there is limited active promotion of women to government and the enduring political culture continues to deter many capable women. On the other, localism and community decision-making are increasingly becoming the norm, creating an unmissable opportunity for the devolved institutions to re-establish themselves as trailblazers for a genuinely representative democracy.

The Counting Women IN campaign will be working closely with parties across the UK to ensure what little progress has been made will not be lost. You can help by signing the petition to hold David Cameron to account over his promise that 1/3 of his Minister would be women by 2015.

Join the Counting Women IN campaign to receive regular updates and more on how you can get more involved.

What would society be like if four out of five parliamentarians were women? Maybe we’d be failing on men’s health; or the armed forces (as 9 in 10 recruits are still men), or on the specific challenges of educating boys?

On the other hand the [...]]]> Katie Ghose, Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society

What would society be like if four out of five parliamentarians were women? Maybe we’d be failing on men’s health; or the armed forces (as 9 in 10 recruits are still men), or on the specific challenges of educating boys?

On the other hand the Defence Select Committee would probably have looked sooner at one the biggest issues facing morale in Britain; housing and family life, something they only got to after 1997 when more women joined the committee.

The key point is that in this scenario; without any male role models in parliament, it would be near impossible to get boys to take politics seriously.  They would lack the confidence to put themselves forward and would be faced with a host of other cultural and practical barriers stemming from the fact that politics would simply not be seen as the terrain of men. Sound familiar?

Ignoring half the population is never a good idea. It means we lose the talents and perspectives of a huge cross-section of society and we are the poorer for it. The current lack of women in our parliaments also perpetuates the lack of representation of social class, income, life experience, type of education, ethnicity, sexuality and age in these institutions and sets a terrible example for other sectors.

Our political institutions shouldn’t be carbon copies of society, but when they represent an entirely distorted picture of who we are, this can’t help but create a parliament which is out of touch with the people it serves.

For the politicians and parties trying to build bridges with voters at a time of low trust, this is a massive own goal.

When I joined the Electoral Reform Society there were more Keiths then women on our Board: Three Keiths and two women. I am pleased to say that after our elections in September we now have five women (and only one Keith) on our 15 member Board which is certainly progress but remains far from perfect. I say this because it’s important to recognise that change isn’t easy but this is no excuse not to take action.

First we need to stop saying that positive measures lead to mediocrity. This is an argument with no evidence and no logic. We see mediocrity and brilliance across politics and it never has anything to do with gender. Secondly we need to act now. The idea that the situation will eventually right itself is a cowardly excuse for doing nothing. The number of women MPs has increased by only 4% since 1997. If we don’t do something our daughters will be drawing their pensions before they have an equal say in how our country is run. Is that really the message we want to send to our kids?

Women were angry about last election; they were angry that the papers focused on what the few female politicians were wearing not what they had to say, and they were angry that women seemed to be entirely missing from the debate; especially obvious in the complete lack of female faces on televised debates and press conferences.

The Counting Women IN was born out of this anger; five democracy and gender organisations coming together to campaign for equality and for equal numbers of men and women in our Parliaments and institutions by 2020. It’s a positive campaign designed to work with parties in recognition of their separate cultures, histories and practices to achieve real change.

We should never have another General or any other Election that leaves women out in the cold. We want the parties to up their game, to try and out-do each other to become leaders in the field. Who knows, voters may even reward them for their efforts.

In an age of localism and big society, politics is increasingly something which happens in town halls and is not just confined to the corridors of Westminster. This represents a huge opportunity to begin to reverse this trend at a local level.

The business sector is waking up to the issue of gender representation in their boardrooms. They know that they need to fish in the biggest pond to attract staff with a broad range of ideas and experience which in turn will attract more customers generating more profit. Will our political institutions really allow themselves to be left so far behind?