More Women in European Politics Tanya Hughes Director Ballybeen Women’s Centre

National

Political Structure UK – Constitutional Monarchy in which Monarch is head of state & Prime Minister is head of government Executive power is exercised by Her Majesty’s Government as well as by the devolved Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Parliament of the UK, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as in the Scottish parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The highest national court is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the UK Parliament which, like the House of Lords (the upper house), meets in the Palace of Westminster The House of Commons is a democratically elected body consisting of 650 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected to represent constituencies by first-past-the-post and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

Con Lab LD Other Total MALE House of Commons 257 174 50 23 504 House of Lords 173 160 64 236 633 National Assembly of Wales 10 15 3 7 35 Scottish Parliament 9 20 4 51 84 Northern Ireland Assembly 88 88 London Assembly 8 7 1 1 17 European Parliament 19 8 5 16 48 FEMALE House of Commons 48 83 7 6 144 House of Lords 39 65 26 50 180 National Assembly of Wales 4 15 2 4 25 Scottish Parliament 6 17 1 21 45 Northern Ireland Assembly 20 20 London Assembly 1 5 1 1 8 European Parliament (UK Members) 6 5 6 7 24 % FEMALE House of Commons 16% 32% 12% 21% 22% House of Lords 18% 29% 29% 17% 22% National Assembly of Wales 29% 50% 20% 36% 42% Scottish Parliament 40% 46% 20% 29% 35% Northern Ireland Assembly 19% 19% London Assembly 11% 42% 50% 50% 32% European Parliament (UK Members) 24% 38% 55% 30% 33%

UK General Election May 2010 Country Total Number of Seats Number of Women MPs %Women MPs England 533 119 22% Scotland 59 13 Wales 40 7 17.5% Northern Ireland 18 4 22.2% TOTAL 650 143

Regional Variations Region Total Number of Seats Number of Women MPs East of England 58 9 15.5% East Midlands 46 11 23.9% Greater London 73 24 32.9 North East England 29 10 34.5 North West England 75 16 21.3 South East England 84 14 16.7 South West England 55 20 West Midlands 59 13 22 Yorkshire & Humber 54 18.5 Scotland Wales 40 7 17.5% Northern Ireland 18 4 22.2% TOTAL 650 142 22%

Women in the House of Commons Election year Number of % women women MPs MPs 1979 19 3.0 1983 23 3.5 1987 41 6.3 1992 60 9.2 1997 120 18.2 2001 118 17.9 2005 128 19.5 2010 143 22.0

WOMEN MINISTERS Currently 4 out of 22 (18%) Cabinet posts are held by women. Of 121 Government Ministers, including the Cabinet, whips, Lords in waiting and 13 unpaid positions 23 (19%) are women. Prior to 2010 election 30% of ministers were women

Devolved Legislatures

Wales NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES 2011 ELECTION No. of women (60 total seats) (2007 total in brackets) No of women in constituency seats (40 total seats) No of women in regional seats (20 total seats) Labour 15 (16) 13 2 Plaid Cymru 4 (7) 1 3 Conservative 4 (1) Liberal Democrat 2 (3) Independent / Other 0 (1) TOTAL 25 (28) 17 8 Women as total % of National Assembly for Wales 1999 Elections 40% 2003 Elections 50% 2007 Elections 46.7% 2011 Elections 41.7%

Scotland SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT 2011 ELECTION No. of women (129 total seats) (2007 total in brackets) No of women in constituency seats (73 total seats) No of women in regional seats (56 total seats) Labour 18 (23) 7 11 Scottish National Party 19 (12) 14 5 Conservative 6 (5) 6 Liberal Democrat 1 (2) 1 Green Party 1 (0) Independent / Other 1 (1) TOTAL 46 (43) 21 25 Women as total % of Scottish Parliament 1999 Elections 37.2% 2003 Elections 39.5% 2007 Elections 33.3% 2011 Elections 35.6%

NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY RESULTS 2011 Party Total Seats Women % Women APNI 8 2 25 DUP 38 5 13 SDLP 14 3 21 SF 29 28 UUP 16 12.5 Other - Total 108 20 18.5%

LONDON ASSEMBLY RESULTS 2012 Party Total Seats Women % Women Conservative 9 1 11 Labour 12 5 42 Liberal Democrats 2 50 Other Total 25 8 32%

Local Government % of women elected as councillors at local government level: England 2011 – 30.7% Scotland 2012 – 24.3% Wales 2012 – 26.3% Northern Ireland 2011 - 23%

Europe

EUROPE UK European election results by gender and party, 2009 Total MEP’s Elected Women Men % Women BNP 2 Conservative 25 6 19 24 Conservative & Unionist 1 DUP 100 Green Labour 13 5 8 38 Liberal Democrat 11 55 Plaid Cymru Sinn Fein SNP UKIP 15 Other TOTAL 72 47 35% (Total 2004 78 20 58 26%)

MEP’s by Region Region Number of Seats Number of Women East Midlands 5 2 Eastern 7 1 London 8 4 North East 3 North West South East 10 South West 6 West Midlands Yorkshire & the Humber Scotland Wales Northern Ireland TOTAL 72 24

% of MEPs by country July 2009

Addressing Underrepresentation EQUALITY LEGISLATION Sex discrimination Act 2002 – allowed political parties to use positive action in the selection of election candidates. Now amalgamated to Equality Act 2010 – extends the provision to exempt political parties from sex discrimination law until 2030 UK Labour – only party to use provision & policy of all women shortlists to address gender imbalance in party Conservatives – do not use all-women shortlists but the marked increase in women MP’s is evidence of Con Central Parliamentary Selection Board to place more women on lists

Addressing Underrepresentation A QUOTA SOLUTION? 2 main types – Party – adopted voluntarily by party to aim for a certain proportion of female candidates (25-50%). Govern composition of party lists (PR electoral systems) or selection of candidates (plurality systems)) Legislative – mandatory provisions applying to all parties Effectiveness: Last 30 years has seen a significant increase in women in politics in states here PR exists, but only modest through Plurality/majority systems The British first-past-the-post system and the French two-round system are known to work against women.

Addressing Underrepresentation SHORTLISTS All women shortlists are a good example of the way selection rules can affect female representation. Cons & Lab had more women candidates than at previous elections & %age of female MP’s in each party increased

Conclusions Range of cultural and economic factors affect the level of women’s representation internationally - level of secularism, length of time women have had vote to rates of women in paid employment and levels of state of childcare Yet political factors such as party ideology, electoral systems (FPTP) and candidate selection rules are clearly crucial Internationally, PR electoral systems, where selection rules require that women are selected have resulted in rise in women’s representation Extension of the Sex Discrimination Act 2002 to enable the use of al women shortlists until 2030 should make a difference in relation to gender, if all parties use it

However! UK is placed 52nd on table of women’s representation in Parliaments worldwide UK also remains behind most European Parliaments which tend to have PR election systems At the current rate of change & under current system it will take a further 200 yrs to achieve parity in the number of women and men n parliament

B What have we done to promote women n politics? Education and training programmes European Projects - Study Visits Meetings and debates with elected representatives Collective lobbying and campaigning Ensure representation on working groups and consultative bodies