Women Lose Ground
by Lesley Abdela
First Published by The Guardian (UK) www.guardian.co.uk
May 8th 2001
Quotas are the only way to ensure an adequate number of female MPs
Margaret Jay now promises the Labour manifesto will propose laws at some point in the future to permit
women-only shortlists for MPs. Meanwhile, however, this will be the first general election since
I started the 300 Group 20 years ago in which the number of women in parliament will drop.
There was a fall at the 1979 general election which saw Margaret Thatcher become prime minister.
In the debating chamber she was to see only 18 other women. Now this year there could also be
fewer women at Westminster.
The 300 Group's aim, as the name shows, is that at least half the members of the Commons should be
women. Until now we have seen steady upward progress. The most heart-warming advance was recorded at
the last election when numbers doubled to 121 women, 101 in New Labour alone. More than half of these
New Labour women were selected through all-female shortlists.
But take a look at the figures published by the Fawcett Society for the 2001 election. An outrageous 86%
of Conservative candidates are men. An appalling 79% of Liberal Democrat candidates are men. An
astonishing 77% of Labour candidates are men. I've run out of adjectives but 82% of Plaid Cymru
candidates are men and 79% of SNP candidates are men.
Male politicians with no real stomach to fight for more women in parliament have
hidden behind the skirts of the Sex Discrimination Act. A law crafted to help women has been used
as a weapon against them. Women-only shortlists were dropped after two disgruntled male candidates felt
their toys had been taken away. They obtained a finding that under employment laws all-female shortlists
were illegal. Party managers quickly shied away from any form of positive equalisation for fear
of costly litigation.
I certainly understand people who are opposed to the introduction of quotas because I used
to feel the same. Aware of the sheer breadth of female talent in this country, I thought
women would get selected as candidates in large numbers. I went through the arguments - quotas
are demeaning, women must be chosen on merit; quotas are reverse discrimination against men.
But experience convinces me that millennia of cultural baggage can be broken only with the sledgehammer of
a quota system. What do you say about a mother of parliaments in which only 18% of MPs are women?
Do people seriously believe British women less capable of running their country than their European sisters?
Modern democracies with between 30% and 44% female representation in parliament include Sweden, Finland,
Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands and Germany. Parties in those states use quota systems.
In France, an astonishing change took place this year. Under new parity laws, political parties must
field at least 40% male candidates and at least 40% female candidates. The greatest obstacle in the UK
is the candidate selection process. As (Groucho) Marx put it, "I'd give up my seat for you if it wasn't
for the fact I'm sitting in it myself." Selection meetings still reek more of after-shave than eau de
toilette. Without quotas, male opportunism and long-standing prejudices come into play. Four men
are being selected for each woman.
In Wales, seven Labour MPs are standing down. In each seat, local Labour members
have chosen men to succeed them. In the rest of the Labour party only four women have been
chosen to replace retiring MPs. Even the redoubtable Betty Boothroyd has been replaced by a man.
Liberal Democrats currently have four women and 43 men MPs. Mark Wickham-Jones of Bristol University
predicts that a swing of as little as 5% away from the Liberal Democrats could reduce the party to
male-only MPs. Only a handful of the Lib Dems' 50 target seats have female candidates. Ray Michie MP
is standing down from Argyll and Bute. She will be replaced by a man.
The scene for women Tories is bleak. Not one woman has been selected where a Tory MP is retiring.
Essex woman Teresa Gorman will be replaced by Essex man. If the remaining 13 women MPs hold their
seats there will be the same number of Tory women in the house as back in 1931.
Meg Russell, of University College London's constitution unit, has proposed taking UK candidate
selection out of the Sex Discrimination Act. This would allow the parties to take "proportionate action"
to ensure the representation of historically under-represented groups.
My choice would be parity quotas, which apply to men and women alike. There are varieties of
parity systems. In England and Wales, for the European elections, Liberal Democrats used a zipper -
alternate men's and women's names on candidate lists. As a result, five men and five women MEPs were elected.
For the Welsh assembly and Scottish parliament, Labour twinned constituencies between one male candidate and one
female candidate. As a result 37% of the Scottish parliament and 40% of the Welsh assembly are female.
In the words of the famous ad, women would refresh the parts other lagers don't reach. And the goddess of
democracy knows the body politic needs refreshing right now.
Lesley Abdela lesley.abdela@shevolution.com
© Lesley Abdela 2000
Links
Materials - Shevolution training handout
The Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk
The 300 Group - www.300group.org.uk
The Fawcett Society - www.fawcettsociety.org.uk
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