In this blog, Centenary Action’s Iman Ali reflects on the current changes in Parliament, the increased presence of women and ethnic minorities and the decrease in disabled MPs.
The General Election in 2024 has been successful in increasing the number of women in Parliament, with a record number of 263 female MPs elected. Women now make up 40 percent of the total 650 MPs. Out of the 263 women MPs, 129 of them were elected as MPs for the first time. This means there have now been 693 female MPs ever and for the first time we can say that enough female MPs have ever been elected to theoretically fill the House of Commons chamber. Whilst we have seen a significant improvement from the previous election where 220 female MPs were elected, the current parliament is still 62 short of achieving equal representation of female MPs.
Women gained 190 seats for the Labour Party, making up 46 percent of the party’s seats and 29 percent of the overall total of MPs. The Liberal Democrats similarly achieved 44 percent of their seats for female MPs, as 32 were elected. This is 5 percent of the overall total of MPs. However, the Conservative Party achieved 29 women MPs, which is 24 percent of the party’s seats and 4 percent of the overall total of MPs. The Scottish National Party only returned 1 female MP. This is 11 percent of their party seats and 0.2 percent of the overall total MPs. The Green Party and Plaid Cymru each achieved 3 female MPs elected, which is only 0.5 percent of total MPs each but notably 75 percent of both respective party’s seats in Parliament. The Reform Party did not gain any seats for women.
There is now a record number of 46 percent of women in the cabinet, making it the most gender balanced in history. Angela Rayner was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister and history was made when Rachel Reeves was made the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer. Women also make up half of the MPs in the Great Offices of State. They include Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper (Home Secretary).
Since the previous election, there has been a decrease in disabled MPs from 14 to 10, according to research by Professor Elizabeth Evans and Dr Stefanie Reher. These are MPs who have publicly declared themselves as disabled and there likely could be more undisclosed. Some are MPs who have been re-elected and there were also some newcomers including Dr Marie Tidball, elected for Labour in Penistone and Stocksbridge; Steve Darling, the Liberal Democrat elected in Torbay; and the Labour Party’s Jen Craft, elected in Thurrock. However, disabled MPs remain significantly underrepresented, as disabled people make up nearly one in four of the UK population.
There is an unprecedented number of ethnic minority MPs in the new parliament, with 90 elected overall and 50 of these being women. This new Parliament will include 66 Labour MPs from an ethnic minority background, which is 16 percent of the Labour Party. The Conservative Party has 14 ethnic minority MPs, which is 11.5 percent of the MPs in the party. The Liberal Democrats have 5 ethnic minority MPs and there are 4 new independent MPs from a minority background. This is a significant improvement from the previous election where 66 MPs of ethnic minority background were elected. It is also the closest we have been to reflecting the UK’s ethnic diversity where 18 percent of Britons identified themselves as non-white in 2021. In 40 years we have gone from zero to nearly one in seven MPs being from an ethnic minority background. Diane Abbott, who made history as the first Black woman elected as an MP, was also made Mother of the House.
It is clear that since the previous General Election there have been significant improvements for women and ethnic minorities. Both have been elected in higher numbers than ever. Women are also increasingly being placed in senior roles. However, there is still more progress to be made in achieving equal representation for women and increased representation for ethnic minorities and disabled people, as they in particular are extremely underrepresented. We need to ensure that structural barriers are addressed and diverse candidates selected in winnable seats to accelerate the progress made to date if we are to achieve a gender equal parliament by 2028, the centenary of equal suffrage.