In this blog Hannah Francis, Unbound Trainee at the Runnymede Trust, looks at the history of political representation for women of colour and considers what still needs to change.
The trajectory for women in politics has been marred by a history of oppressive forces common in male-dominated spaces. Prior to 1918, women were not allowed to participate in electoral politics let alone become parliamentarians themselves. 1918 was the first election where women were allowed to stand and saw the election of the first woman to the Westminster Parliament, Constance Markievicz, although she didn’t take up her seat. It was not until 1919 that the first female MP, Nancy Astor, took her seat in parliament.
But it took another 68 years still before the UK’s first woman of colour, a Black woman, was elected into parliament in 1987; Diane Abbott. Diane Abbott took her seat alongside Paul Boateng, Bernie Grant and Keith Vaz, the first people of colour to become members of parliament since 1929. These four Labour MPs’ success was the outcome of the four-year campaign from the movement for ‘Black Sections’ in the Labour party, who were tired of Labour taking the ‘Black vote’ for granted, while doing little to address the needs of the UK’s ethnic minority communities.
Taking note of the representation of women, particularly women of colour, within the Labour party, David Cameron established the ‘Conservative Party A List’ in 2005, which saw familiar faces from Liz Truss to Priti Patel rise up the party’s ranks.
The barriers facing our female politicians of colour are of course not exclusive to politics. Women of colour across the country face a double jeopardy and know first hand the myth of meritocracy in the workplace. Our recent research with the Fawcett Society on the experiences of women of colour in the workplace found that 75% have experienced racism at work, with 42% (compared to 27% for white women) being passed up for promotions despite good feedback. From school to the workplace there are structural barriers standing between women of colour and the opportunities they deserve, and this is no less true for our politicians. In fact at the launch of the report in parliament, Claire Coutinho and Florence Eshalomi, two MPs from the 2019 intake on opposite sides of the political spectrum, spoke of the barriers they faced getting to the points they now are.
It was just this time last year that MP Stella Creasy was reprimanded for bringing her sleeping 3-month old son to a Commons debate, and our Home Secretary Suella Braverman was the first minister to benefit from paid maternity leave, with the rules previously stating that a sitting minister would need to resign if they wanted to take time off following the birth.
Despite the success of many prominent female politicians of colour, only 5.7% of MPs are women of colour. For parliament to be truly representative of the people it seeks to serve we need greater representation of women of colour and this needs to include women from a diverse range of backgrounds. More must be done to support the election and career development of politicians who sit at the intersection of multiple disadvantages, including working class and disabled women of colour, who would favour policies that take into consideration these nuances and target and support marginalised communities across society.
Not only must we interrogate the ways in which women of colour face a plethora of borders to a growing political career, but we must interrogate the intentions of all of those who wish to establish themselves in the political arena, and whether this form of representation equates to the deliverance of true racial justice.