Following the establishment of the new Modernisation Committee, Centenary Action convened academics with expertise in how parliament works for women and women MPs, to write to Lucy Powell MP, the Leader of the House of Commons and Chair of the Modernisation Committee:
Dear Lucy,
We hope you are well and congratulate you on the progress made so far in your role as Leader of the House, in particular the swift action on establishing the Modernisation Committee.
We write to you as a group of academics who have built up specialist knowledge about how parliament works for women and women MPs. We welcome the commitment in the memorandum on the Modernisation Committee to take forward the work on ‘creating a more ‘gender-sensitive Parliament’, to make the House of Commons an accessible and inclusive place of work.’ We would like to offer to support this work by sharing our collective expertise on gender issues.
There are a considerable number of reforms which we would like to see progressed through the Modernisation Committee which are detailed in reports such as The Good Parliament report and the recent APPG Women in Parliament Open House report. We would also make the case that gender and diversity sensitivity should be fully integrated into the committee’s procedures, by subjecting all proposals to a gender and diversity sensitivity test. In addition the committee needs to take account of the voices of women MPs past, present and future.
There is a huge opportunity to make progress on some of the fundamental barriers faced by women MPs and we would be more than happy to meet with you and support you in this important work. We will also share this letter with all the members of the Modernisation Committee.
Best wishes,
Professor Helen Pankhurst CBE, Centenary Action Convener
Professor Sarah Childs, Personal Chair of Politics and Gender, Edinburgh University
Dr Minna Cowper-Coles, Research Fellow, Kings Global Institute for Women’s Leadership
Professor Meryl Kenny, Professor of Gender and Politics, Edinburgh University
Dr Sofia Collignon, Director of the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Jessica C. Smith, Assistant Professor in Politics, University of Southampton
Professor Rosie Campbell, Professor of Politics and Director of the King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership
Professor Laura McAllister, Professor of Public Policy and the Governance of Wales, Wales Governance Centre, Cardiff University
Dr. Kaitlin Senk, Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath
Professor Hilde Coffé, Professor in Politics, University of Bath
Professor Susan Banducci, 125 Anniversary Chair and Professor of Political Science, University of Birmingham
Professor Maria Sobolewska FRSA, Professor of Political Science, University of Manchester
Professor Caitlin Milazzo, Head of School – Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham
Professor Francesca Gains, Emerita Professor of Public Policy, University of Manchester
Dr Alexandra Meakin, Lecturer in British Politics, University of Leeds
Dr Sarabajaya Kumar, Associate Professor in Political Science, University College London