Women Count

“You must make women count as much as men; you must have an equal standard of morals; and the only way to enforce that is through giving women political power so that you can get that equal moral standard registered in the laws of the country. It is the only way.”

Emmeline Pankhurst

Delivering a diverse and gender equal parliament

For our democracy to be effective and vibrant and function well, it’s vital that there’s equal representation of women, in all their diversity, in parliament. Women bring collaborative and inclusive leadership which leads to stronger and better decision-making and a more representative governance. Research shows that more inclusive legislatures pass more pro-women legislation and distribute public services and benefits more fairly. Everyone wins when there are more women involved in public life.

But, whilst women are 51% of the population, they only account for 40% of MPs and our democracy is being undermined by a lack of representation. In fact there have only ever been 693 female MPs. Centenary Action’s Women Count campaign will shine a spotlight on this issue in the run up to the next general election. We want to see more women selected as candidates, we want to work with all the political parties to make it happen and we want to expose the issue to wider scrutiny by monitoring and sharing progress with the public. We want to see women in their full diversity selected and will support women from different backgrounds to gain the skills and confidence to put themselves forward.

Our aim is to ensure equal representation by 2028, the centenary when all women in the UK won the right to vote on equal terms with men. Ensuring more women are selected as candidates this time, and in seats that they can win, is a vital part of the journey to achieving that aim.

Whilst we don’t know the date of the next general election, we know that candidate selection has begun in earnest and the next 12 months are key. We believe that we can keep the spotlight on the parties, monitor how many women they are selecting and share the data with them and with a wider audience. We will also work with them to influence manifesto commitments to encourage them to support future changes to the parliamentary system and culture that will encourage even more women to get involved.

We want to put the issue of women’s representation front and centre in the election campaign. Working alongside our partners in Scotland (Engender), Wales (Women’s Equality Network (WEN) Wales) and Northern Ireland (NI 5050) we will make the case for more representative and gender diverse democratic institutions and put our demand for equal representation by 2028 at its core.

The system remains stacked against women and many are put off by the barriers and challenges they need to overcome. This is especially true for those from ethnic minority backgrounds or those who have a disability. And being a parent or carer and being a representative is not catered for within the system and the culture making this dual role extremely hard to carry out. We will continue to challenge those barriers, ensuring parliament adapts to take account of the specific needs of women with different experiences.