The Women's National Commission (WNC) is the Government's independent advisory body on women's issues, and works in partnership with women's organisations representing up to 8 million women. The WNC response to this consultation is based on feedback from its Board of Commissioners.

SUMMARY

— Current low levels of women's political representation are a problem because:

— No country can afford to ignore the skills and talents of half its population;

— Institutions that exclude women's experiences and perspectives are more likely to make decisions that do not take account of the reality of women's lives; and

— A parliament that does not appear representative of the society it serves is in danger of being perceived by voters as out of touch and irrelevant

— The main reason for the low levels of women's representation are the continued failure of the political parties to select women for winnable seats.

— In addition there are barriers preventing women coming forward for selection as candidates including: lack of money, caring responsibilities, dislike of the culture of politics and lack of confidence.

— Despite these barriers there is no shortage of able women seeking selection in all the political parties. Women continue to experience both direct and indirect discrimination within all parties.

— The evidence from the UK and internationally is that the only way to guarantee increased levels of women's representation is through the use of quota systems.

— Other methods such as mentoring, shadowing and training can be valuable in encouraging women to come forward but in the absence of quotas they will not result in increased levels of women's representation.

— All political parties should be encouraged to adopt "all women shortlists" to increase the percentage of women Members of Parliament

— All political parties should be encouraged to used "zipped" lists for elections to the European Parliament

— Parliament should review its working hours and practices to ensure they are as family friendly as possible.

  The Women's National Commission welcomes the decision that the Speaker's Conference should consider the issue of parliamentary representation. We have a long standing concern about the low levels of women's representation in political life. Women currently make up only 19.5% of UK MPs and the UK is currently 60th in the Inter Parliamentary Union table of women's representation around the world.[65]

Problems caused by the unbalanced representation in the House of Commons of different groups of society.

  The WNC believes the low level of women's representation in the UK is a problem for a number of reasons:

  Women make up half the population. No country can afford to ignore the skills, talents and experiences of half its people.

  Institutions that exclude women's experiences and perspectives are more likely to make decisions that do not take account of the reality of women's lives. Policies made in these circumstances are unlikely to meet women's needs. Since the increase of women MPs in 1997 issues such as childcare and violence against women, which have historically been seen as politically marginal, have increased in political importance.[66] In the Scottish Parliament (with 39% women) and Welsh Assembly (with 47% women) issues that have historically been seen as "women's issues" have entered the political mainstream.[67]

  A parliament that does not appear representative of the society it serves is in danger of being perceived by voters as out of touch and irrelevant. This can increase political alienation, which is a key factor in low voter turn out.[68]

Reasons for lack of women in Parliament

  The main reason for the low number of women in parliament in the UK is the continued failure of political parties to select women as candidates for winnable seats.

  Research by the Fawcett Society and others has found strong evidence of persistent and widespread discrimination (both direct and indirect) against women would be candidates in all parties.[69] Women candidates and would be candidates reported numerous examples of discrimination including:

— Being told that the constituency was "not ready for a woman".

— Questions about family responsibilities being asked of women but not men during selection

— Women candidates being criticised for behaviour or circumstances, for example being too young, going for selection in several seats at once, not being local, when their male counterparts were not criticised in the same way.

— Sexual harassment by party activists, including members of selection committees

— The existence of "favoured sons"—candidates who benefited from high levels of support from the party nationally, or regionally and or from key donors and supporters (including trade unions in the Labour Party). These candidates were almost never women.

— Corruption in the selection process including CVs being "lost", some candidates being given greater access to local membership lists and so on, again this benefited male candidates.

— Open hostility to the idea of women in public life from some party members.

  In addition to direct discrimination of this type women experience indirect discrimination such as assumptions among local parties about the skills and experience needed to be an MP which are based on the sort of political career that men are more likely to have than women. In a safe seat where the sitting MP held the seat for many years before retiring local party members may have no experience of selecting a candidate (or indeed much experience of any recruitment). Their model of a successful MP will be based on the previous incumbent (usually male) and perhaps unsurprisingly they select someone similar, only younger.

  As well as this discrimination there are a number of practical and psychological barriers which prevent women putting themselves forward for selection. These include:

  Lack of money. Selection processes can be very expensive, involving frequent travel to a constituency, over-night accommodation and so on. Women earn less than men and are more likely to face additional expenses such as the cost of childcare while attending meetings.

  Caring responsibilities. Women continue to carry the main burden of responsibility for childcare and eldercare within families. This reduces the time they have available for political activity. In addition there is evidence from both the UK and internationally that women are more likely than men to decide against a political career because of fears of the effect it would have on their family.[70]

  Dislike of the culture of politics. Many women find the political culture in the UK very off putting. This includes the long working hours, "yah boo" politics in the chamber and media intrusion into private life.

  Lack of confidence. The practical problems, both of running for election and then being an MP, plus the cultural image of what an MP is like mean that many women lack the confidence to put themselves forward.

  Although these problems do contribute to a lower number of women coming forward for selection as candidates they do not explain the lack of women in political life. There is no shortage of able women willing to stand as candidates in any of the political parties. Where parties have used positive action to ensure women are selected for winnable seats (as the Labour Party did with all women shortlists for Westminster or twinning for elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly) they have been able to find good women candidates to fill those seats.

Action to address disparities in representation

  Since the 1980s there have been increasing efforts to increase women's representation from both within political parties and from external campaigning groups like the 300 Group and the Fawcett Society.

  Both parties and NGOs have organised shadowing and mentoring schemes and run training courses to improve women's political skills and confidence. Groups like Emily's List within the Labour Party have raised money for women candidates at the beginning of their careers. All of these tactics have increased the number of women coming forward for selection. However on their own they have not succeeded in increasing the number of women MPs because they have failed to address the main barrier to women's political representation—the failure of local parties to select women for winnable seats.

  The only method that has been shown to significantly increase the numbers of women in parliament, either in the UK or internationally is some form of positive action or quota.

  In the UK positive action has been used by the Labour Party in the form of All Women Shortlists for Westminster elections and Twinning for elections to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. Among Westminster MPs women make up 27% of the Labour party, 14% of the Liberal Democrats and 9% of the Conservatives—without Labour's use of All Women Shortlists women's representation in the UK would be far lower than the current 19.8%.

  Women elected on All Women Shortlists have been the targets of criticism since the 1997 election. Opponents of positive action have tried to argue that "quota women" are of a lower calibre than other MPs. In fact among the 1997 intake of Labour MPs women have been more successful in holding government positions than their male counterparts suggesting no lack of talent among the women selected under All Women Shortlists.[71]

  Twinning in Scotland and Wales has been even more successful than All Women Shortlists. Women make up 39% of the Scottish Parliament and 47% of the Welsh Assembly. Both the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly were new institutions in 1999 so there was a greater opportunity to deliver a high level of female representation, however these percentages of women would not have been achieved without the use of Twinning.

  The international evidence is that positive action in the form of quotas is not only effective, it is the only method guaranteed to deliver women's representation. An international study by the Women's Environment and Development Organisation in 2005 showed that all the countries with a "critical mass" of over 30% women (with the exception of Cuba) had some form of quota either within one or more of the parties or mandated by law.[72]

  Quota systems used around the world include:[73]

Reserved seats for women

  These are seats that are set aside for women only under a single member constituency system. Women may be appointed or elected to these seats. This system is used in Uganda where there are also reserved seats for other groups such as youth and people with disabilities. Where this happens women are elected to represent regions alongside other MPs elected to constituencies. This can create distinctions between women MPs from special seats and "normal" MPs.

Quotas on lists

  Used with a list proportional representation (PR) system. Parties chose or are required by law to set a quota for the proportion of candidates on their lists that must be women. Unless the quota specifies the positions on the list that women must be in there is a danger that women will remain at the bottom of the list with little chance of election

Zipping/zebra lists

  Used with a list PR system. Parties chose or are required by law to ensure equal numbers of men and women throughout their lists. This can be done by alternating women and men on the list, known as zipped or zebra lists in different parts of the world. The order of the list can be decided by the party leadership, or through a ballot of party members. Zipped lists are widely used in countries with high levels of women's representation including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands.

Quotas required by law

  In some countries quotas are adopted voluntarily by political parties. In others the law requires parties to use quotas. Quotas required by law are not always successful. If the law does not specify where on the list women should be placed or how winnable a seat they should be selected for parties may select women for unwinnable seats or keep them in low positions on a party list. Where the consequences of failing to abide by the law are low (for example a modest fine) parties are less likely to co-operate than where they are high (for example a party's list being declared invalid).

Quotas on shortlists

  Where parties are unwilling to introduce quotas that guarantee selection of women they may chose to set quotas for the pre-selection shortlisting stage. This was done in the Labour party before the introduction of All Women Shortlists and has been used by the Liberal Democrats. Unfortunately this type of quota does not appear to have much impact on the number of women selected. Indeed many women interviewed by the Fawcett Society complained that they were simply included on the shortlist to meet the quota by local parties that had no intention of seriously considering them as a candidate.[74]

  The local level is a key site at which acceptance can be won for equal representation through the use of quotas. In Representing the Future—the Report of the Councillors' Commission, the authors note that parties can work towards greater equality of gender representation by, for instance, requiring that no three-candidate slate be all of one gender.[75] Local democracy can prove a useful training ground for women as elected representatives, and for practices to secure gender equality.

BME WOMEN

— The Electoral Commission asserts that turn-out rates for the last two General Elections are significantly lower amongst black voters than white voters. The Commission estimates that white voter turnout was 60% in 2001, rising to 62% in 2005, while black voter turnout did not increase from 47%.[76] 34% of black and Asian voters gave to an ICM/Operation Black Vote poll in 2001 as their reason for abstaining the belief that "voting would make no difference".[77] Moreover, according to a survey commissioned by the Electoral Commission and Operation Black Vote in 2002, 43% of black people living in Greater London and the West Midlands said that they would be encouraged to vote by a better representation of black people in politics. 37% cited as an important reason, "politicians being in touch with the concerns of black people".[78]

— Such concerns are reflected in the persistently low numbers of BME elected representatives, and women are particularly under-represented in the political process at all levels. Whilst 5.4% of the population of England are BME women, they represent only 0.3% of Parliamentary members. This extends to the local level, with ethnic minority women constituting only 0.9% of councillors in 2006.[79]

Recommendations of the CEDAW committee about women's representation in the UK

  The low level of women's political representation in the UK was raised by the CEDAW Committee in its concluding observations on the UK's 2007 report. The Committee expressed Concern: "that woman continue to be underrepresented in political and public life" and called on the UK Government to:

"take measures, with benchmarks and concrete timetables, to increase the number of women in political and public life, at all levels and in all areas."

  The Committee also recommended that the UK Government

"introduce temporary special measures, in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and general recommendation 25, to strengthen its efforts to promote women to positions of leadership. To that end, the Committee urges the State party to increase the availability of training and capacity-building programmes for women wishing to enter or already in public office and to enhance its awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of women's participation in political and public life."

  The Committee went on to note that:

"Women of different ethnic and minority communities are also greatly underrepresented in political and public life"

And to urge the UK to:

"take effective measures to increase the participation of ethnic and minority women in the labour market, as well as in political and public life, including through the use of temporary special measures in line with article 4"[80]

WNC RECOMMENDATIONS

— All political parties should be encouraged to adopt "all women shortlists" to increase the percentage of women Members of Parliament

— All political parties should be encouraged to used "zipped" lists for elections to the European Parliament

— Parliament should review its working hours and practices to ensure they are as family friendly as possible.

66   see http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/Women%20and%20politics%20briefing%20June%202006.pdf Back

67   See Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, 2006. "Encouraging Women into political and public life", Report on the Conference in Hillsborough Castle, p3; and "Women and Constitutional Change in Wales", Occasional Paper No. 7, Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics, Queen's University Belfast. October 2003. Back

68   See Young People and Politics in the UK: Apathy or Alienation?, David March, Therese O'Toole and Su Jones, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2007b Back

69   See for example Women and Candidate Selection in British Political Parties, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and Joni Lovenduski, Fawcett 2002 Back

70   Gender and Democracy: What works? Strategies to increase women's representation, Mary-Ann Stephenson, British Council, 2004 Back

71   Cracks in the Ceiling, Rebecca Lury, in Fabian Review Winter 2008-09 Back

72   http://www.wedo.org/files/5050factsheet4.pdf Back

73   For more information about the different quota systems in use around the world see Gender and Democracy: What works? Strategies to increase women's representation, Mary-Ann Stephenson, British Council, 2004 Back

74   Women and Candidate Selection in British Political Parties, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and Joni Lovenduski, Fawcett 2002 Back

75   Representing the Future: The Report of the Councillors Commission, Department of Communities and Local Government, December 2007 Back

76   Electoral Commission (2005): "Turnout 2005" p18 Back

77   Electoral Commission (2002) "Voter Engagement among black and minority ethnic communities" p35-36 Back

78   Richards, L. and Marshall, B. (Electoral Commission, 2003) "Political Engagement among black and minority ethnic communities: what we know, what we need to know" p7 Back

79   Government Equalities Office (2007) "Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Women in Political and Public Life in the United Kingdom" p 1 Back

80   Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, July 2008 (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/CEDAW.C.GBR.CO.6.pdf) Back