Throughout history, the political landscape of the United Kingdom has been predominantly shaped and governed by men. The struggle towards gender parity across the United Kingdom has been fought tirelessly throughout the 20th century. Women were given the right to stand as MPs in 1918, some women got the right to vote in 1918, the suffrage movement won the vote on the same terms as men in 1928, and the first woman prime minister was appointed in 1979.

Due to coordinated efforts of campaigners and activists, over the last 100 years an increasing number of women have assumed roles in politics. This shift is particularly evident in the increase in women Members of Parliament (MPs) who, as of February 2024 totalled 226 out of the 650 MPs, (35%). However, whilst the number of women MPs has increased, there is still a long way to go in order to achieve gender parity in elected bodies in the UK. 

Gender parity around the world

Across the world, as of 2nd Feb 2024, there are only 6 Parliaments (Mexico, Nicaragua, Cuba, Rwanda, Andorra and the United Arab Emirates) which have gender parity in their lower or single house. 

Other countries have achieved gender parity previously, such as Wales in 2003, however these have fallen back into male majorities in recent years. Globally there is an increasing number of women parliamentarians; in 1995 women made up only 11.3%, whereas by the end of 2022 women made up 26.5% of parliamentarians. However, whilst it is positive that there is an increasing number of women members, 2022 showed the slowest progression of women’s representation in parliaments in 6 years, only increasing 0.4% from the previous year. If this rate continues, it will take over 80 years for gender parity to be realised globally. It is evident that there is more work to be done before parliamentary gender parity becomes a reality.  

Quotas are a key mechanism to enable gender parity. In 2022 there were 18 countries which had a change in parliament where legislated gender quotas were in place in the single or lower house. In these countries 30.3% of the total number of MPs are women. In comparison, in countries with no gender quotas (19) which had a parliamentary renewal e.g. change in parliament, only 22.2% of parliamentarians elected were women. There is an 8-point percentage difference in gender parity achievement between countries with quotas and those without.  

How would a quota be implemented?

There are multiple types of gender quotas, and the ease and effectiveness of implementation can differ across voting systems. Our new report, Pursuing Parity: Examining Gender Quotas Across Electoral Systems, explores the different quota mechanisms through which gender parity can be achieved, examining the benefits and the potential drawbacks of the approaches. It then assesses the ease and success of quota implementation across majoritarian and proportional voting systems. Following this, we’ve created country case studies of several of the approaches that explore the mechanisms in action. 

Pursuing Parity illustrates how implementing gender quotas and moving to a proportional representation voting system (PR) can help speed up the progress of achieving gender parity in elected bodies around the world and at home.

Read our new report: Pursuing Parity

2018 marks one hundred years since a major landmark in the history of our democracy – the first time women in the UK had the right to vote.

The Suffrage movement saw women organise and campaign for their voice to be heard from the mid 1860s. By the 1900s great progress had been made and many politicians had been won over – but the breakthrough required had not been achieved.

The suffrage movement and the wartime role of women resulted in the Representation of the People Act 1918. It gave the right to vote to around 8.5 million women previously disenfranchised.

And while it would be another decade before women under 30 would receive the same right, 1918 was the year the UK set itself on the path to equality.

Yet 100 years later, the journey is still far from complete.

Men and women share the same voting rights – but there are other barriers to parity which remain firmly rooted in the nation’s fabric. We see that in the dire levels of political representation.

Just 32% of MPs and 33% of councillors are women. All six elected Metro Mayors are men, and just 12% of Combined Authority representatives are women.

More locally, the issue is just as bad. Only 4% of local councils in England have a maternity, paternity or parental leave policy for councillors, and four in ten women councillors have experienced sexism from within their own party.

Beyond the numbers, there have been countless stories of women in politics suffering abuse and sexual harassment.

A recent review by the Independent Committee for Standards on Public Life found women politicians are disproportionately the targets of intimidation.

There are still those who feel women do not have the right to give their opinions on political issues and who respond by dishing out a barrage of abuse behind the cloak of anonymity afforded them by social media.

And at Westminster terrible accounts of alleged sexual assaults continue to emerge, not least concerning elected politicians and their behavior towards their own staff.

Just like it was a century ago, action is required to rectify the gender inbalance.

Political institutions need to reflect the citizens they purport to represent. The more diverse their make-up, the less opportunities there are for discrimination. And the more that representation feeds into good policy making for everybody.

That is why, a century on from the landmark Act which first gave women the right to vote, a new coalition of campaigning charities, individuals and women and girls’ rights organisations is demanding action.

Members of the newly-formed Centenary Action Group – convened by Helen Pankhurst, great grand-daughter of suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst – include the Fawcett Society, Oxfam GB, the Electoral Reform Society, Girlguiding UK, National Federation of Women’s Institutes and Amnesty International UK (a full list is below) – and a whole host more. This is a hugely diverse coalition to say that in 2018, parties and politicians must act so that in the centenary of women’s suffrage, we can make real progress.

This year the coalition will be pushing for change and an increase in women’s participation in politics by the breaking-down of those barriers which remain.

A hundred years after many women got the vote, there is still a long way to go. But we can get there: let’s use this symbolic year as an opportunity.

To keep track of the Centenary Action Group’s progress, search for the hashtag #StillMarching on social media. Updates on the group’s work will also be posted on the Electoral Reform Society’s website.

In general, diversity in parliaments is on the rise across the UK and the world.

But it’s by no means inevitable or uniform – and making our often archaic institutions reflect the public they represent takes hard work.

So it’s always disappointing to hear when the clock goes back. Over the weekend ERS Cymru published new research which shows that on May 5th, women’s representation in the Welsh Assembly is likely to stagnate.

‘Women in the National Assembly’ has unearthed some major – and concerning – findings:

• Women are far more likely than men to be contesting marginal or vulnerable seats at this election – 10 of the 11 ‘battlegrounds’ are being defended by women, compared to safer constituency seats, about three-quarter of which are being defended by men.
• 17 Assembly constituency seats have never been won by a woman – and seven seats after May are likely to have still never had a female AM or MP.

ERS Cymru project that at this election, between 22 (making up 37% of the Senedd) and 28 (45%) women AMs will be elected, which averages to 40%. This compares to the 25 elected in 2011, making up 42% of the Senedd. And while the predicted 40% is better than the 29% in Westminster, it’s worrying to see it flat-lining – or even falling. It also compares badly to the 52% female Assembly from 2005-2007, or the 47% in 2007-2011.

A diverse Assembly is important to truly represent Wales and to ensure that every voice is heard.

When people of all backgrounds are represented, we get a wide range of viewpoints and experiences, which strengthen our democracy.

We can and should do better – which is why campaigners are calling for parties to take action on diversity – see the manifesto launched last week.

These findings are disappointing. But we know that if the next Welsh government takes action, we can have a politics in Wales that works for us all.

Of course, we’ll only know what’s happened when it comes to diversity after May the 5th. But if we have gone back or stalled on progress, let’s make sure we all work together to do something about it.

Read the report