Renewing the case for electoral reform: the issue of women's representation.
| Author | Briggs, Jacqui |
| Position | Essays |
The undeniable outcome of the referendum as to whether the Alternative Vote (AV) should be used for elections to Westminster, held on 5 May 2011, was a resounding 'No'. The turnout was low at 42.2 per cent but, of those, 68 per cent voted against the proposal. This may mean that electoral reform is likely to be off the political agenda for the foreseeable future at least, if not for a generation.
This could, however, be a myopic standpoint given that there are many who still cite the inconsistencies of the incumbent First Past the Post electoral system and bemoan its continued existence for elections to Westminster. AV may have been decisively defeated in the referendum; but what of the case for Proportional Representation?
Some have suggested that the cause is not lost and that there may be further opportunities, perhaps sooner than we think. Analyses of the referendum result include many who believe that those in favour of electoral reform did not do a particularly good job of explaining and setting out their case. Chris Huhne, for example, believes that no reform now may mean bigger reform later.
The problems to which electoral reformers are responding have not Gone away and will continue to demand an answer. British society is increasingly pluralist, and the trend to diversity is accelerating. (Huhne, 2011) Other proponents of reform believe that the issue should not be buried, and that advocates should continue to flag up the inconsistencies, anomalies and unfairness of the current electoral system whilst flagging up the merits of proportional representation. John Harris, for example, states that his belief 'that so many of the failures of British politics are down to our creaking voting system remains as strong as ever'. He cites 'a very British refusal to embrace a change' compounded by 'an equally British failure to convince people otherwise' as being responsible for the referendum outcome (Harris, 2011).
There is also a strong case for electoral reform at other levels of governance, for example at local level and even on many school councils. Anthony Butcher highlights that reform of the Commons would only affect 650 seats whereas local councils elect 22,736 district level seats, mostly using First Past the Post; and he sets out a clear case for electoral reform at local level (Butcher, 2011).
Clearly, there is continued relevance for electoral reform post referendum. There is, moreover, the ongoing possibility of another hung parliament at the next general election with no clear victor.
Certainly, the AV referendum demonstrated that reformers will need to make a more convincing case for electoral reform as something that can address the problems of the existing system and genuinely foster a 'new politics', and thereby assemble a more powerful alliance for change. One of the ways the argument for electoral reform might be renewed and the campaign rebuilt is by highlighting the prospects that (some forms of) proportional representation can improve the representation of women. Using evidence from the case of New Zealand, this article sets out the case that proportional representation for elections to the UK Westminster Parliament would improve female political representation.
The issue of female representation in the UK
Female political representation remains a contentious issue in the United Kingdom. The Equal Opportunities Commission (2006) highlights that, thirty years after the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act was passed and after the inception of the Equal Opportunities Commission, women are still a long way from achieving gender parity - especially in the political sphere (Carvel, 2006, 4). One of the key recommendations of the Power Report (as well as the replacement of the First Past the Post electoral system with a form of proportional representation) was that the 'Electoral Commission should take a more active role in promoting candidacy so that more women [and other under represented groups] are encouraged to stand' (Power Report, 2006, Recommendation 15). The Electoral Commission's own research also highlighted that female candidates can be an electoral advantage for political parties (Electoral Commission, 2004). Although all parties should take heed, this is crucial as far as the Conservative Party is concerned (1).
Despite a slight decline in 2001 (down from 120 in 1997 to 118 in 2001), the numbers of female Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom has increased since the late 1990s (see Table One). The most notable increase corresponded with Labour's return to power in 1997. This election saw the number of female MPs double from 60 at the previous General Election (1992) to 120 in 1997, 101 of whom belonged to the Labour Party. In 2005, the number of female MPs rose to 128. This figure was predominantly composed of Labour MPs given that 28 per cent of Labour MPs were female. By comparison, 16 per cent of Liberal Democrat MPs were female and only 9 per cent of Conservative MPs.
At the 2010 General Election, 143 female MPs were elected. These included 81 Labour, 49 Conservative, and 7 Liberal Democrats. In percentage terms, 31 per cent of Labour MPs were female, 16 per cent of Conservative MPs and 12 per cent of Liberal Democratic MPs. The Conservative and Labour parties both saw an increase in the percentage of their MPs that are female whereas the Liberal Democrats suffered a slight decline. Overall, the figure is still less than 25 per cent. There are some slight grounds for optimism given that 'there is a higher percentage of female MPs among the younger generation of politicians being elected than in previous parliaments. Of the 28 MPs currently under the age of 30 in the House of Commons half are female and half male' (2). But even so, the current figure of 144 female MPs out of a total of 650 is hardly ground breaking.
Table 1: Female MPs elected at UK general elections Election year Number Percentage 1979 19 3 1983 23 3.5 1987 41 6.3 1992 60 9.2 1997 120 18.2 2001 118 17.9 2005 128 19.8 2010 143 22 Source: www.parliament.uk The literature on female political representation has tended to centre around the twin themes of why there are so few women in Parliament and what, if anything, can be done to rectify this situation.
The Fawcett Society believes that factors explaining the dearth of women in politics can be explained by reference to the four 'Cs' - namely, culture, child-care, cash and confidence. The culture of British politics is said to exclude women, for example, the notion that politics remains ostensibly a 'man's world'. Women still have primary responsibility for care-giving in our society and (despite much greater participation in the labour market) they often lack the cash and the confidence to enable them to put themselves forward for selection.
Correspondingly, there is also the belief that women need to be represented in politics, this is summarised by the four 'Ss' - namely, symbolism - women MPs may act as role models; substance - women bring specific experiences and issues; style - arguments have been put forward to say that women in politics operate in a slightly different way to the men and, finally; sense - it makes sense for the political parties, it looks better and may attract more female voters.
As the Fawcett Society points out, 'no country has significantly increased numbers of women MPs without using some form of positive action' (2005, 1). A number of measures have been employed by the parties to try to get more women selected/elected.
For example, in the first elections to the Welsh Assembly in 1999, Labour used a strategy known as 'twinning' (for further details on twinning, see Russell et al., 2002, 58). This involved pairing a man for one seat and a woman for another. At the second set of elections in 2003, Labour used all women shortlists in six constituency seats.
Another strategy of affirmative action is 'zipping' (Russell et al., 2002, 64). This is where every other position on a list is designated for a male or a female candidate. In addition to these measures, organisations such as the 300 Group seek to increase female political representation. The all-party 300 Group aims to increase the number of female members of Parliament to at least three hundred. Set up in 1980, it helps female candidates and potential candidates by using strategies such as organising workshops on public speaking skills and confidence building techniques.
All Women Shortlists (AWS) were used by the Labour Party in half its target marginals prior to the 1997 General Election (Russell et al., 2002, 54-5). This strategy was...
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