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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Increase in % of female MPs

51 replies

seaweed123 · 08/05/2015 15:26

There is an article on the bbc, about how the number of MPs in parliament has risen by a 3rd:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32601280

which is great... but when you look at the numbers, there is a huge disparity between the parties.

Tory = 20%
Labour = 43%
SNP = 36%
Overall = 30%

It's not really a surprise - I didn't expect much better from the Tories, and Labour have had a strong female presence for a while.

But am I right in being worried about the implications of the ruling party only having 20% of female MPs? The last government was criticised for implementing policies that had the greatest negative impact on females. The pre-election scaremongering was all about cuts to child benefit, maternity pay, etc.

The coalition only had 15% (shocking, I never realised that at the time!), so it is an improvement. But still pretty pathetic, IMO.

OP posts:
almondcakes · 08/05/2015 22:18

I'm pleased about Naz Shah and Mhairi Black. I think they could both be amazing.

Trapper · 08/05/2015 22:33

Are you going to stand next time?

drinkscabinet · 08/05/2015 22:49

Obviously the increase is welcome, although agree that Tory result is worrying. I'm surprised at the graphics the BBC have chosen to use, I think those cubes make things look better than they are, the regional bars at the bottom make it easier to understand the result.

Jackieharris · 08/05/2015 23:42

Any improvement is good but it's still far too slow.

All the parties need much more comprehensive strategies to address this issue.

glittertits · 08/05/2015 23:44

Mhairi Black. I think they could both be amazing.

Not a chance in hell! Poor girl will be under too much media scrutiny.

Original poster
seaweed123 · 09/05/2015 07:59

Ha, good point, not a chance in hell I'd stand. But I'll certainly not be ever voting for a party with only 20% women. I don't think you need to be willing to stand yourself in order to criticise politicians.

And even if I did stand as an independent, or for a party best matching my views, that would do nothing to resolve the fact that the ruling party still have only 20%.

I thought it was just me that had a mental block with those graphics. I needed to work out the % because they meant nothing to me.

I hope the more inexperienced new snp mps get a lot of support from the party. I think many of them will shine but the press will be desperate for them to screw up.

OP posts:
Yops · 09/05/2015 08:52

Is the lack of female MPs not symptomatic of women's lack of engagement in mainstream UK politics though?

Feminism is the women's political movement. Any yet I have been lurking on the FWR board waiting for discussions to pop up about the GE. This is the only one. Feminists are by definition political, aren't they? And if they aren't engaged, who the hell will be? And if women aren't engaged in mainstream politics, even from behind a keyboard, where are your politicians, your cabinet ministers and your PMs going to come from?

Trapper · 09/05/2015 09:01

The info graphics are pretty bad. The BBC probably had all the good info graphics people working overnight, so this one was left to the 'b' team

uglyswan · 09/05/2015 09:02

The gender gap in politics could be a result of gendered family roles, lower recruitment rates for women and girls and a lack of role models (hopefully catching up on that). But it's probably just due to the fact that the FWR board hasn't had a proper GE thread. Get in the game, ladies!

Cherrypi · 09/05/2015 09:10

Is lib dem 0% now?

Yops · 09/05/2015 09:15

Swan, don't you think it's interesting though that there hasn't been a GE thread? In FWR of all places? Is there a total disconnect between feminism - or at least FWR's brand - and mainstream UK politics?

uglyswan · 09/05/2015 09:21

Yops - not really, no. The other boards in MN have been overflowing with GE threads, I see no real need for an extra special feminist version on here. Besides, and this may be what you mean by total disconnect, a lot of people posting on here simply aren't liberal feminists and do not necessarily believe that political and legal reform are the answer to women's liberation.

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:22

Yops, there are tens of GE threads on MN, the majority of posters on them are women. They are in politics, chat or in the news. The sturgeon webchat was well attended, again by women.

I've posted on a few of the GE threads and no doubt other posters who identify as feminists, whether or not they are FWR regulars, have too. Things that impact on or are informed by feminism are posted everywhere on MN, relationships is a good topic to spot this.

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:24

Cherry - yes, unfortunately.

Yops - the pub had a few posts about the GE and I posted the increase in female MPs in there. Certainly happy to discuss it on a fresh thread though.

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:29

I was read on an article about outgoing MPs, one of whom, a 55+ year old man, made the point that he found the HOC much less sociable than when he started in 1992 and everyone worked until 10pm, now most people were gone by 7pm

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:32

But of course for 20+ years, his seat wasn't available to a woman (or man) who was more interested in parliament as the hours became more family friendly.

OneDayWhenIGrowUp · 09/05/2015 09:37

Are there data on how those % of female MPs in each party compare to the % of female electoral candidates standing? Or % of members applying to selection committees? Or % of female party members overall? Because that would be more interesting to see if it's an issue of women not getting voted in, not getting selected, not applying to be selected or the party just not appealing to women in the first place.

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:38

Another Mp was a 75 year old man who had been in position since 1979.

There are only 650 MPs and no compulsory retirement age. In each election only c150 seats change hands. All these factors make the pace of change slow and yet the HOC is still doing better overall than FTSE 100 boards....

Hakluyt · 09/05/2015 09:40

I was working in a Minister's office 20 years ago when I had my first child. It would have been impossible to have had any sort of family life and be an MP or an official in those days. It's still very difficult- but doable.

Pico2 · 09/05/2015 09:40

I'm not convinced that a Tory female MP would have any more life experience that enabled them to empathise with the cuts that impact women than a Tory man.

I also don't think that the types of women who become MPs are likely to be particularly representative of women in the population. Primarily because it is a very difficult job to achieve an attractive work-life balance in.

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:41

Oh, and there were at least 3 threads on the Women's Equality Party. Which, y'know, is a pretty clear feminist/politics interface.

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:42

Iirc MPs don't get SMP because they are deemed to be self employed. Let me check...

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:52

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/spconf/239/23911.htm

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:52

It's worse than I thought, it's leave they don't get!

YonicScrewdriver · 09/05/2015 09:53
  1. We were told that women MPs with newly-born infants face a particular series of problems:

· There is no formal provision for MPs to take maternity leave;

· There are no formal procedures for proxy voting; and

· The rigidity of certain customs of the House, including sitting hours, also causes problems for MPs (male and female) with small children.

MATERNITY LEAVE

  1. Meg Hillier MP told us that "There is currently no provision for MPs to take maternity leave".[195] After having a baby she herself explored the options available so that she could spend time with the baby. She reported that the House authorities agreed to a limited number of variations on standard rules which made it easier for her staff to cover for her. These staff were also able to cover her absence from the constituency, to a degree, by taking on additional responsibilities for budgets, advice surgeries and correspondence.

  2. She noted, however, that the "one responsibility that an MP cannot pass on to her staff is voting".[196] A Member of Parliament is appointed directly by his or her constituents to be their representative in Parliament and voting is one of the key ways in which this mandate is fulfilled. A Member's vote cannot formally be transferred to any other person except by the Member's resignation from office or by a general election.

  3. The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills confirmed that MPs are not currently entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave, since they are considered to be self-employed, and maternity leave is only available to women who are employed by someone else.[197] Such arrangements as there are to support Members who have caring responsibilities are in the hands of the party whips (the business managers), who have to ensure sufficient Members are present in the House for decisions to be made, and arrange for their parties to be properly represented on all official groups and committees.