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Women Lose
Ground
by Lesley
Abdela
First
Published by The Guardian (UK)
May 8th 2001
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Click
here to be taken to this article on The Guardian Unlimited
website.
Quotas are the
only way to ensure an adequate number of female MPs
Margaret Jay now promises the Labour manifesto will propose laws
at some point in the future to permit women-only shortlists for
MPs. Meanwhile, however, this will be the first general election
since I started the 300 Group 20 years ago in which the number
of women in parliament will drop. There was a fall at the 1979
general election which saw Margaret Thatcher become prime
minister. In the debating chamber she was to see only 18 other
women. Now this year there could also be fewer women at
Westminster.
The 300 Group's aim, as the name
shows, is that at least half the members of the Commons should be
women. Until now we have seen steady upward progress. The most
heart-warming advance was recorded at the last election when
numbers doubled to 121 women, 101 in New Labour alone. More than
half of these New Labour women were selected through all-female
shortlists.
But take a look at the figures
published by the Fawcett Society for the 2001 election. An
outrageous 86% of Conservative candidates are men. An appalling
79% of Liberal Democrat candidates are men. An astonishing 77% of
Labour candidates are men. I've run out of adjectives but 82% of
Plaid Cymru candidates are men and 79% of SNP candidates are men.
Male politicians with no real
stomach to fight for more women in parliament have hidden behind
the skirts of the Sex Discrimination Act. A law crafted to help
women has been used as a weapon against them. Women-only
shortlists were dropped after two disgruntled male candidates felt
their toys had been taken away. They obtained a finding that under
employment laws all-female shortlists were illegal. Party managers
quickly shied away from any form of positive equalisation for fear
of costly litigation.
I certainly understand people who
are opposed to the introduction of quotas because I used to feel
the same. Aware of the sheer breadth of female talent in this
country, I thought women would get selected as candidates in large
numbers. I went through the arguments - quotas are demeaning,
women must be chosen on merit; quotas are reverse discrimination
against men.
But experience convinces me that
millennia of cultural baggage can be broken only with the
sledgehammer of a quota system. What do you say about a mother of
parliaments in which only 18% of MPs are women?
Do people seriously believe
British women less capable of running their country than their
European sisters? Modern democracies with between 30% and 44%
female representation in parliament include Sweden, Finland,
Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands and Germany. Parties in
those states use quota systems.
In France, an astonishing change
took place this year. Under new parity laws, political parties
must field at least 40% male candidates and at least 40% female
candidates. The greatest obstacle in the UK is the candidate
selection process. As (Groucho) Marx put it, "I'd give up my
seat for you if it wasn't for the fact I'm sitting in it
myself." Selection meetings still reek more of after-shave
than eau de toilette. Without quotas, male opportunism and
long-standing prejudices come into play. Four men are being
selected for each woman.
In Wales, seven Labour MPs are
standing down. In each seat, local Labour members have chosen men
to succeed them. In the rest of the Labour party only four women
have been chosen to replace retiring MPs. Even the redoubtable
Betty Boothroyd has been replaced by a man.
Liberal Democrats currently have
four women and 43 men MPs. Mark Wickham-Jones of Bristol
University predicts that a swing of as little as 5% away from the
Liberal Democrats could reduce the party to male-only MPs. Only a
handful of the Lib Dems' 50 target seats have female candidates.
Ray Michie MP is standing down from Argyll and Bute. She will be
replaced by a man.
The scene for women Tories is
bleak. Not one woman has been selected where a Tory MP is
retiring. Essex woman Teresa Gorman will be replaced by Essex man.
If the remaining 13 women MPs hold their seats there will be the
same number of Tory women in the house as back in 1931.
Meg Russell, of University College
London's constitution unit, has proposed taking UK candidate
selection out of the Sex Discrimination Act. This would allow the
parties to take "proportionate action" to ensure the
representation of historically under-represented groups.
My choice would be parity quotas,
which apply to men and women alike. There are varieties of parity
systems. In England and Wales, for the European elections, Liberal
Democrats used a zipper - alternate men's and women's names on
candidate lists. As a result, five men and five women MEPs were
elected. For the Welsh assembly and Scottish parliament, Labour
twinned constituencies between one male candidate and one female
candidate. As a result 37% of the Scottish parliament and 40% of
the Welsh assembly are female.
In the words of the famous ad,
women would refresh the parts other lagers don't reach. And the
goddess of democracy knows the body politic needs refreshing right
now.
lesley.abdela@shevolution.com
© 2001 Lesley Abdela
Links:
Equalising
Action, Affirmitive Action, Quotas - Shevolution training
handout
The
Guardian - http://www.guardian.co.uk
The
300 Group - http://www.the300group.org
The
Fawcett Society - http://www.gn.apc.org/fawcett/
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© 2001 Lesley Abdela. All rights reserved.
Revised: May 09, 2001
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