On Monday, 4 March, editor Louise and deputy editor Rosalind visited Speaker’s House at the Houses of Parliament for an International Women’s Day (IWD) event, at the invitation of Claire Coutinho, MP for East Surrey. This special occasion, which brought together influential women from different regions, sectors and political parties in Britain, was hosted by 50:50 Parliament and Chamber UK.
50:50 Parliament supports women’s career progression in politics. They do this in a variety of ways, from their hugely successful campaigns encouraging women to pursue a career in politics, to buddying schemes which give aspiring politicians the opportunity to receive peer-to-peer advice. Since 2013, their #SignUpToStand campaign has reached 3,000 women, over 50 of whom stood in the 2019 general election. Nine went on to win seats.
“Our vision is to achieve a properly inclusive, gender-balanced democracy in which women have equal seats and equal say,” said CEO of 50:50 Parliament Lyanne Nicholl. “A democracy in which women and men work together in equal numbers to build the country’s future.”
But there is still a long way to go before there is equal representation in British politics. Currently, only 35% of MPs are female and men still outnumber women by 2:1 on most elected bodies. If women are not in the room where key decisions are being made about their lives, then policies can never truly have women’s best interests at heart.
And it isn’t just women who are underrepresented in the House of Commons. While 18% of the British population is Black, Asian or another ethnic minority, only 10% of parliamentarians reflect these communities.
Claire Coutinho, who is also the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, is only the fourth woman of colour to have been in the cabinet. However, having more women in high ranking positions within the government has the power to shift young girls’ aspirations.
Claire’s example will hopefully inspire more women, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds, to pursue careers in male-dominated industries. As Natasha Kadea, campaign manager at 50:50 Parliament, put it, “it’s inspiring to see people who look like you succeed”.
“Claire is not only a representative for her constituency, and a dynamic cabinet member, she is a symbol to women of colour that they belong at the top table,” she added.
Empowering women was also the message behind 50:50 Parliament’s March event, in light of International Women’s Day. Harriet Harman, who is known as the Mother of the House for being the longest standing female MP, gave a speech to those who were gathered, highlighting how it would have been unheard of to have had an IWD event in the Speakers Apartments when she was first elected.
Talk then turned to women’s achievements within British politics, and also acknowledged how much progress there is still to be made. One of the highlights of the evening was bringing together women from different parties to discuss these matters:
“50:50 is a cross-party charity and nothing makes us happier than bringing women from all parties together to celebrate their achievements and support one-another,” said Natasha.
“We also brought together prospective parliamentary and council candidates to mingle with elected MPs and councillors to hear about how women survive and thrive in politics and the importance of sisterhood.”
Claire said of the evening:
“It is so important that women stand for election at all levels. We need the best people possible to be elected and we can’t exclude 50% of the population.
We have made some progress – I am the 525th woman elected to the House of Commons, and the fourth woman of colour to serve in Cabinet – but there is always more to do!
This event was a tremendous celebration of all those who campaign to get us closer to a 50:50 Parliament – and it is always wonderful to bump into Tandridge Independent legends Ros and Louise!”
