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Women in the UK General Election 1997
Jennifer Curtin
Politics and Public Administration Group
May 1997
Introduction
The issue of candidate selection and increasing the number of women
as candidates has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, particularly
by parties of the left. For the British Labour Party, this desire led
to the adoption of a policy of affirmative action for women candidates
through the introduction of women-only short lists. Within the Australian
Labor Party, a formal quota was also introduced in 1994 which aims to
have women hold 35 per cent of Labor seats in both State and Federal Parliaments
by 2002.
This research note looks at the impact of the British quota system on
the representation of women in the British Parliament in an effort to
identify the potential impact of such a system on women's representation
in the Australian Parliament.
The British Labour Party's Quota Policy
Affirmative action policies within the British Labour Party have been
adopted gradually. A Party Charter concerning women's political equality
was accepted in 1983. Then in 1987, conference delegates passed the compulsory
short listing rule for women: if a woman is nominated for preselection
in a constituency, at least one woman must be on the final short list.
The National Executive Council also has several different quotas in place,
including five reserved places for women and, within the parliamentary
party, four votes must be cast for women in elections for the shadow cabinet.(1)
By 1990, the Party had endorsed the aim of having 40 per cent women
in the Labour Caucus by the year 2000 and, to achieve this, decided in
1993 to allow all-women short lists in 50 per cent of winnable seats and
'inheritor' seats in which a Labour MP retires. The official party line
on these lists-fair representation of the female electorate-was of particular
importance as Labour had consistently polled lower amongst women than
men. In 1992, at least, this may have contributed to their election loss.(2)
Looking at the Numbers
659 seats were contested at the recent British election. Despite this
large number, opportunities for candidate selection are generally restricted
to the number of members retiring and the number of marginal seats won
or lost, which is itself dependent on the swing.
Table 1 shows the increase in the number of Labour women candidates
in Britain over the last fifteen years. This period corresponds with Labour's
commitment to increasing the number of women within its party structures.
Table 1: Labour Women and General Elections in UK
No. women % women No. women % women No. women % women % swing to
candidates candidates who won who won in Caucus in Caucus Labour
1997 158/659 24 101/158 64 101/419 24 10
1992 138/651 21 37/138 27 37/271 14 3.6
1987 92/650 14 21/92 23 21/229 9 3.3
1983 78/650 12 10/78 13 10/209 5 -9.4
While the percentage of Labour candidates who are women has only risen
by three percentage points since 1992, the percentage of women who stood
and won has increased by a substantial 37 percentage points. In 1992,
most of the women candidates were selected for unwinnable seats, in direct
contrast to the 1997 election.
On average, around 29 Labour MPs retire at general election time. If
women were to be appointed to half of these 'inheritor' seats for the
1997 election, then approximately 15 women would have been selected. It
was estimated that approximately 73 winnable seats existed, so if women
were selected in 50 per cent of these, via women-only short lists, there
would have been 36 Labour women in 'strong challenger' positions. Thus,
it was predicted that women-only short lists would guarantee approximately
51 probable women MPs for the 1997 election.(3) The quota system was stopped
as a result of a court challenge, so only 35 women were actually selected
for these targeted seats through women-only short lists.(4) However, these
35, along with an additional 29 new Labour women, were elected to Parliament.
When combined with the 37 returned incumbent Labour women, the representation
of Labour women in the UK Parliament increased from 37 in 1992 to 101
in 1997. This figure surpassed the figure of 80 Labour women MPs predicted
by analysts based on the possibility of a strong swing to Labour.(5) The
10 per cent swing was considerably higher than expected, with the average
swing to Labour between 1983 and 1992 being only around 3.5.
If we look at the proportion of women MPs overall (see Table 2), it
is apparent that women's representation has doubled from 9 per cent to
18 per cent since 1992. This represents considerable progress, and while
female representation in the UK still lags behind many of its European
counterparts, this is largely because the UK does not have a proportional
representation electoral system.(6) However, women are better represented
in the House of Commons compared with 15.5 per cent female representation
in the House of Representatives here (which does not have proportional
representation either).
Table 2: Women in Parliament in UK
(all parties)
No. %
1997 120 18
1992 60 9.2
1987 41 6.3
1983 23 3.5
Data from P. Norris and J. Lovenduski, Gender and Party Politics,
Sage, London, 1993: 44-47 and 1997 UK election figures.
The percentage of women in the new Labour Cabinet is 23 per cent (5
out of 22)(7) which closely reflects the 24 per cent of women in the Labour
Government. In Australia, 12.5 per cent of Cabinet Ministers are women,
while women make up 19 per cent of the Coalition Government.
Conclusion
The quota system adopted by the British Labour Party has now been disallowed.
In 1995, the Party was taken to court by a member who claimed sex discrimination
because he had not been allowed to stand for selection. While the British
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 exempts political parties from its
requirements, it does not permit discrimination between women and men
in awarding a professional qualification. Because selection as a parliamentary
candidate leads to the possibility of becoming an MP which is a profession,
women-only short lists were ruled unlawful.(8)
Nevertheless, women-only short lists did have the desired effect of
substantially increasing women's representation in the British Parliament.
While there can be no doubt that a swing to Labour of 10 per cent enhanced
the increase in women's representation, it could be argued that, without
the placement of women in 35 of the 73 or so winnable seats through the
women-only short list system, the figure of 101 Labour women might have
been only 66. Because women have been elected in both safe and marginal
seats if Labour returns in five years time with a reduced percentage of
the vote, the number of women in the Labour caucus should remain at a
minimum of 72.
Political parties in Australia are also exempt from the Sex Discrimination
Act 1984 (Cwlth) since they are considered to be voluntary bodies.
However, political parties may pursue affirmative action policies or quotas
if they are intended to achieve equal outcomes between men and women.(9)
Thus, adopting a quota system to permanently increase the percentage of
women in Parliament, as opposed to relying solely on large swings, may
prove a useful means in providing women with political equality and fair
representation.
- Norris, 'Labour Party Quotas for Women', in D. Broughton, D. Farrell,
D. Denver & C. Rallings, British Elections and Parties Yearbook
1994, Frank Cass, London, 1995: 167.
- Squires, 'Quotas for Women: Fair Representation?' Parliamentary
Affairs, 49 (1), 1996: 73.
- Norris, op. cit. 175.
- Meg Russell, British Labour Party National Women's Officer, Personal
Communication, 13 May 1997.
- Norris, loc. cit.
- For comparative figures see 'Women in the Parliaments of the World:
1997', Research Note No. 41.
- This figure does not include junior Ministers.
- Short, 'Women and the Labour Party', Parliamentary Affairs,
49 (1), 1996: 21.
- Section 33, Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cwlth).
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