ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN PROMOTING WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION
help to attract more votes. But how do you win the support so your party wants and does things to increase women’s representation? Women who achieve positive change do not necessarily take credit or are recognised for it; however there are so many examples of lives being improved through the actions of inspirational and dedicated women, from equal pay to state-funded childcare (examples from the UK), but these stories need to be told and the qualitative outcomes of women’s political empowerment recognised. Political parties also need to improve the supply of women who want to be in parliament. There are some women who believe they could make a positive contribution but do not do anything about it; and others who have the talent but have not considered a career in politics. Political parties need to find these women and make sure that they get everything they need to embark on the journey, such as mentoring, training and all other kinds of support. Those of us who have been elected have a duty to invite other women to join us: men don’t wait to be asked, but women usually need to hear that someone else thinks they would be a good elected representative. 101 Labour women were elected in 1997, dubbed ‘Blair’s Babes’ in the UK tabloid media; but in spite of this sexist trivialisation of the significance of that achievement, many women in the country pinned their hopes on that photo of us all with Prime Minister Tony Blair, thinking ‘all those women will sort it out’. But we did not specify what difference we would make or sort everything out, and many women were disappointed. Political parties need to be clearer about what difference women do and will make as it is not always in plain view. In that Parliament, the Labour Party created the first
ever childcare strategy, and shifted many government reliefs and benefits from the man’s wallet to the woman’s purse. It is not just about more women, it is about what they do. I spoke to the Clerk of the Defence Committee about the difference that having women on the Committee for the first time since it was established and his response was enlightening. ‘We used to talk about how big the bombs
were...now we also talk about the families of people who fight’. Women bring to politics a different mind-set. We make it more human and we must not forget how powerful that is. Political parties should recognise that this is a way of winning votes and find ways of communicating that you get ‘value added politics’ when women are part of it. And it also takes all kinds of women. In the old days it was women like me who went into politics – what I call ‘battle-axes’ – made that way by the experience of battling circumstances and situations dominated by men. I would like to think things are different now. But things have not changed enough, and unfortunately being in politics still requires a thick
skin and certain ‘battle-axe’ characteristics for women. But just as you should not put up with harsh words, you should not put up with warm ones either – in other words being fobbed off. It happens in all parties, but you have to be aware and be prepared to look and act beyond the rhetoric and think through how you are going to deliver. Political parties should also play a role in ensuring that parliaments are places women, and men, want to work. The UK Parliament has lost a number of talented women because the hours, atmosphere and traditions are not conducive to the lives of working families. We accept that nobody goes into parliament thinking it is going to be easy, but there is much more that institutions can do to help – just as any responsible employer recognises. Improvements in the UK Parliament have included the opening of an onsite nursery and some changes to the sitting hours, but there is much more to be done. Professor Sarah Childs from the University of Bristol who was with us at the Commonwealth Women’s Forum is currently undertaking a project in the UK Parliament to come up
with recommendations to make it more gender sensitive – using the framework established by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. I am very much looking forward to the publication of her findings; and furthermore to see if the recommendations are accepted by the powers that be. Perhaps the chances have improved following the recent appointment of two female external members to the previously all male UK Parliamentary Commission. The biggest difference I have noticed between men and women in my professional life is that men think they are qualified to do things, whereas women need to be invited. Women need to be told ‘Come in, join us, have a go’. Which is why most women do not even think about becoming public representatives until one of our sisters or brothers invites them to have a go. As I said at the Commonwealth Women’s Forum, and I will say to those reading this article – men and women – ‘give love to our sisters and invite one of them who you think has the talent to have a go at elected office’.
The Parliamentarian | 2016: Issue One | 45
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