Stand by your man” women’s political recruitment at the 2010 General Election
Stand by your man” women’s political recruitment at the 2010 General Election
The year 2010 constituted a favourable opportunity for the greater descriptive representation of women in the UK Parliament. The parties were publicly competing over the issue; Parliament had its own Committee looking at it; and there were plenty of vacancies for candidates in each of the parties’ held seats, as many more MPs than usual stood down. The outcome was disappointing. There was an overall increase in the number of women MPs – up from 128 to 142 – but this was only a 2.5 per cent increase on 2005. Inter-party differences remain. The Liberal Democrats witnessed a decline in the number and percentage of their women MPs and candidates; the Tories saw a doubling of their number, with women now constituting 16 per cent of their parliamentary party; and Labour has both the largest number and percentage of women MPs. These patterns are best explained by the parties’ different attitudes towards equality guarantees – measures that, all other things being equal, return women MPs to Parliament. In other words, Labour's All Women Shortlists once again delivered. The other parties’ efforts were simply less efficient at translating women candidates into MPs. Looking to the future, the picture is far from rosy. The Coalition's plans for political reform will likely increase competition for selection at the next general election to women's detriment, and the impact of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority raises the possibility that their supply might decrease too.
455–480
Ashe, Jeanette
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Campbell, Rosie
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Childs, Sarah
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Evans, Elizabeth
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Ashe, Jeanette
b1575923-0e4e-4822-9561-3ad6bfbe6d93
Campbell, Rosie
fd8ab8f1-33f6-456d-b854-de5b7f9c45fb
Childs, Sarah
f72425a7-c7ff-45a2-9dd8-bcb725ed6d32
Evans, Elizabeth
f1b57f4f-f30d-4cec-bec0-eeddb228afd9
Ashe, Jeanette, Campbell, Rosie, Childs, Sarah and Evans, Elizabeth
(2010)
Stand by your man” women’s political recruitment at the 2010 General Election.
British Politics, 5, .
(doi:10.1057/bp.2010.17).
Abstract
The year 2010 constituted a favourable opportunity for the greater descriptive representation of women in the UK Parliament. The parties were publicly competing over the issue; Parliament had its own Committee looking at it; and there were plenty of vacancies for candidates in each of the parties’ held seats, as many more MPs than usual stood down. The outcome was disappointing. There was an overall increase in the number of women MPs – up from 128 to 142 – but this was only a 2.5 per cent increase on 2005. Inter-party differences remain. The Liberal Democrats witnessed a decline in the number and percentage of their women MPs and candidates; the Tories saw a doubling of their number, with women now constituting 16 per cent of their parliamentary party; and Labour has both the largest number and percentage of women MPs. These patterns are best explained by the parties’ different attitudes towards equality guarantees – measures that, all other things being equal, return women MPs to Parliament. In other words, Labour's All Women Shortlists once again delivered. The other parties’ efforts were simply less efficient at translating women candidates into MPs. Looking to the future, the picture is far from rosy. The Coalition's plans for political reform will likely increase competition for selection at the next general election to women's detriment, and the impact of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority raises the possibility that their supply might decrease too.
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2010 stand by your man BP
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e-pub ahead of print date: 9 December 2010
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Local EPrints ID: 487631
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/487631
ISSN: 1746-918X
PURE UUID: 21c90079-4e63-44e9-b8c2-f21a0259ed02
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Date deposited: 29 Feb 2024 17:42
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:18
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Author:
Jeanette Ashe
Author:
Rosie Campbell
Author:
Sarah Childs
Author:
Elizabeth Evans
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