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Men outnumber women 4 to 1 in new cabinet
Ceri Goddard, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, has today responded to news that the coalition government’s cabinet will be made up of 19 men and 4 women.
“With almost 5 times as many men in the cabinet as women, it’s clear the default response of politics in political crisis is to revert to type – practically a men-only zone.
“The near absence of women that characterised the election campaign continued as a defining feature of the negotiations that have left us with so few women in the cabinet.
“This is not only bad for women, it’s bad for everyone as we all lose out and our democracy is just plain flawed without women’s vital contribution.
“Our concern is that this is not just a blip or a one off example of expediency, but a tone setting development that will see women continue to be marginalised.
“It would seem that while many of our politicians have managed to overcome party tribalism and age old loyalties to form a coalition, this new approach to politics has not seen them cast off the sexist attitudes that mean women, as a rule, are excluded from the top tier of British government.
“Fawcett will be watching closely to see how policies of particular relevance to women’s rights and around equalities in general have fared in the rush to combine manifestos.
“The signs are not good so far. Even within the key debates of electoral reform and the economy, where you would expect discussion around how to tackle massively gender imbalanced parliament and how best to ensure women don’t bear more than their fair share of deficit cutting measures, we’ve not heard a whimper from all the brave new thinkers or statesman combined.”
Ceri also commented on how Britain fared compared to other western democracies when it comes to women at Cabinet level.
“We now fall behind Spain, Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, the USA, New Zealand, Italy, Canada, Greece, Belgium, Ireland and Australia when it comes to women’s representation at the top table of government.(1)
“Cameron and Clegg may herald a new era of coalition politics in Britain but, when it comes to giving women senior roles and responsibility, it seems clear the old school mentality of jobs for the boys remains.”
ENDS
(1) For details of the number of women in other countries’ cabinets please see below (figures courtesy of Centre for Women and Democracy)
Spain 9 women in a cabinet of 17 53%
Sweden 11 women in a cabinet of 22 50%
Germany 6 women in a cabinet of 16 38%
France 13 women in a cabinet of 40 33%
Netherlands 5 women in a cabinet of 15 33%
South Africa 12 women in a cabinet of 36 33%
USA 5 women in a cabinet of 16 31%
New Zealand 8 women in a cabinet of 28 29%
Italy 5 women in a cabinet of 11 27%
Canada 10 women in a cabinet of 37 27%
Greece 5 women in a cabinet of 19 26%
Belgium 5 women in a cabinet of 22 23%
Ireland 3 women in a cabinet of 15 20%
Australia 4 women in a cabinet of 20 20%
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