Why women's representation matters

Fawcett believes that politicians who make decisions on our behalf should be representative of the population as a whole.

In particular, we campaign for a greater number of women in politics. We believe that a more balanced group of representatives would lead to better decision-making and political priorities that more closely reflect voters' concerns. For instance, since 1997, when there was a large influx of women into Parliament, matters of importance to women, such as childcare and domestic violence have moved quickly up the political agenda.

Positive action

International evidence has shown that the only way to significantly increase the numbers of women in parliament is to use positive action measures, such as all-women shortlists.

This is clear in the UK too. In 1997, Labour's policy of selecting candidates from all-women shortlists for half of their winnable seats resulted in the number of women in Westminster doubling from 62 to 121. Labour once again used all-women shortlists for winnable seats at the 2005 general election and this continued policy has resulted in the party having a significantly higher proportion of women MPs compared to the other parties.

We have called on all parties to use positive action to increase the numbers of women MPs.

From the box on the right hand side of this page you can download:

• Women's political representation - figures on the number of women represented in our political institutions and women's voting at the last general election.
  
  
• The four C's - why women are put off entering politcal life.
  
  
• The four S's - why it's important to increase the number of women in politics.
  
  
• Our research on why positive action is the only way to solve this problem.