Theresa May's speech at Fawcett's AGM 2005

Below is an extract from Theresa May MP’s speech at Fawcett’s AGM on 10 September 2005.

"Far too few MPs are women.
 
At the last election just 128 out of the 644 MPs elected were female. Labour did better than most.  Women comprised 28 per cent of all Labour MPs, an increase of 5 percentage points from 2001.  At that rate, the Fawcett Society showed that Labour would achieve equal representation within 20 years. 

The other major party, my party, did not do so well. Three more women MPs brought our total up to 17, just 9 per cent of the Conservative Parliamentary Party, an increase of just 1 per cent on the previous total. At that rate, it will take the Conservative Party 400 years to achieve the equal representation of women within its ranks.

So Britain must continue to strive for equality, tolerance, fairness, and decency in its society, no matter what challenges we face. Government, Parliament, and politics must lead, not follow, that trend.

The need for change in the Conservative Party

And nowhere is it more urgent that the process start than in the Conservative Party. Having suffered a third successive defeat at the hands of the electorate --- and having flatlined in the polls for another electoral term --- it is time for us to accept that the issue of equality within the party is much greater than many realise.  Just why aren’t people voting Conservative when the Prime Minister seemed so unpopular on the run up to the election? The reason is not one of leadership or of policies, but of the personality of the party. What kind of party is the Conservative Party?

Looking at its elected representatives, you will see a predominantly white, male party. Given that we now see an ethnically diverse society, where women increasingly play a major role, the Conservative Party just doesn’t look like the people that it is claiming to represent. If the Conservative party were a multinational company, it would be investigated for its equal opportunities polices.

Forgive me for talking Tory, but I think that this is fundamental if we are to take forward the political debate in our country. For some time now many people have felt that what the Conservative Party needs is to find its ‘Clause 4’ moment. That one big battle, which will show the British public that we have changed sufficiently to be once again trusted with power.

Different policy or better diversity?

Others say we should stop talking about ourselves and start talking about policy. They should look at the evidence.Lord Ashcroft, who did extensive polling in the run up to and during the election found that, at any one time, no more that two per cent of the electorate could recall our policies on health and education.  It wasn’t simply a case of them hearing our polices and rejecting them. They just rejected us out of hand, without even bothering to find out what we stood for. So there will be time enough to talk about policy. More important is the fact that if we don’t grasp the need to change ourselves, then people simply won’t be interested in listening to our policies.

Of course many people in the Party don’t want to talk about ourselves, because they don’t like the sort of changes that will be needed. But I firmly believe that the Conservative Party must accept that it must face up to its Clause 4 moment, and that it will be found in its attitude towards women and ethnic minorities. We cannot just pay lip service to the need to elect more women and members of ethnic minorities as Conservative MPs.

We need action and for some that action will be painful. They will have to throw away traditional stereotypes and accept new ways of doing things. But it has to be done.

Lack of ethnic diversity in the Conservative Party

Let me give you an even starker example. At the last election the Conservative party elected its first black MP. Along with Adam Afriyie we also elected an Asian MP to our ranks. Let’s consider that for one moment. Here we are, in the 21st Century, and the Tory party is rejoicing that we have elected a single black MP.

When you leave this meeting today, look around you. Look at our dynamic and diverse society, made up of so many races and religions. And then consider the question, “Why doesn’t that same British society think that we are the party to represent it?” It is the ultimate no-brainer! Quite simply, people don’t think we resemble or understand them or their priorities.  In fact, they probably don’t even think we like them. 

How women improve politics

I have no doubt that the election of more women MPs in the House of Commons would change and improve the standard of debate and the way business is conducted in Parliament.

 
Women tend to approach challenges and conflict in different ways to men. Women can bring a fresh and different perspective to problems. And women will often identify new and different priorities.

So more women in politics would bring a greater willingness to engage in constructive debate and would reduce the amount of unnecessary adversarial conflict. And more women would also bring a different and more rounded approach to the big issues of the day and would put new issues on the agenda that have previously been neglected.

This has to happen - both for the sake of fairness and progress - and for the sake of politics itself which has alienated too many with its increasingly dated and excessively male personality. It will happen too. And the Conservative Party must be a central part of the process if it is to revive its fortunes, and survive another century.

The opportunity now

The Conservative Party has the opportunity, right now, to take two decisions that would make a clear commitment to progress.

First, when selecting its candidates for the next General Election, the Conservative Party should adopt an A-List - a list of say the top 100 candidates it has identified as best able to fight and win the top 100 most winnable seats.  50 of them should be men and 50 should be women. And there should be a clear commitment to diversity in that group.

The benefits of positive action

Now some people don’t like these kinds of gender-specific targets. Either they believe it patronises women who would reach the top without a helping hand. Or they think it threatens to dilute the quality of candidates we offer by shoe-horning in women who are not up to the job.

I think there is nothing patronising about making the professional judgment that we will win more seats, attract more support,  take better decisions and, ultimately, form a better government if we have a more even split of male and female faces representing and running our party.

And as for those who say we would risk diluting the quality of our candidates and MPs … What planet are you on?!

Do you seriously believe that the Conservative Party cannot find 50 females of the highest quality to stand as candidates at the next election? Because if you do, you are living in the Dark Ages.

The next leader of the party

Second, the Conservative Party should think very carefully about how it chooses to elect its next leader.

The fact is that, if the rule change proposed by many of my parliamentary colleagues is approved, and MPs alone are given the right to participate in leadership elections, then the next leader of the Conservative Party will be chosen almost exclusively by men. Because the voices of our 17 women MPs will barely be registered above those of 180 men.

Only by rejecting that rule change can the Conservative Party be certain that the next Conservative leader is chosen by a broadly even split of men and women."