14 June 2024

Any party that wants to win needs to put the issues that women care about at the heart of their platform. Fawcett has three key focus areas in the lead up to this election, chosen because these represent the issues where government can make the biggest impact on women's lives. The third is women's representation. 

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3. Women's representation

Women, in all our diversity, have the right to see themselves represented at every level of government, being a part of the policy decisions that affect them. We must urgently modernize parliament to make this the norm.

Not only is it absolutely critical that we see women running for office in equal numbers, but we also need to see women staying in office in equal numbers. Women MPs tend to leave earlier than men, and it's hardly surprising when Fawcett research shows 69% of women MPs have witnessed sexist behaviour in Parliament in the last five years.

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Fawcett's key calls:

For all parties:

• Ensure women, especially disabled women and women from Black and minoritized backgrounds are being selected in winnable seats
• Strengthen MP induction and handover processes
• Review candidate selection processes to ensure there are no structural barriers hampering the participation of underrepresented groups
• Introduce quotas to increase women’s representation. These must be accompanied by action plans
• Review internal party sexual harassment and complaints policies to ensure they are transparent, quick, victim-focused and independent, and cover volunteers, employees and elected and appointed representatives
• Encourage and promote alternative campaigning techniques with equal validity

Once in government:

• Introduce proper parental leave policies for MPs
• Commence s106 of the Equality Act 2010, requiring political parties to collect and report candidate monitoring data
• Reinstate a formalized funding scheme for disabled candidates
• Reform legislation so MPs are protected against sexual harassment and have access to the same legal protections as employees
• Ensure the Electoral Commission and local police are sufficiently resourced and equipped to enforce legal sanctions during election periods; and
• Amend the Online Safety Bill to better address the disproportionate levels of online abuse experienced by women, especially those from Black and minoritized backgrounds, and increase the accountability of tech companies

Fawcett's policy submissions:

• Submission to Labour Policy Forum: Better Jobs and Better Work Commission
• Fawcett submission to the Liberal Democrats

More from Fawcett on women's representation:

• Ask your candidate to take the pledge to make this a zero-misogyny election
• Read Open House: Where Next for Gender Equality in Parliament?
• Read A House For Everyone: A Case for Modernising Parliament 
• Read Sex and Power 2022

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We want to hear from you.

What's important to you at the next election? Let us know by:

• Becoming a member of Fawcett and joining our movement for a more equal world 
• Following us @fawcettsociety on all social media 
• Writing to us via [email protected] 

See you at the ballot box!