This week’s guest blogger is Alice Delemare, Women’s Officer for the Electoral Reform Society.
This general election has become exciting. The televised leaders’ debates have made history and turned the election into a proper three-horse race. For the first time in a long while the result is no longer predictable and I, for one, am excited.
The Liberal Democrats soared up in the opinion polls after the first debate and suddenly, all three leaders have been touted as possible Prime Minister. Talk of hung parliaments and discussion of coalitions can be found everywhere!
More importantly, support for a hung parliament is at an all time high. Many voters are desperate for a change. The expenses scandal has rocked the foundations of politics and the general public aren’t going to forget about that easily. People are becoming more aware that the current voting system doesn’t accurately reflect the views of the electorate. It is unfair. The 2005 general election provides a good example of the UK’s distorted electoral system – Labour gained 35% of the votes yet gained 55% of the seats. This result gave Labour a large majority, without a large mandate. So capricious is our voting system in translating votes into seats won, the matter of who forms our next government hangs on the roll of a dice.
But what would a hung parliament mean for women?
At first the benefit to women will seem negligible. Why? All three main parties have a dismal record of women on their front benches, and so women are unlikely to be any better represented in a coalition cabinet than if one party gained a large majority. Also, there is unlikely to be a dramatic surge in the number of women MPs, whatever the outcome of this unpredictable election. Overall, 25% of candidates for the three main parties are women; this is only a 2% increase from 2005 – not very progressive considering the parties have had 5 years to improve this situation!
Yet a hung parliament could change politics and benefit women in the long-term. Here’s how…
I am sure you will agree when I say that for too long now we have seen white, male, middle-class men dominating UK politics. A major problem lies with our voting system. It’s unfair and it helps perpetuate the gender inequality in parliament.
But this situation doesn’t have to continue. There are other options. The Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a type of proportional system that has been recommended for the UK. STV let’s people vote for their preferred candidate, whilst also allowing people to support their preferred party – this means the electorate could chose a female candidate over a male candidate from the same party of they so wish. International comparisons have shown that proportional systems produce more diverse parliaments:
1) In Spain under the current Zapatero government 12 out of 19 cabinet ministers are women. Spain uses a list system which is generally thought to improve women’s representation so long as parties are willing to put women in electable positions on the list.
2) Germany uses a mixed electoral system similar to the one used for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. In Germany this means half the seats are elected under First-Past-The-Post (the current system used for UK general elections) and half under Proportional Representation. Interestingly, 204 women elected to the German parliament, the Bundestag in 2009, 59 (19.7 percent) were elected in the majoritarian component compared to 145 (44.8 percent) from the proportional component.
These examples show that proportional systems could help increase women’s representation in politics.
A hung parliament would certainly create the climate in which politicians could reform our outdated voting system – a voting system which is holding women back. A hung parliament is a reforming parliament; free from the tyranny of the party whips, and the priorities that come with cosy and undeserved majorities.
For more information about the campaign for a hung parliament http://www.voteforachange.co.uk/
For more information on women’s representation in UK politics www.electoral-reform.org.uk
To join the Electoral Reform Society’s women’s monthly e-newsletter, email women@electoral-reform.org.uk