The representation of women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has been an issue in the politics of the United Kingdom at numerous points in the 20th and 21st centuries. Originally debate centred on whether women should be allowed to vote and stand for election as Members of Parliament. The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. The United Kingdom has had three female Prime Ministers: Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990), Theresa May (2016–2019), and Liz Truss (2022). The publication of the book Women in the House by Elizabeth Vallance in 1979 highlighted the under-representation of women in Parliament.[1] In more modern times concerns about the under-representation of women led the Labour Party to introduce and, decades later, abandon all-women short lists, something which was later held to breach discrimination laws.
Between 1918 and 2024, a total of 693 women have been elected as Members of the House of Commons. As of July 2024 there are 263 women in the House of Commons, the highest ever.[2] This is an all-time high at 40%. The previous number was 220, set in 2019, which accounted for 35% of members elected or re-elected that year.[3] Additionally, at the 2024 general election the most female Labour MPs were elected or re-elected (190 women in total) – another instance in Labour's history that this has happened, after 119 in 2017. The female member of Parliament with the longest period of continuous service is informally known as the Mother of the House, who is Diane Abbott, following the 2024 election.[4]
In 1832 Henry Hunt became the first MP to raise the issue of women's suffrage in the House of Commons,[5] followed in 1867 by John Stuart Mill. Following this attempts were made to widen the franchise in every Parliament.[6]
Women gained the right to vote with the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918 after World War I. This gave the vote to women over the age of 30. However, the Speakers Conference which was charged with looking into giving women the vote did not have as its terms of reference, consideration to women standing as candidates for Parliament. However, Sir Herbert Samuel, the former Liberal Home Secretary, moved a separate motion on 23 October 1918 to allow women to be eligible as Members of Parliament. The vote was passed by 274 to 25 and the government rushed through a bill to make it law in time for the 1918 general election.[7] This bill did not specify any age restriction, unlike the voting bill.[8] This later led to a number of incidents of women under the age of 30, who were not allowed to vote, standing for Parliament, notably the 27-year-old Liberal Ursula Williams standing in 1923.[9]
1918: First woman elected to Parliament (Constance Markievicz). However, as a member of Sinn Féin, she did not take her seat.[10] Markievicz also became the only woman to represent an Irish constituency in Parliament until 1922 and the first female member who, before the election, chose to become a Catholic.[11]
Margaret Beckett has been the longest serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons. She was an MP for Lincoln from 10 October 1974 until 7 April 1979, and served as MP for Derby South from 9 June 1983 until 30 May 2024.
Harriet Harman has been the longest continuously serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons. She was MP for Peckham from 28 October 1982 until 1 May 1997, and served as MP for Camberwell and Peckham from 1 May 1997 to 30 May 2024. On 13 June 2017 Harman was dubbed "Mother of the House" by Prime Minister Theresa May, in recognition of her status as longest continuously serving woman MP (though she was not the longest serving MP overall, and would therefore not gain any official duties).
Female MPs with more than 25 years' service
As of 2024, there are 36 women (out of a total of 693) who have served 25 years or more service in the House of Commons, either continuously or cumulatively.
In February 2018 the Electoral Reform Society reported that hundreds of seats were being effectively 'reserved' by men, holding back women's representation. Their report states that 170 seats have been held by men first elected in 2005 or before – with few opportunities for women to take those seats or selections. Broadly speaking, the longer an MP has been in Parliament, the more likely they are to be male.[16][17]
Female Cabinet members appointed after the 2019 election
Suella Braverman[af] - Attorney General for England and Wales (2020–22)[ag]/Secretary of State for the Home Department (2022, 2022–23)
Thérèse Coffey – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2019–22)/Health and Social Care & Deputy Prime Minister (2022)/Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2022–23)
Michelle Donelan – Secretary of State for Education (2022)/Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2022–23)/Science, Innovation and Technology[ah] (2023–24)
Nadine Dorries – Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Priti Patel – Secretary of State for the Home Department (2019–22)
Chloe Smith – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2022)/Science, Innovation and Technology (2023)
Anne-Marie Trevelyan – Secretary of State for International Development (2020)/International Trade and President of the Board of Trade (2021–22)/Transport (2022)
Liz Truss – Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Developmental Affairs (2021–22)/Prime Minister (2022)
Kemi Badenoch – Secretary of State for International Trade (2022–23)/Business and Trade (2023–24)/President of the Board of Trade
A total of 46 female ministers have held Cabinet positions since the first, Margaret Bondfield, in 1929. Tony Blair's 1997 Cabinet had five women and was the first to include more than two female ministers at one time. The highest number of concurrent women Cabinet ministers under Tony Blair was eight (36 per cent), then a record from May 2006 to May 2007. Other women have attended Cabinet without being full members, including Caroline Flint, Anna Soubry and Caroline Nokes. Some who have attended Cabinet have subsequently, or previously been full Cabinet ministers, including Tessa Jowell, Liz Truss and Andrea Leadsom.
All-women shortlists are a method of affirmative action which has been used by the Labour Party to increase the representation of women in Parliament. As of 2015, 117 Labour MPs have been elected to the House of Commons after being selected as candidates through an all-women shortlist.[22] In 2002 this method of selection was ruled to breach the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. In response to this ruling the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002 legalised all-women short lists as a method of selection. The Equality Act 2010 extends this exemption from discrimination law to 2030.
Ahead of the 2024 general election, HuffPost reported in March 2022 that Labour stopped using all-women shortlists, citing legal advice that continuing to use them for choosing parliamentary candidates would become an "unlawful" practice again under the Equality Act.[23]
^PC. First and longest–serving female BME MP in British history.
^CH. The first female MP to take her seat in the House of Commons. As the wife of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor, she was known as Viscountess Astor throughout her Parliamentary career.
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