I was delighted to invite two women from Staffordshire Moorlands to Parliament for “Ask Her To Stand” day last Wednesday as part of an initiative to encourage more women to stand for political office.
The initiative, which saw women from all parts of the country descend on Westminster was organised by campaigners from 50:50 Parliament in partnership with the Jo Cox Foundation, Fawcett Society and the Centenary Action Group to highlight the gender imbalance in Parliament and local government.
Currently men outnumber women by more than 2:1 in the Commons. Only 33% of local councillors in the UK are women and the ‘Ask Her To Stand’ event was aimed at closing the gap.
In the century since women were first able to stand for election, only 491 women have gained seats at Westminster, compared to 4503 men. In the 2017, 12 extra women were elected to Parliament, at this rate, campaigners say, it will take another half century to achieve the gender balanced Parliament that all the political parties agree we should be working towards.
During the day the women were invited to attend events, take part in workshops and listen to talks to get a full picture of what it means to stand for political office.
The day was organised to celebrate the centenary of the Qualification of Women Act which allowed women to stand as political candidates for the first time.
We need more women to stand for public office. At all levels in politics from the grass roots to Westminster we have two men for every one woman, meaning that our debates, laws and institutions are missing the voices, experiences and talent of women who would make excellent representatives.
I hope the event inspired more great women to stand for election to give us all broader and more representative decision making.