A woman’s place is in the house…of Commons

This week’s PMQ’s was hugely insightful;  whether you believe Ed Miliband’s action was a “stunt” or not, there is no denying Labour’s front was full of ovaries, while the Conservatives had nothing but bollocks on their benches. Ed called Dave out on his broken promise; Cameron vowed a third of his front bench would be female. Yet instead of promotion, his party is actively deselecting women as seen in the case of Anne McIntosh.

Question Time last night was equally as insightful – and rambunctious – when it came to debating the issue of women in politics.

Much of the discussion bordered on sheer chauvinism; when George Galloway actually appears to be making sense, you know the conversation has swung into outer space. David Starkey’s snarky question, “What do women actually bring to Parliament?” descended into a misogynist rant about how women are just as terrible as men, as if this race to the bottom of the barrel proved his point.

Until we have parity, all women shortlists are necessary to redress gender imbalance. Out of 650 MPs, 147 are women. The breakdown? 86 to Labour, 48 to the Conservatives, and a paltry 7 for the Lib Dems….though I’m sure Lord Rennard has NOTHING to do with that.

I must declare I have a vested interest in all women shortlists. Tessa Jowell spoke about the necessity of AWS on Question Time; she announced her retirement and the NEC rightly decided another woman should take her place in Parliament.

Some men feel strongly about the unfairness of all women shortlists; but how else do we achieve parity? I have an open mind about how this might be achieved, but no credible alternative to AWS has been put on the table. If men feel it’s unfair, then why not come up with a suggestion for gender equality in politics? We need the support of our brothers to make this happen, after all.

The glass ceiling may be showing a few cracks, but it certainly isn’t smashed. Equality is a core Labour value, and we must lead where other parties fear to tread. We need gender parity in the Shadow Cabinet too; so that when we regain power in 2015 women play a central role in forming the government.

Parliament looks distinctly pale, male and stale. Yet some brilliant things are being done to encourage more women to engage in public life on a local and national level. The Fabian Women’s Network run an impressive mentoring scheme and recently published a report detailing women’s obstacles and achievements in politics. Labour Women’s Network have rigorous training programme, of which I am a graduate. I can confirm I was built up, broken down, and put back together over the course of a weekend. It was a transformative two days and I highly recommend it for any woman thinking about a political vocation. Like many in FWN and LWN, I look forward to the day AWS becomes obsolete.

So is Labour the party of gender equality? We’re on the right track. But more needs to be done. We need to keep sight of the fact that a woman’s place is in the house…of Commons.