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Gender and the Liberal Democrats
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The Liberal Democrats are the UK’s third party at Westminster: they currently have fifty-seven MPs, less than 10 percent of the House of Commons. Despite the fact that they are currently in coalition govern- ment with the Conservatives, their third party status is reflected in the relative lack of attention paid to the party, hence less is known about the party’s organisation, policies and personnel compared to the Labour and the Conservative parties. The representation of women by the Liberal Democrats is further marginalised in extant studies and commentary. Following the 2010 general election, men made up 87.7 percent of the Parliamentary party. Whilst previous research has noted that the vast majority of their MPs were male (Childs, 2008a; Russell and Fieldhouse, 2005) a detailed institutional analysis of why this should be the case is lacking. Of course, with so few MPs of either sex, a poor track record on women’s representation may appear to be a some- what minor concern. However, the question of women’s representation matters for the Liberal Democrats, not least because of their status as coalition partners in government. The party itself recognises that women’s representation is a problem, although their attempts to redress the imbalance have been slow and hesitant, and their record sits uneasily alongside their claim to be a ‘pro-women party’ (Harrison, 2009b).
Elizabeth Evans - Personal Name
1st Edtion
9780719083471
NONE
Gender and the Liberal Democrats
Management
English
Manchester University Press
2011
United Kingdom
1-193
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