Women, Power and Politics in the UK: What’s changed in 100 years?A study commemorating 100 years of women’s right to vote.

  1. Introduction

1.1About this study

This study is being commissioned and managed by the British Council. The research outputs and main findings will form the basis of a reportto be published in 2018 to complement planned activities to commemorate the centenary of The Representation of the People Act and the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, both of which were passed in 1918.

1.2About the British Council

The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. The purpose of the British Council is to promote a friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and the wider world, creating opportunities and building trust. We work in over 100 countries, connecting millions of people with the United Kingdom through programmes and services in the English language, the Arts, Education and Society.

Equality and diversity are an important part of our work and we have adopted a strategy of embedding them in everything we do through our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. In addition we deliver programmes in many countries which support gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. A key part of our role is to support knowledge exchange and dialogue between the UK and other countries in order to address some of the common challenges that we face including addressing gender inequality and empowering women and girls. More information about our work can be found at:

2Research Framework

2.1Context and background

2018 will mark 100 years since The Representation of the People Act and The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act was passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain. The former gave all men over the age of 21 the right to vote and also extended voting rights to women of property over the age of 30 whilst the latter gavewomenover the age of 21 the right to stand for election as an MP. Both pieces of legislation markedmajor advances for women’s political participation and empowerment.

The journey towards the extension of female suffrage was long and difficult. Mary Wollstonecraft first mooted the idea in 1792 in ‘a Vindication of the Rights of Women’, which advocated for women’s education. This seminal text, alongside others, inspired many women (and some men) in the UK and worldwide to campaign for women’s right to vote.

A number of national and local suffrage associations were established in the UK in the mid- nineteenth century, whose members wanted to obtain the vote via peaceful and parliamentary means, employing techniques such as petitioning and protest. However, by the turn of the twentieth century, many Suffragists had grown frustrated at the lack of progress and decided that change would require more direct action.Subsequently, in 1903 the Women's Social and Political Union(WSPU)was established. Known more commonly as ‘the Suffragettes’), they became the leading militant organisation campaigning for ‘Votes for Women’.

As the WSPU’s methods became more violent and World War One broke out, the Suffragettes made an agreement with the UK government to suspend their activities in order to contribute to the national war effort. The War also marked a significant turning point for womenas they replaced the many men who had been sent to fight in the armed forces and carried out crucial work in the munition factories.

It was against this backdrop that The Representation of the People Act was passed in February 1918, granting voting eligibility to 8.5 million women for the general election in December 1918. Although it would be another ten years until the passing of The Equal Franchise Act (which gave women equal voting rights with men) it was a ground-breaking movement for women’s political empowerment and spurred significant development for women’s economic, political and social empowerment.

1918 also saw the first woman MP elected to the House of Commons - Constance Markievicz - in the general election of 1918. However as a member of Sinn Fein, she did not take her seat. Just one year later Nancy Astor(Viscountess Astor) became the first woman MP to take up a seat in the House of Commons, after a by-election in December 1919. Progress since then has been slow, and it has taken 99 years for women to represent a third of the Westminster Parliament (32%)Representation within the devolved governments remains higher, with women making up 30%, 34.9% and41.7% of the Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh Parliaments respectively.

There are many activities being planned in the UK to commemorate the events of 1918, including the Vote 110 project, From Suffrage to Citizenship,Wonder Womenand the Women and Power Programme, all of which will focus on how women’s political participation, power and leadershipas well as gender equality more broadly, have progressedover the past 100 years.

2.2Research rationale

2018 provides a timely moment to reflect upon the advances that have been made for women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the UK while contrasting and comparing with the situationinother countries. In view of the British Council’s historical and continued role of sharing knowledge and enhancing understanding of the UK’s experience through cooperation and collaboration with our partner countries, we are well placed to do this.

The centenary also presents an opportunity to build upon findings and recommendations of the British Council’s recent report on Gender equality and empowerment of women & girls in the UK: Meeting the Challenge of the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically the thematic area of participation, power and leadership (pages 10-15), within the political sphere.

The research highlighted a number of key successes, such as the existence of enabling legislation which has permitted political parties to use positive action measures to redress gender imbalances within political representation (both the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament achieved their highest representation of women in the elections of 2003,with Wales becoming the first nation in the world to achieve 50:50 representation). The recent establishment of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in Westminster has also provided a mechanism to mainstream women’s equality into legislation.However, although women’s representation in the UK Parliament has increased steadily, progress is behind that of other countries, meaning that its position in the global rankings has decreased over the past 20 years (in 1999, it ranked 25th in the world but is now 48th). In addition to this, the number of women in local government does not exceed 32 per cent in any nation of the UK and there are concerns about masculinist cultures within parliaments and the increasing risk of abuse, threats and harassment faced by women in public and political life, especially on social media.

The theme of women’s political participation, power and leadership is also significant in view of the increasing evidence of the development and governance gains for women and girls of all ages when more women are better supported (as individuals and collectively) to participate and lead in the political arena, something which has been recognised by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal Five.

By examining the current situation in the four nations of the UK in more depth and by consulting with UK partners and stakeholders who have a role to play in this area, we want to provide an in-depth report on the current picture of women’s political participation, power and leadership, highlighting the progress that has been made, existing strengths and persisting gaps, challenges and priorities. By considering decision making levels within Westminster, devolved parliaments and local government as well as the role of civil society in influencing and holding democratic institutions to account we hope to provide a realistic picture of the UK’s current position in this area and contribute to the achievement of SDG five both in the UK and globally. The report will also support UK and international stakeholders working in this sphere to learn from each other and to collaborate more closely.

2.3 Research purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to carry out an assessment of the current status ofwomen’s political participation, power and leadership in the four nations of the UK; identify key changes that have enabled and blocked progress over the past 100 yearsand to raise awareness of the contribution that UK stakeholders from government, civil society, education and the private sector are making in this arena. The research will highlight any assets and strengths of the UK experience as well as identifying any gaps and opportunities for learning.

The research findings will contain valuable information for UK and international stakeholders and enable our UK and international partners and stakeholders to draw clear comparisons with the current picture ofwomen’s political participation, power and leadership in other countries.

We hope that this will be used by:

1)Our international stakeholders – to help identify areas where the UK has particular expertise or approaches that have been successful

2)Our UK stakeholders – to share good practice, facilitate opportunities for mutual learning and provide scope for partnerships between those stakeholders who have common objectives and approaches

3)British Council staff – both in the UK and in the 100 countries in which we work to provide a detailed resource to raise awareness of the UK state of play in women’s political participation, power and leadership

As an organisation whose approach is based on intercultural dialogue and the exchange of ideas, we are also particularly interested in exploring the role that international engagement can play to the formulation of policy, frameworks and programmes. Through this research we hope to identify the impact of international linkages and collaboration within this sphere and determine whether as the UK’s national agency for cultural relations we could be doing more to facilitate this.

2.3Definitions of scope

The assignment should focus on the area of women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the UK, drawing upon international examples when appropriate. As referenced above, the research should draw upon findings and recommendations of the British Council’s recent report.

The definition of women’s political participation, power and leadership should go beyond the representation of womenin parliament and should also focus on power and decision-making structures and processes and the influence that womenhave within these. It should also encompass how women in different spheres of life are participating and engaging in politics and to what extent they are empowered through these processes.

Multiple aspects of women’s political participation, power and leadership in the UK should be considered and how that has changed over time including:

  • The impact of laws and policies on women’s participation and power since 1918 including key constitutional changes including the establishment of devolved parliament
  • The trends in participation of women within UK parliaments and other decision making bodies (including national, devolved governments and local councils as candidates, representatives and leaders and analysis of what has supported and blocked progress to equal representation.
  • The power and influence of women representatives and the extent to which they exert influence within the political arena e.g. cabinet roles, chairing committees, appointment of female deputies to elected mayors etc.
  • The effects of increasing number of women representatives on political structures and processes e.g. legislation and policy, working culture, attitudesand practices towards women in politics etc.(including sexual harassment and abuse of power)
  • Role and policies of political parties in promoting and shaping women’s participation including the influence of the Women’s Equality Party within the political and campaigning sphere.
  • The impact of women’s political power on the promotion of gender sensitive legislation and implementation of policy and the extent to which this has shaped the lives of women and girls in the UK.
  • The trends in women’s voting patterns (compared to men) and their influence in shaping election outcomes and policiesacross the four nations of the UK.
  • The active political engagement of women within the four nations of the UK (across a broad demographic) e.g. through voting, party membership and campaigning etc.
  • Spaces which enable women throughout the UK to engage in politics and influence political processes e.g. campaigning mechanisms, linkages between women in formal politics, women’s movements, professional associations, faith-based organisations, community-based organisations etc.

The above themes and questions should be addressed with reference to the British Council’s approach to gender equality and including the Theory of Change (a holistic approach to increasing gender equality and empowering women and girls)– See figure 1.

Figure 1: A holistic approach to gender equality and empowering women and girls.

The research should draw on experience and examples from all four countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and at municipal level i.e. within different UK cities.

The research should also take an intersectional perspective of the factors at play when analysing women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the UKe.g. how does race/class/sexuality/disability/socio-economic status etc. inform the answers to each of the research questions.

The report should also draw on existing research to examine the theme of women, power and politics in the UK, including:

  • The Sex and Power 2015: Who Runs Britain report, which raises awareness of the absence of women from the highest levels of politics in the UK and set out key recommendations to government, political parties, civil society and the media.
  • Gender-Sensitive Parliaments: A Global Review of Good Practice which looks at whether parliaments around the world are gender-sensitive and are spaces for fostering gender equality?
  • Equal Voice Equal Power: The Case for Gender Quotas in Scotland which analyses current gender balancing mechanisms in Scotland and examines the case for quotas.

2.4Aims and objectives

This study will aim to provide a clearer picture of how the women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the UK has changed since 1918, an assessment of the current status and highlighting successes, gaps and opportunities for future learning.

In order to support the above aim, the detailed objectives of the study are:

2.4.1 Provide an analysis of how women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the four nations of the UKhas changed over the past 100 yearsand an assessment of the situation in 2018.

2.4.2 produce a set of tables/infographics which demonstrate the trends and key events and changes that have current stateof women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the four nations of the UK

2.4.3. summarise the main priorities and areas of focus for UK stakeholders working towards equal women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the four nations of the UKand highlight any common agendas

2.4.4. identify any key assets/successes for UK stakeholders working to achieve women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the UKthrough the collation of a series of strong case studies and interviews (in line with the key areas and perspectives cited above)

2.4.5 identify any gaps or weaknesses in approaches to women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the four nations of the UKand the subsequent opportunities for learning and improvement

2.4.6 draw comparisons between:

  • the experience of women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the four nations of the UK and other countries
  • the experiences of UK stakeholders (through research and interviews conducted) on collaborative working and partnership both in the UK and internationally

2.4.7assess to what extent international comparisons, experience or engagement has influenced the approaches of UK stakeholders through interviews and determine whether there would be any value in facilitating further international links

2.4.8 produce a series of recommendations for future learning

The study will set out to answer the following questions:

  • What have been the key advances and successes for women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the four nations of the UKand what is the evidence of this?
  • What are the key priorities of UK stakeholders for women’s political participation, power and leadership in the four nations of the UK?
  • Are there any comparisons and contrasts that can be drawn between the current picture of women’s political participation, power and leadershipin the four nations of the UKand other countries?
  • What are the main gaps and challenges forwomen’s political participation, power and leadership in the four nations of the UK?
  • Are there any emerging examples of opportunities for potential partnership and collaboration between UK stakeholders who are working towards similar agendas?
  • In what ways have international collaboration and experience influenced the policy and practice of UK stakeholders?
  • How could international exchange and experience be strengthened to support the strengthening of women’s political participation, power and leadership in the four nations of the UK and other countries? How can the British Council and other organisations support and facilitate this?

2.4.9 Part of the role of the appointed consultant/s will be to test and refine these questions with the British Council, adapting questions accordingly.

3 Methodology

The final methodology used for this research project will be agreed by the appointed research agency in consultation with the British Council.

It is expected that this research would include:

  • review of existing quantitative and qualitative data to demonstrate what progress has been achieved and the current status of women’s political women’s political participation, power and leadership in the four nations of the UK. This should identify successes, enabling factors and challengesandinclude international comparisons.
  • case studies to demonstrate examples of successful initiatives that have been implemented by UK stakeholders to improvewomen’s political participation, power and leadership in the four nations of the UK
  • international case studies on areas of women’s political participation, power and leadership(particularly those that have been successful in areas where the UK faces challenges)
  • interviews with UK and international stakeholders from parliaments government, education, civil society and the private sector

Although the appointed consultant/s will be expected to lead the assignment they should also ensure that British Council staff are actively involved in the research process, including any engagement with stakeholders through interviews and focus groups.