Under-Representation

PMQ’s today should have been remembered for a debate on the economy. Or for Cameron looking sheepish on the NHS reform. Instead it looks likely to be remembered for a comment made by Cameron towards Angela Eagle MP. At best it was a poorly judged joke, at worst it represents the sexist misogyny that still haunts the corridors at Westminster. It is disappointing that we now stand 14 years past the 1997 election, an election heralded as the opening of the door to women in politics but we still see women under-represented and talked down to by male counter-parts.

One good thing that may in time come of this row is a reopening of the debate around representation in this country. Not just the representation of women but across age, ethnicity and class. This is a debate that has not properly been held for a number of years. I have for example heard several people both inside the labour Party and indeed in seminar groups around campus complaining about all female shortlists. The argument is of course that they want the best people to represent them and that person may not be a woman. This argument would be stronger if meritocracy existed within politics, however we can now see that strong candidates were being held back from running for MP because of gender. We see this most profoundly in the fact that many of the all women shortlist candidates now sit on Labours front bench because they are amongst the most effective members in the PLP. 

But as I alluded to earlier under-representation is not limited to women. 90% of MP’s now have a degree whereas only 40% do in the wider population and that decreases the higher up the age scale you go. This is significant because it means that the life experiences of the people governing us are very different, it would be easy to attack the coalition government and the make up of cabinet here but I don’t feel I need to the facts are not hidden. Also all parties are responsible in part for this staggering rise in university educated MP’s and making a political point would only serve to antagonise some and mean the issues are not examined.

Perhaps though it is ethnic minorities who have the most under-presentation. It is disappointing that Baroness Warsi was given what can only be described  as a token role in government, Minister without Portfolio. It is also disappointing that the liberal Democrats have no ethnic minority MP’s.

But how do we tackle this? One way is for the party structures to dictate that all women shortlists will happen. It has after all been effective in getting women into politics. Or it can perhaps start at grassroots level, people like me and my fellow in the DMU Labour Club can play a role in getting into communities and saying how do we give these people a voice. In practical terms I believe this means no longer focusing solely on women’s under-representation but broadening the debate to all under-representation. In practical terms this means looking at the role of the Women’s Officer within the DMU Labour Club, and seeing if we can broaden the responsibilities to all under-represented parts of society, with the all encompassing title Equalities officer, and fighting for representation of all not solely women.  To highlight the need for this I would like to use one more example, I recently heard of a group called “Chinese for Labour”, in fact they have members in and around De Montfort University. Yet as a group we have not made contact with them and seen what we can do to help. This seems ridiculous, but if no one is responsible for doing it then it gets forgotten. In truth if people no longer want to see all women shortlists then politics has to change from the bottom up, because the top down answer will always be positive discrimination.