Women's Views on News |
| Bristol elects four female MPs Posted: 11 May 2015 09:34 AM PDT
Many people woke up on the morning of 8 May shocked at an election result that no one predicted. In Bristol however, there was, nonetheless, cause for celebration as the city elected for women to represent it. In Bristol West, Labour candidate Thangam Debbonaire overturned Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams's majority of 11,000, as well as successfully fending of Green candidate Darren Hall. Before becoming an MP, Debbonaire had worked as National Children's Officer at Women's Aid, and has spent much of her career working to end domestic violence. Labour’s Kerry McCarthy held her Bristol East seat, allowing her to continue her work on animal rights and environmental issues. In Bristol South Labour’s Dawn Primarolo, who stepped down this year after 28 years as an MP, was succeeded by Labour's Karin Smyth. Smyth paid tribute to Primarolo, saying: “Dawn Primarolo has served this constituency for 28 years…During which time her dedication and commitment to her constituents was evident for all to see. “It is an honour and a privilege to be entrusted by the people of Bristol South to be her successor.” In Bristol North West, the Conservative’s Charlotte Leslie held her seat. In her speech she promised to support all of her constituents, including those who didn't vote for her: “To those – and there will be some – who’ll be disappointed with this result, I say to you in particular – I will serve you with every inch of what I am and every piece of my heart, because I will be your MP.” Elsewhere in the country, women did better than ever before; one in three MPs are now female, which is a record number. In one of the biggest upsets of the night, Labour's Douglas Alexander lost his seat to the SNP’s 20 year-old politics student Mhairi Black – the youngest MP for centuries. We can only hope that this election marks a turn in the tide for women in politics. Following the remarkable performances by the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon, Greens leader Natalie Bennett and Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood in the leaders' debates, alongside a record number of women entering the commons, perhaps the mainstream media will begin to take female politicians seriously. We can also hope that the extra women on both sides of the house will be the voice that women will urgently need under a Conservative government.  |
| Election results: what can women expect? Posted: 11 May 2015 08:29 AM PDT
Last week saw the Conservatives win a second term in office after one of the most unexpected results in British political history. As the dust starts to settle, and a divided population begins to reconcile itself to the consequences of a deeply flawed electoral system, eyes will fall on the Conservatives and their ability to implement the promises that have been made throughout their campaign. While most parties acknowledged a commitment to gender equality measures on varying levels, the Conservatives have been routinely criticised for having a "woman problem", and now, with a majority government unconstrained by coalitions, only time will tell if the "real change" promised to women and girls in their manifesto will materialise. What have the Conservatives promised in relation to women? Regarding the workplace, they said they would introduce measures to address the gender pay gap, and stronger legislation to prevent employer discrimination against gender; raise national insurance thresholds and eliminate contributions for under-25s and increase the minimum wage to £8 by 2020. As far as families go, they promised greater flexibility with parental leave, allowing parents to decide how to split paid leave or whether to take it simultaneously; 30 hours of free childcare for 3-4 year olds for parents who are in full time employment and an extension of the right to request flexible working to all parents with children under 18. In an effort to deal effectively with violence against women and girls (VAWG) they promised to provide for preventative work in schools to help tackle VAWG; specialist training for front line practitioners and police on sexual violence; to work with public bodies to ensure a secure future for specialist FGM and forced marriage units, refuges and rape crisis centres and an overhaul of services related to child sexual exploitation. They promised to incorporate sexual consent education in the national curriculum and better careers guidance for young women. And as far as equalities provision goes, they promised £28m in secure funding over four years for specialist services;£900,000 per year to support national helplines and to focus on gender equality when setting out UK overseas policies. Although the Conservative Party manifesto did not include a specific section on women or equalities, there have obviously been intensified efforts to regain the women's vote by making mainstream liberal feminist principles, particularly in areas like the family and the workplace, which have been historical strongholds in the Conservatives strategy for mobilising women. Yet despite efforts to assimilate more progressive values with party rhetoric, dominant policies in areas like the deficit conflict with these new pledges. The Conservatives said they plan to reduce the deficit through cuts to welfare spending worth £12bn, although they have been indefinite about how and where they intend to administer the majority of these. There are plans to freeze child benefit and the level of working-age benefits, which will effectively disqualify most 18-21 year-olds from claiming housing benefit. Other cuts are likely to be made to tax credits, disability living allowance, housing benefit and incapacity benefits. The gendered impacts of austerity are widely acknowledged; 74 per cent of the money saved from cuts to the tax and benefits system under the Coalition came from women's pockets and with one in four women in low paid or insecure work and given women’s primary care responsibilities for children, dependence on welfare support and state services is inevitably greater among women. Welfare reform will thus disproportionately undermine support to the most vulnerable women, and this framing of women’s policies in the home and workplace reinforces the inability of the Conservatives to represent the interests and needs of working people. There have been some promising, although insufficient, commitments made by the Conservatives to address women's inequality in the UK, but there are also double standards, and an economic plan that depends on a reduced welfare state is incompatible with establishing conditions that are better for all women.  |
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