2018 marks the centenary of (limited) women’s suffrage and the first general election in which women were able to vote; it is therefore a good opportunity both to celebrate this anniversary and to look forward to see how we can build on our track record.
According to research conducted by the Fawcett Society, whilst the proportion of female MPs has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, the proportion of female councillors has changed little. We know that all parties are missing out on talented potential representatives who aren’t putting themselves forward. The London Conservative Women’s Organisation and the Conservative Policy Forum are keen to understand what more can be done to improve the representation of women in public life at every level – and first we would like to understand more about the barriers which prevent people from deciding to seek election, across all political parties.
Thank you for taking part – please do share the link to the survey with your friends as well. All responses will be anonymised. We aim to publish an interim report summarising our findings this spring, with policy recommendations