Cabinet committees 'all male'
By Tony Grew - 10th March 2011
Today MPs discussed women and the new UN agency dedicated to improving their lives, to mark International Women's Day.
The Hansard Society has marked this celebration of the female half of the human race with some interesting research about how far women have penetrated the top of government here in the UK.
Their new briefing paper, Women at the Top 2011: Politics and public life, reveals the depressing fact that while there are four women in the cabinet - Theresa May, Caroline Spelman, Baroness Warsi and Cheryl Gillan - there are no women on the cabinet's coalition committee or the coalition operation and strategic planning group.
The Hansard Society document also reveals that of 184 cabinet committee and sub-committee places, 32 are held by females.
That means no women on key committees such as economic affairs, banking reform or public expenditure.
The paper also examines the representation of women more widely in UK politics - just 20 per cent of the Lords is female, for example, while just two out of England's 12 elected mayors are female.
It also provides facts and figures on women's role in last year's general election and the prospects for women's representation in the forthcoming elections to the Scottish parliament and National Assembly for Wales.
"When the country is facing enormous economic challenges it is very worrying that women are completely absent from the cabinet committees that are making vital decisions about economic and banking reform and public expenditure," said Dr Ruth Fox, director of the Hansard Society's parliament and government programme.
"How the economy is shaped for the future will impact on the lives of women across the country yet the voice of women is not being heard around the decision-making table?"
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