/>A single issue voter
During the general election I came across plenty of single issue voters and in this Labour leadership election I plan on being a single issue voter myself. My issue is women in the Labour Party and what our next leader plans to do to increase the number of women participating in the Party and standing for election. My experience of being a candidate was of operating in what at times felt like an all male world. Even within the Young Fabians it is a challenge to get young women to stand for election to the Executive, although our Young Fabian Women event the other week showed we have no shortage of bright, young women with lots to offer. I want not just commitments around All Women Shortlists and balancing the cabinet, whilst important, in many ways these just disguise broader issues around the engagement of women in politics. I want to hear the candidates’ ideas around how they will get more women involved in grass roots politics, the role of women at Party Conference and how they will encourage more women to seek selection as parliamentary candidates. That’s my single issue, so far there have been a few promising murmurings from some candidates but I want more. Whoever comes out with a clear plan for getting more women active in the Labour Party gets my vote.
I think this is fundamentally the wrong approach to solving this issue.
Encouraging women into politics needs to addressed, I’m skeptical that there are any tangible barriers preventing it so today. What needs to be tackled is the cultural perception that politics is a mens game.
However as a voter and citizen I am horrified that I will be receiving anything but the very best and democratically elected individual into office. All Women Shortlist excludes men by their very nature, which is not only discrimination but also means that the most capable candidate may be barred for running if that individual is male.
At the same time, I recognize the need for inspirational females to help equalize the playing field but I think that propping them up for quick wins is detrimental to the integrity of such figure.
I disagree that men are discriminated against by women-only shortlists, Alex. Women are discriminated against so much in British politics that even having shortlists that exclude men isn’t enough to redress the gender balance in government. For example, women in the Cabinet tend to get scrutinised 5 times more than their male colleagues. We’re behind countries such as Rwanda and North Korea in the women MPs league table, which is pretty shameful. Indeed, it’s undemocratic for women to be underrepresented. Do I really want a primarily male Parliament voting on issues like abortion, which affect women more intimately than men?
The problem I have with shortlists is somewhat different to Alex’s; they can be patronising to women, for I’m sure most/all of those selected deserve candidacy due purely to their merits. Women could be looked down upon by male counterparts for getting special treatment, despite how capable they are. Yet until the proportion of women in politics is bumped up enough, so that Parliament is no longer viwed as a male environment and so that female MPs and ministers are a more “normal” occurrence, shortlists should remain. They are the most expedient way to normalise the female presence in British politics.
Annalise. Where is this discrimination coming from? Because the answer to that question is where efforts should be focused on addressing this issue. Two wrongs do not make a right – a cliche, but I feel relevant to this discussion. Women along with men are represented by their MP. One MP. It is completely democratic for universal suffrage in a constituency elects their representative. Personally I care not if my parliamentarian is Black, White, Male, Female, Heterosexual or not. I care about voting history, and they’ve engaged with the constituents and whether or not they have similar views to me. If they are voting on issues primarily concerning a identifiable group they are not part of, then they should engage with the population of that issue to understand this issue.
North Korea cannot even be compared. Their parliament is a formality and elections are not free and fair. Party wants female politicians; party gets female politicians.
At the end of the day, you and everyone else have the right to elect who you want.
Wow. There’s a war raging in Afghanistan and you’re concerned about women in politics. wake up.