Brighton to hold first ever all-female parliamentary election
Posted on | December 8, 2009 | Comments Off
Brighton Short Break sees Brighton and Hove demonstrating its credentials as the most Right On city in the UK this week with the fact that it is the first time a parliamentary election has seen an all-female list of candidates.
20 years after Mrs Thatcher broke political ground by becoming the first ever female Prime Minister the complaint that the halls of Westminster are still a male dominated territory ring just as loudly as ever! So, Brighton and Hove’s all female short list of Parliamentary candidates gives some encouragement to a potential future change of ground in the gender balance in the political power world.
Being quoted in The Argus , Fawcett Society chief executive Ceri Goddard said: “If all the candidates are women that is cause for celebration but also concern that it has taken until 2009, whereas all-male elections are still the norm.
“The voters if Brighton can be pleased that whom ever they elect they will be a step closer to closing the gender gap in parliament where currently less than 20% of our MP’s are women – less than Iraq, Afghanistan and Rwanda.”
‘Less than Iraq, Afghanistan and Rwanda……… ‘ – personally that particular statement left me slightly disconcerted about the state of our political arena and curious as to the reasons for male domination above and beyond the historical precedence that men should have it all their own way – and its a whole Pandoras box of discussion that is best left for another place.
But my purpose here today is as – as always – to fly the flag for Brighton and Hove and demonstrate how forward thinking and politically aware our population is, and having a ratio of men to women in parliament more representative of the population, is in my opinion, a step in the right direction!
