Women, Gender and New Labour

Abstract

Perhaps the most powerful and enduring symbol that New Labour had really transformed itself into a modern party were the numerous pictures of the 101 Labour women elected to Parliament that appeared in the press following the election in May 1997. In many ways the election can be seen as a watershed for women in British politics. Not only did women’s representation in the House of Commons virtually double from 9.2 per cent in 1992 to 18.2 per cent in 1997 (24 per cent of the Parliamentary Labour Party) but the new cabinet contained five women and another 15 were in the government. The election also signalled a breakthrough in the relationship between the Labour Party and the female electorate. For the first time in its history, with the possible exception of 1987, the party closed the gender gap. Labour secured an equal number of votes from women as from men and infact the swing to Labour among women at 11 per cent was significantly greater than among men at 8 per cent.