Female Representation in Parliament: Research into the Conservative Party

Female Representation in Parliament Research into the standpat(prenominal) fellowshipFemale representation in parliament andthe conservative Party and how they engage with womens issues.Through a recent gendered abstract of the Conservative Party, it has come to realisation that women atomic number 18 cool it being underrepresented in governance and womens issues argon not being heard. Such research has demonst calculated that this may be imputable to the selection process being biased and political office remaining a masculine field. Women are still representing fewer than one in basketball team MPs in the UK (Russell et al, 2000 17) and make up just 21.8% of the worlds parliamentarians (Forke & Rickne, 2016). The feminine absence from politics has suggested that society might be acquiring its leaders from an excessively narrow area of human talent and that egg-producing(prenominal) preferences are underrepresented in political judgments (Murray, 2014). Due to this lack of female representation, a subject issues such as child fearfulness, womens pensions and care of the elderly are not being properly addressed. At present, in that respect is a distinct limit inthe amount of of research conducted into gender in the conservative society andthe kinsfolk of Commons nevertheless a fair portion of the preexisting literature skirt it all points to gendered in electric shockities based on old forms of gendernorms in parliament. In the following research piece of music I entrust explain whyfemales are so under represented in parliament and the gender inequality thatcomes with it as considerably as explaining what effects the male built establishmentin the companionship has on governmental policies such as childcare. MethodologyThis analysis uses secondary data that hasbeen collected from the UK data service. The data was originally used by PaulWebb and Sarah Childs (See Webb & Childs, 2009) for an extensive genderedanalysis of the contemporary UK Co nservative Party (Webb & Childs, 2009).The data was collected over the duration of three years in effect to survey howfar the Conservative Party was assimilating women and their concerns and ifwomens issues were being taken seriously (Webb & Childs, 2009). The fulldataset consists of 27 face to- face semi-structured interviews withConservative helpmates and 19 Conservative MPs. Focus groups were also conductedwith 7 groups of floating and unbiased individuals and then six groups of partymembers. Through the analysis of secondary data Iwill be assessing the accounts given by several members and nonmembers of theparliamentary group through the dissection of qualitative interviews of twomale and female Conservative peers and two male and female Conservative MPs. softinterviews are in particular useful as a form of research because they access individualsattitudes and values- things that cannot necessarily be observed in a formalquestionnaire (Silverman, 2004, 182). In using 4 fema le and 4 male interviewtranscripts I was able to access the divergency of opinion of why they believefemales are being under represented in the Conservative party and the House ofCommons and how they think womens issues could be better dealt with.I also studyd four cerebrate groups, two ofwhich are Conservative Party sympathisers and two of which are groups of partymembers. Focus groups are particularly useful as a form of secondary researchbecause in tension groups participants are able to bring to the fore issues inrelation to a field of study that they deem to be important and significant becausethe moderator has to relinquish a sealed amount of control to theparticipants, the issues that concern them can surface (Bryman, 2012, 338). I gather in used focus group data because the data that occurs from the participantsinteracting with one another can be useful in determining the specific issuesrelated to the topic in question (Bryman, 2012). However, thither are certain limi tations tothis type of research, focus groups produce an extensive amount of data, whichcan whatsoevertimes be rugged to analyse on top of being excessively timeconsuming. Therefore, developing a strategy to analyse the data whichincorporated twain what people say and their descriptor of interaction can prove tobe quite problematic (Bryman, 2012). Another limitation of focus groups is thatsometimes the poor quality of recordings causes them to become inaudible, whichaffects the transcription and so subsequently the data produced,rendering it unreliable (Bryman, 2012). There are also certain limitations toqualitative interviews as interviews do not tell us this instant about peoplesexperiences and few researchers believe that in the course of the interview,you are able to pay off into someones head (Silverman, 2015, 83).The following report uses thematic analysisfrom the study of qualitative interviews and focus groups and explores theunder representation of women in the Conse rvative Party and political office,with reference to gender equality in the conservative party and also seeks toexplain why womens exclusion from politics may be repayable to particular womensissues such as childcare and care of the elderly which has not been properlyaddressed by the government.FindingsUnderrepresentation of women in the Conservative PartyThrough my analysis of the research data,it came to attention that it has by and large been thought that women are severelyunderrepresented in parliament and in the Conservative party (Russel et al,2000). Many of the interviewees agreed upon the fact that the selectionprocess is still deemed prejudiced and sexist and is still run by middle-aged men which makes it harder for females to maneuver. (Russell et al, 2000).For example, women now only represent 9% of the parliamentary party and out of48 candidates that applied to the Conservative Party, it was found that onlyseven women out of those candidates were interviewed by the sel ection panel.This is due, as one male Conservative MP claimed, to the selection panelshaving certain bigoted views towards femalesThe selection panels are based of white older men who consist of pig headed old guys who bout up wearing Second gentleman War underpants with the attitude that goes with it. ( virile Conservative MP) This can be backed up by Theresa May, afemale member of the Conservative party, who in a party conference said lookingat its elected representatives you will see a predominantly white male party.Given that we now see an ethnically diverse society, where women play a majorrole, the conservative party doesnt look like the people its claiming torepresent. (Theresa May, Party Conference, 2002). This can be yet shownwhen the male MP expressed his amazement at the lack of females in parliamentand claimed that even in countries like Rwanda and Pakistan, which arenotoriously patriarchal societies, they deliver more women representatives intheir government than Br itain does.It has been accepted that in order to getmore votes, the Conservative Party needs to obtain more women into the partyand then makes the selection process more accessible. However, one femaleconservative peer claimsIts still harder for women to get selected even inspite of the party aphorism wed like a cleaning woman. (Female Conservative Peer) Females were often subjected to criticismfor their personal lives, if they were example said to be divorced. One femaleMP claimed that women whence had to cuddle up to the selection committee Whose instinct is to prefer a pinstripe identikitcandidate with who they wish to spend Friday evenings (Female Conservative MP)In other literature, it has been suggestedthat some women adopt been made to feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in the Houseof Commons due to the masculine feel of it (Russel et al, 2000). This is gain shown in the data studied as a male Conservative MP talks about theaggressive nature of politics and women who feel uncomfortable in the House ofCommons are so because women are familiarly less confrontational than men. TheHouse of Commons is thus seen as less feminized and an unattractive place forwomen to roleplay in. One Male MP even admitted to the party being unable to changeitself and if women werent happy with the way things were, then they wouldhave to adapt and change themselves in order to fit in.Gender equating in the Conservative Party and House of CommonsThrough the analysis of the focus groups,the theme of equality was an issue that was embossed often. Interestingly, boththe men and the females agreed upon the fact thatI think for any women wanting to get aheadon her own abilities shes got to be plausibly twice as qualified as a slew ofmen (Focus Group, Male Conservative Member)The participants generally felt that inorder for a woman to get ahead they would have to be very(prenominal) self- assured andconfident if they wanted to ascertain positions they wanted. In most of the female focus groups it was widely discussed that women were bullied in theHouse of Commons and that they had to put up with a lot of sexist rubbish,claiming that the men were always likely to back each other up, but constantlylooking for a way to put down the women.The theme of equality is an issue that hasbeen raised in previous literature, as Dillard (2005) claimed that womenexperience some disadvantage based on their sex or gender roles (page number)and Krook & Childs (2010) also claimed that due to inequality, women thereforerarely assume leadership roles and now make up a minority of all top partyofficials (Krook & Childs, 2010, 6). It was also discussed on one floatingvoter focus group how politicians are out of daub with things like genderequality with one male in the group claiming that he is disappointed by theprogress that women have made in call of equality, and saidPoliticians often point to a rare example oftwo successful female politicians to prove that its possible, but in reality itisnt as easy as that (Male, adrift(p) Voter Focus Group). When asked what the Conservative Party andthe house of Commons should do to get more support of female voters and getmore women into parliament, one woman from the floating voter focus groupclaimed that even if the party did attempt to appeal more to women, it wouldntmatter because the female voters would know that it was insincereInterviewer Do you think theres anything theconservative party should be doing to appeal more to women?Female Respondent If they do we know its a lipservice. Thats the problem. They think its like we need to speak to women todo whatever it takes, but they shouldnt even be asking this it should be ignorant (Female, Floating Voter Focus Group).Many of the females from the focus groupsseemed to think that the glass ceiling effect was still in play, with onewoman from the floating voter focus group claimingPeople are saying theres no more sexism butif you actually examine the percen tage of people in the highly paid, muscularjobs, the glass ceiling is there and in fact its getting worse( Female, FloatingVoter Focus Group). This is further shown in the literature, inthe written report by Webb and Childs after they concluded their researchanalysis where they found that while 42% of women strongly agree thatgovernment should make sure that women have an equal chance to succeed, onlu25% of men do (Webb & Childs, 2011, 17). Showing that gender inequality isstill prevalent in some political parties. How the Conservative Party and the Houseof Commons engages with womens issues of childcare and the care of the elderly.Through analysing the data, an importanttheme present was how the Conservative Party engages with womens issues suchas childcare. It was widely discussed how politics is an windsweptenvironment for woman who have children and other responsibilities.The way politics works often puts off quite a lot ofwomen. Its not very fond to somebody who has obligati ons to the family (MaleConservative MP). This can be seen in reports from otherliterature of meetings taking place in the House of Commons until very late atnight, subsequently making it difficult for women to be there due to familycommitments (Russel et al, 2000). Some of the female interviewees all claimedthat the unwelcoming environment made it difficult for younger women to getinto politics because they are heavily burdened with the responsibility of afull on job and looking after their children. It was discussed how woman are finding itincreasingly difficult to juggle both their careers and their personal life,with some interviewees suggesting that the reason why female candidates werentselected into the party was due to women being perceived as unable to fullcommit to their careers like their male counterparts, one female peer claimedthereason why you end up with middle class white males is because they haveantecedently run a business but women have to think about children (Fe male Conservative Peer). This is recognized in other literature asHymowitz (2005) argues that there has been the general perception that if awoman has a child then she cant be devoted to her job as she could be. Brysonand Heppell (2010) claim that the party has been previously criticized for anticipate that women can continue with their roles at home and at work which hasput them under huge strain and they have been unable to perform to the best oftheir ability. They further claim that instead of having it all as liberalfeminism seemed to promise, women are instead doing it all (Bryson &Heppell, 2010, 46).Some female interviewees also complained ofbeing asked how they could cope in the party if they were to have children.Through gender norms it has been believed that the care of the child is up tothe mother, but many of the female interviewees expressed their outrage at thispolicy as one member of the Conservative Party member focus group saidwomen should be able to have the choice togo out to work or staying and rearing childrenFemaleConservative Party Member, Focus Group. In terms of how the government is concernedwith the issue of childcare, many of the female interviewees claimed that thestate isnt putting enough funding into childcare so woman are unable to juggleboth their careers and their personal life. One female of the floating voterfocus group claimedThe child care facilities in London areshocking, they are far too expensive and you need to earn 30,000 to breakevenwith childcare. (Female,Floating Voter Focus Group.)This has meant that many single mothershave had to go onto benefits, because even if they were to secure employment,they still wouldnt be able to support themselves because of the expensive rateof childcare facilities. There was a strong agreement that childcare shouldntbe down to the responsibility of the woman, with one woman from the floatingvoter focus group claimingit shouldnt be seen as solely the womansresponsibility because two pe ople have a child so its both their responsibilityand thats when the whole equality thing sort of breaks down and womens issuebecome an issue. (Female,Floating Voter Focus Group.) One floating voter focus group intervieweeclaimed that womens pensions have subsequently been affected by childcare whichis an area that the government has not paid much attention to, claiming thatWomen are digging in and out of employment in a waymuch more often than men because your busy with family responsibilities (Female, Floating Voter Focus Group)As well as the responsibility of thechildren being put onto women, it is also believed that the care of the elderlyis invariably part of their domain too. One female MP claimed that Anawful lot of women are tearing their hair out and trying to balance everything,doing two jobs, looking after their children, their home, their elderlyrelatives. If all those women were actually working to the full completion of theircapabilities then the boost to the economy would be significant, statisticallysignificant (Female Conservative MP). Thus meaning that due to women being underrepresented in government, there are few voices out there to help put forwardthe issues that women are facing, such as balancing their careers with theirresponsibility to their children and other family relatives. Although it was agreed upon that therewould be many benefits of having more females in parliament and in theConservative party as one male MP claimed that woman would have a betterunderstanding of child care policies which could be put in place. The actionhas not been put in place which leaves women in a very vulnerable position,especially as there is not enough women to defend them on these grounds.ConclusionOverall this research report hasdemonstrated clearly that both female representation at heart the ConservativeParty and the partys lack of progressive engagement with womens issues areclear demonstrations of how unrepresentative British governments make- up andenforcement currently is. The thematic analysis of Webb and Childs data hasallowed an exploration into key political issues that have arguably not beengiven due academic and political research. It has been shown to be apparentthat members of both genders within the Conservative Party acknowledge theinherent unrepresentative nature of the party and that there is infinitesimal morethan plain acceptance of the cultural norms in place to main its patriarchiccontour. Given women have often come to feeluncomfortable within the Conservative party, this has transcended into femalepolitical participation generally and leaves many holding little desire toengage with politics due to the scarce attention and impact devoted to womensissues. The above in combination leaves the Conservative party to continue to beperceived as archaic in its views and this in turn prevents women from seeingpositive political change or even seeking to lead such change themselves. 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