This UK Campaign is Working to Close the Politics Gender Gap

May 11, 2021 | Kate Whiting
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On the green benches inside London’s historic River Thames-side landmark, the Houses of Parliament, sit twice as many men as women. “At the rate we’re going, it will take another 40 years before we have gender balance in our elected body, which is shocking,” says Frances Scott, the Founder & Director of 50:50 Parliament, a British cross-party campaign calling for gender equality in politics. The situation is far from unique to the UK. Political Empowerment remains the biggest of four gender gaps globally, with only 22% closed so far, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021. Women represent only 26.1% of some 35,500 parliament seats in the 156 countries covered by the index, and just 22.6% of over 3,400 ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, as of 15 January, there has never been a woman head of state.