Record Number Of Women Voted Into Parliament After 2017 Election

A record number of female MPs have been voted into parliament after the 2017 election.

The figure has already surpassed the former high of 191 reached in the 2015 election. It also tops the 196 female MPs elected during the course of the last parliament, which included subsequent by-elections.

Amber Rudd is said to be the woman who took the figure to 192 after she determinedly fought for her seat in Hastings and Rye demanding a recount. Green party leader Caroline Lucas pushed the number to 201, retaining her Brighton seat.

Constance Markievicz became the first woman elected to the Commons in 1918 following the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, which allowed women to stand as candidates. However, she didn't take her sat because she was a member of Sinn Fein.

The UK holds the 48th position in parliamentary equality behind countries such as Zimbabwe, Sudan and Serbia. Iceland, Senegal, Sweden, Bolivia and Ecuador – all of which have gender quotas in place - are among the top 10.

Ella Alexander

Ella Alexander is Harper’s Bazaar's Deputy Digital Editor. She writes across all sections, covering fashion, arts and feminism – from fashion features and shopping galleries to celebrity interviews and long-form opinion pieces. She lives in South London and has an ardent love for Keith Richards, Gary Barlow, AA Gill, George Orwell and Patti Smith (not in order). Her favourite film is The Labyrinth, mostly because of David Bowie, and she is distinguishable through her self-titled ‘Jeremy Corbyn baker boy hat’. She recently achieved relative fame after the Clooneys named their twins, Ella and Alexander, after her.