One of the better outcomes of last week's snap general election (ignoring the fact we seem to be about to jump into bed with a homophobic, anti-abortion ball of fun) was the record number of female MPs winning seats.
The female representation in the Commons is at an all-time high, with 208 women having been elected to the House of Commons, beating 2015's election count of 196.
Which is great news, obviously. But let's break those figures down. Overall 32% of MPs are women but there are significant variations between parties. For Labour the figure is 45%, and 21% for the Conservatives. That translates as 119 female MPs (of a total 262) for Labour, while 67 (of 317) for Conservative.
Essentially, Labour is winning the political gender balance, something which didn't go unnoticed at the first post-election meeting of Labour MPs yesterday.
Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley tweeted this yesterday:
The picture subsequently made the rounds on lots of female MP's accounts. Here's the brilliant Angela Rayner, Shadow Secretary of State for Education, showing her support:
People were celebrating it's very significant place in politics in 2017.
For decades after women were first legally allowed to stand for election, female MPs made up less than 5% of the total.But while we've certainly come along way, Sam Smethers, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women's rights, said we've still got lot more to do.
'...The real story is that progress has stalled. Getting more women in cannot be subject to party political fortunes. As we approach the centenary of women first getting to vote in general elections, we cannot wait for another nine elections to achieve equality.
'We agree with the recommendation of the cross-party Women and Equalities Select Committee that 45% of each party's candidates must be women. The time has come for a legally enforceable target to achieve the radical and sustainable change we need.'
