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Do you feel that the Government represents you?

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JaneyCanuck

JaneyCanuck Report 14 May 2010 22:03

To be really fair though, Ann, the Conservatives -- and it isn't just them, it's all parties everywhere -- run women in unwinnable ridings, always have, still do. I've been one of them.

It isn't how many candidates they run, it's how many bums they put in seats, if I may borrow a phrase. ;) Especially around the Cabinet table. What have they got, 4 women out of 26, was it, when I Iast looked? When you consider that there kind of has to be a woman in the status of women portfolio (forget what you call it there), that makes 3 women in their caucuses they considered to be cabinet material. If that's true, it means they don't care about electing women, if they can't get it together to elect some more and better women.

Oh - yes, SRS, it matters to me. ;)

There's a lot of research has been done on "critical mass" of women in legislative bodies. There is academic disagreement, but there's a strong argument to be made that it does take a critical mass, and once it's reached, things do start to happen -- things that make life better not just for women, but for everybody.

There will always be female equivalents of Uncle Tom -- the Maggie Thatchers and suchlike queen bees of the political world, the ones people can point at and say Look what women do when they get elected. Focusing on critical mass -- just plain numbers -- avoids that problem.

There actually are a lot of "right people" for any given job, including MP and minister. And some of them actually are women.

Researching:
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AnninGlos

AnninGlos Report 14 May 2010 21:05

To be fair the conservatives did put forward a lot of younger women candidates but none of them got in, so they tried.

Researching:
Photo spring Researching Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, Derbyshire, Staffs, Devon, Glamorganshire. Ingram, Masters, Tamblyn, Knight, Warner, Bate, Allen, Riggs, Dominey, Duffin

~~~Secret Red ^^ Squirrel~~~ **007 1/2**

~~~Secret Red ^^ Squirrel~~~ **007 1/2** Report 14 May 2010 20:41

ie gender, age, race, class, etc.....

I noticed that today a Libdem mp said that there were too few women in the government which I had already noticed myself.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8683310.stm

Do you think it really matters to have a Government that reflects different segments of society or are there more important issues?