Why can't politics be more like the church?

Less than 15 years since the introduction of women priests, 1 in 4 vicars are now women. At that rate in less than 15 years 50% of vicars will be women. A statistic that was a total surprise to me as I listened to Woman's Hour, on the way to the office this morning. They will reflect the community that they work in.

Why, therefore, have women found it so hard to make a breakthrough in politics? In 90 years we have only managed to ensure 19% of MPs are women, we have plateaued for the last 11 years, and as I mentioned in my post yesterday, according to the Electoral Reform Society, if the Tories get in we will be going backwards.

Have all the women missing from politics become vicars instead?

Applauding Lynne's use of language...

Well done to Lynne Featherstone in starting off the campaign to remove the system of male primogeniture from our Royal family. Some may think it a rather trivial topic on which to campaign. But, cultural change always come from the top; if the Royal family, Britain and other countries where they are the head of state follow a pointless, sexist tradition then why should anybody else fee the need to change any other pointless sexist traditions.

With male primogeniture in place Britain is telling the world that men are women are not equal, especially when it comes to inheriting the wealth of one of the richest families in the world.

It’s also refreshing to see a Lib Dem use language that is clear and meaningful to all of us and especially women. Every woman I’ve ever met can provide at least one example of how they’ve been subject to sexist behaviour and usually more than one.

So describing it how it is, instead of allowing political and legal jargon to clamber all over it and mask what we’re trying to say in the hope that nobody notices is a positive sign. It shows that we’re reaching out to target issues that matter to women and hold them back in terms of freedom and opportunity. Tackling sexism from the top is just the start!