Women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom

The representation of women in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom has been an issue in the politics of the United Kingdom at numerous points in the 20th and 21st centuries. Originally debate centred on whether women should be allowed to vote and stand for election as Members of Parliament. The Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 gave women over 21 the right to stand for election as a Member of Parliament. The United Kingdom has had three female Prime Ministers: Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990), Theresa May (2016–2019), and Liz Truss (2022). The publication of the book Women in the House by Elizabeth Vallance in 1979 highlighted the under-representation of women in Parliament.^[1] In more modern times concerns about the under-representation of women led the Labour Party to introduce and, decades later, abandon all-women short lists, something which was later held to breach discrimination laws.

Between 1918 and 2024, a total of 693 women have been elected as Members of the House of Commons. As of July 2024 there are 263 women in the House of Commons, the highest ever.^[2] This is an all-time high at 40%. The previous number was 220, set in 2019, which accounted for 35% of members elected or re-elected that year.^[3] Additionally, at the 2024 general election the most female Labour MPs were elected or re-elected (189 women in total) – another instance in Labour's history that this has happened, after 119 in 2017. The female member of Parliament with the longest period of continuous service is informally known as the Mother of the House, who is Diane Abbott, following the 2024 election.^[4]