Labour names five London battleground seats for all-women shortlists
Harriet Harman calls on women to put themselves forward for selection: ‘A balanced team works better’
Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, has today called on women to put themselves forward for Labour’s All Women Shortlists to select parliamentary candidates across London.
Following consultation with local Labour constituency parties, the National Executive of the Labour Party has agreed that candidates will be chosen using All Women Shortlists in the following London seats:
Ealing Central and Acton
Enfield North
Harrow East
Hornsey and Wood Green
Lewisham Deptford
A minimum of five women will therefore be fighting Labour’s dozen battleground constituencies across London. Men still outnumber women in the House of Commons by 5 to 1, for Labour it is 3 to 1.
Harriet Harman continued: “Only the Labour Party has plans in place which are proven to make significant progress. The Labour Party has more women MPs than the Tories and Lib Dems put together… But Labour recognises there is still a way to go before we achieve a balanced team of men and women in Parliament. You have to have men and women speaking up in Parliament on behalf of men and women”
She continued to describe how “Equality is not just an important principle; a balanced team works better in practice. Women MPs speak up for women, championing issues in Parliament like domestic violence, equal pay and childcare.”
Labour’s 2015 General Election Battleground Seats in London with current majorities and whether Labour’s candidate will be selected by an open list or an all-women shortlist:
| London | Battersea | 5,977 | Con | Open | |
| London | Bermondsey & Old Southwark | 8,530 | LD | OPEN | |
| London | Brent Central | 1,345 | LD | OPEN | |
| London | Brentford & Isleworth | 1,958 | Con | Open | |
| London | Ealing Central & Acton | 3,716 | Con | AWS | |
| London | Enfield North | 1,692 | Con | AWS | |
| London | Finchley & Golders Green | 5,809 | Con | Open | |
| London | Harrow East | 3,403 | Con | AWS | |
| London | Hendon | 106 | Con | OPEN | |
| London | Hornsey & Wood Green | 6,875 | LD | AWS | |
| London | Ilford North | 5,404 | Con | OPEN | |
| London | Lewisham Deptford | 12,499 | LAB | AWS |
Labour Party Selections
The Labour Party has completed 39 selections in target constituencies across the country, 21 of which have been through All Women Shortlists.
A further 40 target constituencies were agreed by the Organisation Committee of the National Executive Committee on Thursday 14 February 2013 – including five in London.
The Organisation Committee will meet again in early March to consider target constituencies in Scotland, the East Midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire & the Humber. Further details will be published at that time.
Information about how to apply for selection in these target constituencies will be posted in the Parliamentary Selections page on Membersnet, as and when the process gets underway in each constituency. Interested applicants should therefore check this list on a rolling basis.
For a list of target constituencies where the National Executive Committee has agreed Open and All Women Shortlist selections please go to:
http://www.labour.org.uk/parliamentary-selections-update,2013-02-15
Number and Percentage of women MPs in Parliament
2010 Gen Election – 49 (16%) Conservative 81 (31%) Labour 7 (12%) Lib Dem 6 (21%) other Total = 143 (22%)
3 December 2012 – 48 (16%) Conservative 85 (33%) Labour 7 (12%) Lib Dem 6 (19%) other Total = 146 (22%)
Category: Business and Politics
