all-women shortlist

   Intended as a temporary expedient, the policy of all-women shortlists was introduced by the Labour Party to guarantee the selection of women as parliamentary candidates and thereby boost female representation in the House of Commons.

   The Labour Conference (1993) voted to introduce allwomen shortlists in 50 per cent of safe and winnable seats. Thirty-five women were selected in this way, before the policy was abandoned following a successful challenge in the courts. The argument against the policy was that the practice breached anti-discrimination legislation. Although the policy was dropped, it did lead to a massive increase in the number of Labour women elected in the 1997 election. Under the terms of the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002, parties may now use such lists. They can also provide gender-awareness training for party selection committees and women-only training for potential women candidates. However, in 2005 there was strong local resistance to Labour’s choice of a woman in the traditionally safe seat of Blaenau Gwent in South Wales. A prominent local party official, Peter Law, objected to the method used, stood as an unofficial independent Labour candidate in the General election and defeated the official party candidate by a substantial margin.