Election 2010: so what happened?

Well, I was going to post a rousing speech about voting on polling day, but blogger was playing up so I'll save it for the inevitable next election in a few months time. Until then perhaps you'd like to have a look at the hard stats when it comes to the women MPs who've been elected this time round. Centre for Women and Democracy have put this list together:

142 women MPs - only 22% of the total 649 (there were 126 women MPs - 19.5% of the total).

The number of Conservative women MPs has risen from 18 to 48 - an increase from 9% to 16%.

The number of Labour women MPs has fallen from 94 to 81 - but the fall in the overall number of Labour MPs means that there is a percentage increase of 4% (from 27% to 31%).

The number of Liberal Democrat women MPs has fallen from 9 to 7 - a decrease from 15% to 12%.

The unusually high number of MPs retiring at this election meant that the loss of Labour women in marginal seats was balanced out by 50% of Labour candidates in seats where the Labour MP was retiring being women. Had this not been the case the number of women in the House of Commons would have declined significantly.

In addition to the women elected for the main three parties, there was one woman elected for the Green Party, one for the SNP, one for Sinn Fein, one for the SDLP, one for the Alliance Party, and one Independent.

None of Plaid Cymru's three MPs are women, and none of the DUP's eight.

Election 2010: Sit back and enjoy the videos...

Over at Cruella Blog I found a couple of interesting perspectives on the Tory Party...

This is one masterminded by Kate Smurthwaite herself:

Super Sandra Party Political Broadcast - watch more funny videos

And this is one that just needs to be shared...

Election 2010: Dear Radio 1...

Dear Radio 1,

Thank you for your A Glamour Model's Guide to Voting. It was really helpful for me. The pretty girl was lovely to look at and explained things so well. I never would have realised that a big sign saying "Polling Station" was where I needed to go in. Now I will be looking out for them. 

I thought it was a great idea to use a glamour model for this piece. Personally, I liked it because I looked at her and just wanted to be her. My brother liked it too, because he looked at her and just wanted to f*ck her. My 10 year old niece even liked it because now she knows what to do when she grows up and it's her turn. 

I'm looking forward to the other professions you'll be covering too. I wonder what a vet's guide will be like? It was nice to know what Peta's job was because it was really important to the piece of reporting. 

Covering the basics was great. I could have been so confused, what with having to give my address, go in the little booth, put a cross on the paper... Now I'm sure it will be plain sailing. And I'm so grateful you didn't include any of that political mumbo-jumbo, with the long words and complicated policies. That's really hard to understand. I'll just follow your advice and cross the party I want to win. I wouldn't engage in anything as complicated as tactical voting or looking at my local politicians' policies.

So thanks again, this has really helped me get into politics more.

Frank

x

Blogging Against Disablism Day: Inspiring Women

Today's Blogging Against Disablism Day. Have a look at Diary of a Goldfish for more info. 

For our contribution we want to send you over to a great discussion with two inspiring women here. Francesca Martinez and Victoria Wright deconstruct language and disability with Michael Rosen. 

The language around disability and ablism can be difficult and complicated and people who aren't disabled can feel nervous of getting it wrong. Francesca and Victoria talk openly and honestly about the issues. What I particularly liked was their attitude which moved attention away from actual words, but on to how the words are intended and said.