What was claimed
Both female Prime Ministers have been Conservatives.
Our verdict
Correct. The UK has had two female Prime Ministers, both Conservative MPs.
Women in the Commons
What was claimed
Half of the shadow cabinet members are women.
Our verdict
Correct then and now. 16 out of 32 members of the current Labour shadow cabinet are women.
What was claimed
The Labour party has more women MPs than all the other parties in the House of Commons combined.
Our verdict
Correct then and now. Following the 2017 election, 119 out of the 208 women MPs are Labour Party members.
“...the Labour party has more women MPs than all other parties combined in this house, and a shadow cabinet of which half the members are women.”
Jeremy Corbyn, 8 March 2017
Labour has 119 women MPs, which is more than every other party combined. The Conservatives have 67, the SNP 12, and there are ten more among smaller parties and independents. That adds up to 208 women sitting in the Commons, 32% of all MPs. A record number of women were elected in 2017.
Labour also has a higher proportion of women MPs than the other large parties. 45% of Labour MPs are women, 21% of Conservative MPs, and 34% of SNP MPs.
Half of the shadow cabinet members are women. There are 32 members and 16 women. In the government 26% of cabinet members are women, six of 23 posts. Not all members of the cabinet and shadow cabinet are MPs—a few are members of the House of Lords.
If we look at the ‘Great Offices of State’ (the Prime Minister, Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary) the gender split is 50:50 for both cabinet and shadow cabinet.
“When it comes to female Prime Ministers it’s 2-0 to the Conservatives.”
Victoria Atkins MP, 8 March 2017
Besides Theresa May the UK has had only one other female Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher served from 1979 to 1990 and was also a Conservative MP.