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. 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 2026, a total of 696 women have been elected as Members of the House of Commons. As of June 2026 there are 266 women in the House of Commons, the highest ever. This is an all-time high at 41%. The previous number was 220, set in 2019, which accounted for 35% of members elected or re-elected that year. Additionally, at the 2024 general election the most female Labour MPs were elected or re-elected (190 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.
Suffrage
In 1832 Henry Hunt became the first MP to raise the issue of women's suffrage in the House of Commons, followed in 1867 by John Stuart Mill. Following this attempts were made to widen the franchise in every Parliament.
Women gained the right to vote with the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918 after World War I. This gave the vote to women over the age of 30. However, the Speakers Conference which was charged with looking into giving women the vote did not have as its terms of reference, consideration to women standing as candidates for Parliament. However, Sir Herbert Samuel, the former Liberal home secretary, moved a separate motion on 23 October 1918 to allow women to be eligible as Members of Parliament. The vote was passed by 274 to 25 and the government rushed through a bill to make it law in time for the 1918 general election. This bill did not specify any age restriction, unlike the voting bill. This later led to a number of incidents of women under the age of 30, who were not allowed to vote, standing for Parliament, notably the 27-year-old Liberal Ursula Williams standing in 1923.Cheltenham Chronicle, Gloucestershire, 8 December 1923
Landmarks and records
Political firsts for women in House of Commons 1918: Women able to stand for Parliament. 1918: First woman elected to Parliament (Constance Markievicz). However, as a member of Sinn Féin, she did not take her seat. Markievicz also became the only woman to represent an Irish constituency in Parliament until 1922 and the first female member who, before the election, chose to become a Catholic. 1919: Member of Parliament to take her seat (Nancy Astor) – for Coalition s 1921: British-born member to take her seat (Margaret Wintringham) – Party 1923: Disabled woman (Mabel Philipson) – Conservative Party. She had no vision in one eye. 1924: Minister (Margaret Bondfield) – for Party 1926: Member to represent more than one constituency in non-consecutive terms (Margaret Bondfield) – Labour Party 1929: Cabinet minister and privy counsellor (Margaret Bondfield) 1929: Female Baby of the House (Jennie Lee) – Labour Party 1929: Independent member elected (Eleanor Rathbone) 1929: Non-Christian elected (Marion Phillips) – Labour Party 1929: Shortest-serving member (Ruth Dalton) – Labour Party; equalled in 1974 by Margo MacDonald – 1931: Member to cross the floor (Cynthia Mosley) – from Labour to 1931: Member to die in office and oldest woman elected (Ethel Bentham) – Labour Party 1938: Resignation from the House, i.e. appointment to a stewardship (The Duchess of Atholl) – Party 1943: Wheelchair user (Lady Apsley) – Conservative Party 1948: Chair of Committee of Whole House (Florence Paton) – Labour Party 1948: British-born Catholic (Alice Cullen) – Labour Party 1953: Member from Northern Ireland; first Irishwoman to take her seat (Patricia Ford) – Ulster Unionist Party 1965: Parliamentary Whip (Harriet Slater) – Labour Party 1969: Irish republican non-abstentionist (Bernadette Devlin McAliskey) – Unity 1970: Deputy speaker (Betty Harvie Anderson) – Party 1974: Youngest woman to leave the House (Bernadette Devlin McAliskey) – Independent Socialist 1975: Leader of the Opposition (Margaret Thatcher) 1976: Member outed as LGBT (Maureen Colquhoun) – Labour Party 1979: Prime Minister (Margaret Thatcher) who led the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. 1987: Member from ethnic or racial minorities (Diane Abbott) – Labour Party 1992: Speaker of the House of Commons (Betty Boothroyd) – Labour Party. As of she remains the only female to hold the office of House Speaker. 1997: Full-time Minister for Women (Joan Ruddock) – Labour Party 1997: Member who came out as LGBT in office (Angela Eagle) – Labour Party 1998: Chief Whip (Ann Taylor) – Labour Party 2010: LGBT member elected (Margot James) – Conservative Party 2010: Minor party members elected (Caroline Lucas – Green Party of England and Wales; Naomi Long – Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) 2015: Youngest woman elected (Mhairi Black) – SNP 2016: Cabinet minister to come out in office (Justine Greening) – Conservative Party 2016: Member to be assassinated (Jo Cox) – Labour Party. She became also the first Labour MP to die as a crime victim. 2017: Oldest woman to be re-elected (Ann Clwyd) - Labour Party 2019: Ethnic minority female holder of a Great Office of State (Priti Patel) – Conservative Party 2019: Non-Christian by choice of conversion elected (Charlotte Nichols), and hijab-wearing member (Apsana Begum) – Labour Party 2019: Oldest woman to leave the House (Ann Clwyd) – Labour Party 2019: Member to be recalled by a successful petition (Fiona Onasanya) – Independent, originally elected as Labour 2022: Youngest, shortest-serving prime minister (Liz Truss) and female deputy prime minister (Thérèse Coffey) – Conservative Party 2022: Member to vacate her seat for an actual paid office under the Crown (Rosie Cooper) – Labour Party 2024: Former prime minister to lose re-election (Liz Truss) – Conservative Party 2024: First female chancellor of the exchequer (Rachel Reeves) – Labour Party 2024: Ethnic minority deputy speaker (Nus Ghani) – Conservative Party 2024: Ethnic minority leader of the opposition and also her party's youngest female parliamentary leader (Kemi Badenoch) – Conservative Party
Records
Margaret Beckett has been the longest serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons. She was an MP for Lincoln from 10 October 1974 until 7 April 1979, and served as MP for Derby South from 9 June 1983 until 30 May 2024.
Harriet Harman has been the longest continuously serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons. She was MP for Peckham from 28 October 1982 until 1 May 1997, and served as MP for Camberwell and Peckham from 1 May 1997 to 30 May 2024. On 13 June 2017 Harman was dubbed "Mother of the House" by Prime Minister Theresa May, in recognition of her status as longest continuously serving woman MP (though she was not the longest serving MP overall, and would therefore not gain any official duties).
Female MPs with more than 25 years' service As of 2024, there are 36 women (out of a total of 693) who have served 25 years or more service in the House of Commons, either continuously or cumulatively.
PartyNameConstituencyYear electedYear left Length of continuous termLength of cumulative termHackney North and Stoke Newington1987Still servingPlymouth Sutton19191945Lincoln & Derby South1974 & 19831979 & 2024West Bromwich & West Bromwich West19732000Regent's Park and Kensington North & Westminster North19972024Blackburn East & Blackburn19451979Cynon Valley19842019Stockport19922019Pontefract and Castleford, Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford & Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley1997Still servingCamberwell North West & Peckham19451974Exeter, Crewe & Crewe and Nantwich1966 & 19741970 & 200838 years, 3 monthsWallasey1992Still servingLiverpool Garston & Garston and Halewood1997Still servingMerton and Morden & Plymouth Drake19701997Chesham and Amersham19922021Peckham & Camberwell and Peckham19822024Lanark & Clydesdale19591987Barking19942024Vauxhall19892019Lancaster19701997Birmingham Edgbaston1966 1997Epping Forest19972024North Lanarkshire & Cannock1929 & 19451931 & 197027 years, 6 monthsEton and Slough & Eccles1966 & 19871983 & 199726 years, 11 monthsAnglesey & Carmarthen1929 & 19571951 & 196631 years, 6 monthsMaidenhead19972024Mitcham and Morden1997Still servingBristol South19872015Lewisham Deptford19872015Birmingham Ladywood19832010Bolton West & Dewsbury1974 & 19871983 & 200526 years, 5 monthsFinchley1959 1992Stoke-on-Trent North19872015Wallsend & Tynemouth1931 & 19501945 & 197437 years, 7 monthsCongleton19832010Doncaster Central19972024
Current representation As of June 2026, there are 266 female MPs in the House of Commons.
Political partyNumber of MPsNumber of female MPsPercentage of party's MPsPercentage of female MPsHouse of Commons64926641%100%40318546%70%1172824%11%713245%12%8225%<1%7229%<1%7229%<1%5480%2%5120%<1%4375%1%2150%<1%11100%<1%100%0%100%0%2150%<1%100%0%13431%2% Speaker100%0%
In February 2018 the Electoral Reform Society reported that hundreds of seats were being effectively 'reserved' by men, holding back women's representation. Their report states that 170 seats have been held by men first elected in 2005 or before – with few opportunities for women to take those seats or selections. Broadly speaking, the longer an MP has been in Parliament, the more likely they are to be male.
Winner's gender by number of MPsMP for this seat since:TotalFemaleMale% F% M2001 or before1432112214.7%85.3%2005 or before 2124217019.8%80.2%2010 or before 3809328724.5%75.5%2015 or before54516737830.6%69.4%2018 or before65020844232.0%68.0%2019 (all MPs)65022043033.9%66.1%2024 or before65026338740.5%59.5%
Current female Cabinet members (Labour Party) Angela Rayner – Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Lucy Powell – Secretary of State for Education Lisa Nandy – Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Yvette Cooper – Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Shabana Mahmood – Secretary of State for the Home Department The Baroness Smith of Basildon – Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal Heidi Alexander – Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh – First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Angela Eagle – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Miatta Fahnbulleh – Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Anneliese Midgley – Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
Historic representation
2024 election Female Cabinet members appointed after the 2024 election Rachel Reeves – Chancellor of the Exchequer Bridget Phillipson – Secretary of State for Education Liz Kendall – Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Emma Reynolds – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Jo Stevens – Secretary of State for Wales
2019 election
In the 2019 general election, 220 women were elected, making up 34% of the House of Commons, up from 208 and 32% before the election.