5.5.1 - Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments

The data shows the percentage of women who hold seats in national parliament, devolved parliaments and assemblies, and local authority councils for all countries of the UK where data are available. The data are presented in nine categories. The House of Commons and House of Lords are representative of the entirety of the UK. In contrast, the data for local authority councillors are separated by country as are the devolved parliament and assembly seats of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• Since 1918, when women were first permitted to stand as MPs, the UK has had a total of 559 different women elected to the House of Commons (as of 04/03/2022).

• Until 1997 there had never been more than 10% of seats held by women. There are currently 225 female MPs in the House of Commons. At 35%, this is an all-time high.

• There are 229 female Members of the House of Lords, making up 28%.

• Six ministers in the current Cabinet (27%) are women. The highest proportion of women in Cabinet was 36% between 2006 and 2007.

• 43% of Members of the Welsh Parliament are women, along with 45% of the Scottish Parliament and 36% of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

See the House of Commons Library Briefing Paper for more information.

Sub-categories

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Headline data

Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
Year Value Units Series Observation status Unit multiplier
1918 0.1 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1922 0.3 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1923 1.3 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1924 0.7 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1929 2.3 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1931 2.4 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1935 1.5 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1945 3.8 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1950 3.4 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1951 2.7 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1955 3.8 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1959 4.0 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1964 4.6 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1966 4.1 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1970 4.1 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1974a 3.6 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1974b 4.3 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1979 3.0 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1983 3.5 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1987 6.3 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1992 9.2 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1997 18.2 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
2001 17.9 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
2005 19.8 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
2010 22.0 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
2015 29.4 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
2017 31.8952234206 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
2019 34.0 Percentage (%) House of Commons Normal value Units
1958 0.4524886878 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1959 0.5555555556 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1960 0.5518763797 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1961 0.6535947712 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1962 0.7518796992 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1963 0.758396533 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1964 2.6666666667 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1965 3.0392156863 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1966 3.3816425121 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1967 3.5271687321 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1968 3.5815268614 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1969 3.477443609 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1970 3.7892791128 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1971 4.077849861 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1972 4.0892193309 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1973 4.2711234912 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1974 4.1591320072 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1975 4.6511627907 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1976 4.837291117 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1977 4.8245614035 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1978 4.7619047619 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1979 5.204778157 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1980 5.0427350427 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1981 5.2676295667 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1982 5.2721088435 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1983 5.3601340033 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1985 5.4514480409 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1986 5.4654141759 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1987 5.6540084388 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1988 5.4852320675 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1989 5.4945054945 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1990 6.155143339 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1991 6.6889632107 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1992 6.4381270903 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1993 6.5451532726 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1994 6.6445182724 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1995 6.6386554622 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1996 7.1251035625 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1997 7.1428571429 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1998 7.9414032382 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
1999 8.9056603774 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2000 15.873015873 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2001 16.2002945508 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2002 16.2824207493 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2003 16.568914956 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2004 17.8217821782 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2005 17.7053824363 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2006 18.9081225033 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2007 19.5739014647 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2008 19.8924731183 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2009 20.1086956522 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2010 20.0 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2012 22.0048899756 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2013 22.2222222222 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2014 23.0492196879 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2015 23.7247924081 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2016 25.5621301775 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2017 26.1077844311 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2018 26.2195121951 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2019 26.6666666667 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2020 27.3736128237 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2021 27.6621787026 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units
2022 27.9951100244 Percentage (%) House of Lords Normal value Units

Source: House of Commons Library

Geographical Area: United Kingdom

Unit of Measurement: Percentage (%)

Footnote:

1) Data for the House of Commons are only available for the general election years.

2) In 1974 there were two General elections in February (labelled a) and October (labelled b).

3) Data for the Scottish Parliament/Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, the Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly are calculated at the beginning of an assembly, and do not take into account changes during the course of that assembly.

4) Years on graph axis represent years in which any election was held.

5) The x-axis is not spaced evenly by year.

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from UK statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from UK statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other UK-specific metadata information.

Indicator available

5.5.1 - Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
Indicator description

Percentage of seats held in Parliament and Local Government by members who are women
Geographical coverage

United Kingdom
Unit of measurement

Percentage (%)
Definitions

Seats refer to the number of parliamentary mandates, also known as the number of members of parliament. Seats are usually won by members in general parliamentary elections. Seats may also be filled by nomination, appointment, indirect election, rotation of members and by-election.
Available disaggregations
Calculations

The proportion of seats held by women in national parliament is derived by dividing the total number of seats occupied by women by the total number of seats in parliament. There is no weighting or normalising of statistics.
Other information

Data follows the UN specification for this indicator. This indicator has not been identified in collaboration with topic experts.
Data last updated 25 April 2022
Metadata last updated 03 May 2022

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator name

Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
Target name

Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
Global indicator description
UN designated tier

Tier I
UN custodian agency

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), UN Women
Link to UN metadata United Nations Sustainable Development Goals metadata for target 5.5 opens in a new window

Source 1

Organisation

House of Commons Library
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

1918
Geographical coverage

United Kingdom
Link to data source Women in Parliament and Government opens in a new window
Release date 04 March 2022
Next release

TBC
Statistical classification

Official Statistic
Contact details

hcinfo@parliament.uk
Other information

The underlying data from this report has been acquired from the author.

Source 2

Organisation

House of Lords Library
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

1958
Geographical coverage

United Kingdom
Link to data source Women in the House of Lords opens in a new window
Release date 30 June 2015
Next release

TBC
Statistical classification

Official Statistic
Contact details

HLInfo@Parliament.uk
Other information

The underlying data from this report and more recent data has been acquired from the author.

Source 3

Organisation

Senedd Research
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

1999
Geographical coverage

Wales
Link to data source Assembly Election 2016 - Women's Policital Representation opens in a new window
Release date 27 May 2016
Next release

TBC
Statistical classification

Official Statistic
Contact details

contact@assembly.wales
Other information

Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament data for 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2016. Data for 2021 was taken from Source 1.

Source 4

Organisation

Scottish Parliament/Pàrlamaid na h-Alba
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

1999
Geographical coverage

Scotland
Link to data source Female MSPs - Current session fact sheets opens in a new window
Release date 13 October 2021
Next release

TBC
Statistical classification

Official
Contact details

info@parliament.scot
Other information

Source 5

Organisation

Northern Ireland Assembly
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

1998
Geographical coverage

Northern Ireland
Link to data source Northern Ireland Assembly MLA search opens in a new window
Release date NA
Next release

NA
Statistical classification

Unknown
Contact details

info.office@niassembly.gov.uk
Other information

Data sourced directly from the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Source 6

Organisation

Local Government Association
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

1997
Geographical coverage

England
Link to data source Census of Local Authority Councillors 2018 opens in a new window
Release date 27 March 2019
Next release

TBD
Statistical classification

Non-official
Contact details
Other information

Data for 2001 are available from previous Census of Local Authority Councillors 2008-2013 reports. Discontinuous data for England based on Census of Local Authority Councillors 2018; numbers may not add up as some respondents did not disclose information.

Source 7

Organisation

Local Government Commission
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

2004
Geographical coverage

Wales
Link to data source Interim report for the Local Government Commission opens in a new window
Release date 01 April 2017
Next release

TBC
Statistical classification

Non-official
Contact details
Other information

Welsh local authority data for 2004, 2008 and 2012. 2017 data for Welsh local authority councillors is from Source 1.

Source 8

Organisation

Northern Ireland Assembly
Periodicity

Discontinuous
Earliest available data

2005
Geographical coverage

Northern Ireland
Link to data source Northern Ireland Assembly report opens in a new window
Release date 18 June 2014
Next release

TBC
Statistical classification

Official Statistic
Contact details
Other information

Northern Ireland local authority data for 2005, 2011 and 2014. 2019 data for Northern Irish local authority councillors is from Source 1.

Source 9

Organisation

OSCAR
Periodicity

Continuous
Earliest available data

2019
Geographical coverage

England and Wales
Link to data source UK Political Gender Analysis - Historical Analysis of Councillor Gender Across Local Government in England and Wales opens in a new window
Release date 24 February 2022
Next release

N/A
Statistical classification

Non-official
Contact details

admin@oscar-research.co.uk
Other information

Local authority data for England and Wales for 2019 - 2021, data reflects gender breakdown at June of each year reported. Data are based on historical analysis of public sector database maintained by Oscar Research Ltd. Please be aware that data from 2019 to 2021 does not cover 100% of all council seats in England but is based on analysis of a large sample of council seats (approximately 90%). This is as the data used for these years excludes councils that are outside of Local Government Association (LGA) membership and has had duplicated seats removed (cases when they are held by the same person, typically in areas where there are district and county councils). Although this data represents the gender profile of councillors overall, comparison of total numbers of council seats should be interpreted with caution.
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