Ask Her to Stand day will see a Beverley resident Connie Walker spend the day in Parliment with MP Graham Stuart.
Organised by the Women and Equalities Office, Ask Her to Stand forms part of a campaign that is trying to encourage more women to take up politics.
Graham says that is pleased that he is welcoming Connie to the Houses of Parliament. He added she is the type of woman that politics needs.
He said;
“I am pleased to be welcoming Connie to Parliament. It will be an excellent opportunity for her to learn more about what Members of Parliament do on a daily basis. Hopefully, by doing this it may even also encourage Connie to consider a life in politics.”
“Connie is the type of hard-working, conscientious and caring person we as a society need to be encouraging into politics.”
Graham adds that it is unacceptable only a small number of MPs in Parliament are women. He says that he wants to see more done to create a better balance.
He added;
“In 2018, 100 years after women’s suffrage was achieved, it is unacceptable that only 32% of MPs sitting in the House of Commons are women.”
“We must do more to increase that figure and focus on closing that gap until we have 50:50 representation at all levels of Government across the UK.”
“Ask Her to Stand’ day is a great way to highlight the fact that we need more women to enter politics.”
Ask Her to Stand A Small Step In Making A Sexist Parliment Female Friendly
Parliament has been criticised by Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts. She says Parliment is outdated, ruthless rich and male. She says the lack of women in Parliment is not just down to sexism with the selection process, but also working hours.
A study showed that 69pc of women said they would not consider going into politics. While 89pc said it was not a family friend profession.
High profile female politicians like Harriet Harman have also been critical. She says that Parliment has not moved into the modern world when it comes to sexist habits. She referenced Nicholas Soames, a Conservative MP who made ‘Woof Woof’ noises to female MP.
Even Boris Johnson, who was Foreign Minister at the time was given a talking by the speaker of the house. In March the speaker gave him both barrels for using ‘inappropriate and sexist’ language towards a female colleague.
VIDEO: Boris Johnson Gets Told Off For Being Sexist In Parliment
Ask Her to Stand while encouraging women into politics, more needs to be done in to clean up parliament.
Asking women to put themselves forward to work in this a sector is a big call. It is made all the more difficult when even the highest profile people are openly sexist.
This is a not a problem that is unique to London either. Over 200 cases of sexism have been reported in the Scottish Parliment.
Finally, across Europe, 68pc of women who are involved in Politics say they have been the target of sexist comments.
