Delivering Equal Representation? A Case Study of the Implementation of Feminised Candidate Selection Policy in the UK

The processes that have led political parties to the decision to use equality promotion, rhetoric and guarantees (Lovenduski 2005), in order to increase the selection of women electoral candidates, have been relatively well researched. However, how these policies are implemented, post decision, has been given less attention (with some notable exceptions; see for example Murray 2007). In this paper we use case studies of the British Conservative and Labour parties’ parliamentary selections, conducted primarily through interviews, to identify the mechanisms through which candidate selection policy is applied and what factors are critical to their successful execution. These mechanisms are the outputs of feminised candidate selection policy, a crucial but understudied part of the secret garden of politics. We define success in outputs and outcomes according to the two dimensions of the Gender Equality Policy and Practice (GEPP) framework as evidence of both 1. policy empowerment, or the presence of a diversity of women actors involved in the policy implementation process , and 2. in terms of gender transformation, or the degree to which gender roles are transformed as a result of the policy. The British Conservative and Labour parties provide useful case studies as the Labour party has adopted equality guarantees (all-women shortlists) in the selection of parliamentary candidates and the Conservative party has utilised equality rhetoric and promotion but fallen short of equality guarantees. Both parties have seen the proportion of women elected to their benches increase in recent years, although the Labour party remains the party with the most women representatives. We are able to trace the processes within the parties and identify areas of commonality and difference, noting where ideological and organisational variation leads to different outcomes. (We wondered whether more than one co-author could attend? We think the paper and the project would benefit.)