Women and devolution debate to take place at Pierhead

25 November 2010

The National Assembly for Wales and the Hansard Society will jointly host an event today (25 November) aimed at exploring the issue of gender and devolution.

Over the last decade, the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Parliament have become renowned for establishing higher levels of representation for women in politics.

The event will look at the results of the 2007 elections and discuss their implications for the upcoming 2011 elections.

It will also explore what progress has been made in improving female representation since devolution, what obstacles threaten that progress and what new measures may now be needed to ensure gender equality in the future.

The event will be chaired by journalist and commentator Mai Davies. Speakers will include Christine Chapman AM (Labour), Helen Mary Jones AM (Plaid Cymru), Eleanor Burnham AM (Liberal Democrats) and Dr Ruth Fox (Hansard Society).

Deputy Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, said: “At the National Assembly for Wales, we have achieved a notable amount in a relatively short space of time, but we must not be complacent.

“We look to the political parties to ensure that the mechanisms and opportunities are in place so that the future of democracy embraces equality and opportunity for all.”

Dr Ruth Fox of the Hansard Society said: “Scotland and Wales have rightly been hailed as beacons of international progress on women's representation in the last decade. But the 2007 results showed that progress has stalled and there are concerns that the 2011 election results will be markedly worse.

“It's therefore vital that we start raising urgent questions about how and why this is happening and begin to map out what measures are needed to address it. It is a challenge that is too important to be left to the political parties alone.”