28 Feb, 2013
The recent Italian general election has been very good news for women with record numbers elected and the country significantly improving its position in the international rankings. Prior to the election,... More
Contact Info
Centre for Women & Democracy
2 Blenheim Terrace
Leeds
LS2 9JG
Tel: 0113 234 6500
E-mail: info@cfwd.org.uk
News
25 Feb, 2013
The Counting Women In coalition has today published ‘Sex and Power 2013: Who Runs Britain?’ The report examines the presence - or lack thereof - of women in politically... More
4 Sep, 2012
The recent cabinet reshuffle has resulted in a fall in the level of women involved in government at the highest level. Prime Minister David Cameron's first cabinet had five women... More
28 May, 2012
35% of councillors elected on 3 May 2012 were women, an increase of 4% on 2011 and 2008, when these seats were last contested. The increase was caused by two main... More
23 Apr, 2012
CFWD research has found that this year there has been a 2% increase in the level of women candidates in the English metropolitan authorities. At 31.8% it is now (just) the... More
19 Apr, 2012
'More of the Same?', a study of women candidates in the Scottish local elections by Dr Meryl Kenny and Dr Fiona Mackay at Edinburgh University, found that less than a... More
10 Apr, 2012
Just 33.6% of candidates in the London Assembly elections are women, with the Conservative Party fielding the lowest number by some distance amongst the main parties standing. Candidates can be nominated... More
5 Apr, 2012
Just 14% of candidates for the May 2012 batch of mayoral elections are women. This is the lowest level ever, and represents a fall of a third on 2011. This May... More
6 Feb, 2012
Josefina Vázquez Mota has been chosen by the centre-right National Action Party (PAN) as its candidate in the Mexican presidential election to be held in July. A former education minister, she... More
25 Jan, 2012
Tarja Halonen, Finland's hugely popular first female head of state, will stand down this year after serving two six-year terms. All the candidates in the race to replace her are... More
23 Jan, 2012
Over 400 people attended last week's ‘How to elect more women?’ conference in Dublin to discuss the Irish government's proposed legislation bringing in quotas for women and men candidates at... More
10 Jan, 2012
45 countries will hold general elections in 2012, and 24 will vote for someone to serve as President. The USA and France both have high-profile presidential elections, but others include Venezuela,... More
6 Jan, 2012
Jamaica's new Prime Minister has formally taken office at a ceremony held in the ground of the Governor General's residence in the capital, Kingston. This is the second time Simpson Miller... More
5 Jan, 2012
There are likely to be at least 2 women candidates in the contest for the leadership of Plaid Cymru caused by the resignation of Ieuan Wyn Jones. Elin Jones, generally thought... More
22 Dec, 2011
... to all our freinds and supporters; we look forward to continuing to work with you in 2012! ... More
15 Dec, 2011
Irish political parties are set to find their state funding halved if they fail to run 30% women candidates in parliamentary elections; this will rise to 40% after 7 years. The... More
7 Dec, 2011
Belgium's new government - formed after 541 days of political wrangling - includes a number of women in very senior roles. There are a total of 13 cabinet ministers, of... More
2 Dec, 2011
Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, has pledged that there will be a record number of women standing in forthcoming elections in her home state. Since her election a year ago, Rousseff has... More
29 Nov, 2011
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has expressed concern that, even in a reformed House of Lords, there will be no women bishops until at least 2025. This... More
27 Oct, 2011
Ireland goes to the polls to elect a new President today, with the likelihood that it will wake up tomorrow with a male head of state for the first time... More
25 Oct, 2011
Counting Women In is the new campaign working to ensure women have a greater presence and voice in UK politics. Bringing together women’s organisations, academics and those that... More
20 Sep, 2011
Women leaders from around the world have declared that boosting women’s political participation and decision-making is fundamental for democracy and essential for achieving sustainable development. The event, one of... More
16 Sep, 2011
The election of Helle Thorning-Schmidt as the first woman Prime Minister of Denmark brings the number of women leading European countries to11, and that of elected women leaders across the... More
14 Sep, 2011
The leaked government memo published this week proposes that consideration should be given to ‘setting up a review on barriers to women entering public life – looking not just as... More
31 Aug, 2011
Women are having mixed fortunes in the new electoral and constitutional arrangements in Arab Spring countries. The best news comes from Tunisia, where elections are due to be held in Ocober.... More
27 Jul, 2011
Women will lose out in strategic decision-making and scrutiny roles in areas such as policing and the economy, a new CFWD report has found. ... More
17 Jun, 2011
There is only one woman in the new Greek cabinet announced this week - Anna Diamantopoulou retains her post as Education and Lifelong Learning minister, but Tina Birbili (Environment) and... More
10 Jun, 2011
54% of legislators in the tiny European state of Andorra are now women, making it the first country in Europe to achieve more than 50% women in its... More
6 Jun, 2011
CFWD's new report on women in the 2011 local government elections has found that it could be generations before women have an equal voice in town halls. In particular, it... More
17 May, 2011
The Counting Women In campaign, made up of CFWD, the Fawcett Society, the Hansard Society, and the Electoral Reform Society, has today issued the following press statement... More
13 May, 2011
Recent elections brought mixed fortunes for women in UK democratic institutions. In Scotland, 45 women were elected to the Parliament, and women now constitute 35.6% of MSPs – up from... More
11 Mar, 2011
'In Our Own Words', a collection of women's quotations, has been launched to celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day this year. The collection (at In Our Own Words) contains over... More
8 Mar, 2011
Today marks 100 years since the first International Women's Day was held in New York in 1911. Since then, women have come a long way, at ... More
1 Mar, 2011
The new Irish Dail will be 15.1% female – up from 13.9% before the election. This is a increase of 2 women to 25, and has happened despite a drop... More
21 Feb, 2011
A shocking 15% of candidates in the 2011 Irish General Election will be women; 2% down on the last election in 2007. This is despite considerable debate in Ireland about the... More
3 Feb, 2011
CFWD is delighted to announce that it has secured funding from the Feminist Review Trust to examine the cumulative effects of the government's legislative programme and its constitutional and localism... More
6 Jan, 2011
Over a quarter of elected women Presidents and Prime Ministers face elections in 2011, and in a large number of countries worldwide there will be elections which... More
16 Dec, 2010
Proposals in the new Localism Bill to convert council leaders in 12 cities into shadow 'elected' mayors will put women at the helm of just one of the authorities involved. Existing... More
23 Nov, 2010
The General Synod, which began meeting today, has a greater percentage of women in it than Parliament. The Synod is the national assembley of the Church of England, and consists of... More
22 Nov, 2010
A total of 17 (31.5%) of the 54 new working peers announced last week are women. This will result in a negligible increase in the percentage of women in the... More
2 Nov, 2010
Dilma Rousseff, the newly-elected President of Brazil, has never held elected office before, but her background is intensely political, and she has served as a minister in more... More
27 Oct, 2010
CFWD is delighted to announce that it has secured Heritage Lottery Fund funding to run a project researching and recording the history, lives and experiences of women ... More
14 Oct, 2010
Proposals to appoint a dozen city mayors without either a referendum or an election are alarming on a number of levels. The Local Government Minister, Bob Neill, indicated at the recent... More
11 Oct, 2010
38% of Labour's new shadow ministerial team are women - 39 out of the total 101 appointed by new Leader Ed Miliband over the last few days. After the addition of... More
8 Oct, 2010
Eight women have been elected to Labour's new Shadow Cabinet - two more than the rules required. A woman - Yvette Cooper - topped the poll by some... More
2 Sep, 2010
95% of respondents said that the recent increase in women MPs of 2.5% is unacceptable, with 45% supporting comulsory quotas for the House of Commons and 62% advocating them for... More
24 Aug, 2010
Only a quarter of Australian MPs elected at the recent general election are women, a fall of almost 3% from the pre-election level. The percentage of women in the Australian House... More
20 Aug, 2010
Forty years ago the Equal Pay Act was passed, yet recent research by the Chartered Management Institute shows that at the present rate of progress it will be at least... More
21 May, 2010
The new Government's promise to 'shake up democracy' has dumped the contents of the recent all-party Speaker's Conference Report on Parliamentary Representation. Earlier this year the Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation... More
7 May, 2010
Thursday's General Election has resulted in the election of 142 women MPs - only 22% of the total 649. At the dissolution of parliament in April, there were 126 women MPs... More
30 Apr, 2010
Figures puiblished by CFWD today show that just 21% of general election candidates are women - a mere 1% more than in 2005 and only 3% more than... More
23 Apr, 2010
Between them the three main political parties are fielding a record number of women candidates for the 2010 general election. Overall, 25% of candidates for the Conservative, Labour and... More
20 Apr, 2010
CFWD's analysis of recent polls suggests that, although there will be a small increase in the number of women MPs, the percentage increase is unlikely to exceed 5%. This would... More
15 Mar, 2010
The Fawcett Society, together with other organisations including CFWD, has launched a campaign called 'What About Women'. They have written to all the political parties to ask their views on... More
4 Mar, 2010
The latest round of elections across the world has seen the UK slip from 69th to 73rd place (out of 187 countries) in the international league table of women’s representation... More
11 Feb, 2010
On Monday 8th February Costa Rica elected its first female president in a landslide victory. The ruling party candidate, Laura Chinchilla, was elected after gaining 47% of the vote putting her... More
10 Feb, 2010
Harriet Harman and the Spanish Equalities Minister Bibiana Aido Almagro co-hosted the 2nd Women in Power Summit in Cadiz on 3rd February. This event brought together an unprecedented number of EU... More
3 Feb, 2010
As the General Election creeps ever closer, the Centre for Women & Democracy is preparing three projects for the election period. Firstly, we will be looking at how women fare at... More
11 Jan, 2010
CFWD has welcomed the final report of the Speaker’s Conference, published this morning, which has accepted the main proposals in CFWD's submission to it. Women currently constitute just 19.5% of Members... More
3 Dec, 2009
A new bill submitted to the French parliament this week will, if passed, require half of all board members of leading French companies to be women by 2015. At present, just... More
2 Dec, 2009
The Equalities & Human Rights Commission has announced that it has issued compliance notices to three local authorities warning that they need to take steps immediately to address gender inequality... More
30 Nov, 2009
The National Childbirth Trust has today released a report suggesting that many women returining to work after maternity leave are not receiving the support they need. They surveyed 1,500 women... More
19 Nov, 2009
Big business is failing to get more women onto its boards, a new report says. The Cranfield School of Management's 2009 Female FTSE report shows that, despite much hype and discussion during... More
18 Nov, 2009
Prior to the Queen's Speech, there had been some speculation that the Equalities Bill might not be included in it. However, it has survived any hypothetical axe there may have... More
13 Nov, 2009
Tate Britain has named its first female director. Dr Penelope Curtis was selected to replace the current director, Dr Stephen Deuchar who is leaving after eleven years in the post. In... More
13 Nov, 2009
Last year the gender pay gap narrowed very slightly, according to a report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). Pay rates for full-time women workers rose by 4%, whilst... More
10 Nov, 2009
The World Health Organisation's new report on the health of women and girls has found that, although women live longer than men, they are not necessarily either healthier or happier. The... More
6 Nov, 2009
New research shows only 15% of candidates selected through open primaries for seats where the MP is retiring are women. Initial work by the Centre for Women & Democracy (CFWD) has... More
5 Nov, 2009
It may be more than 400 years since the Gunpowder Plot, but it's also 137 years since the American suffrage campaigner Susan B Anthony tried to make a different point about the... More
31 Oct, 2009
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Indira Gandhi, then prime minister of India. She remains a figure who inspires mixed feelings at home as well as abroad,... More
30 Oct, 2009
Today is Equal Pay Day, a reminder that the UK is still some distance away from achieving true equal pay, and that women are still significantly underpaid in many areas.... More
29 Oct, 2009
There has been a lot of conjecture recently about the possible candidates for the roles of the permanent President of EU Council and the Foreign Policy Chief, who will also... More
5 Oct, 2009
As regular visitors to our site will notice, the CFWD website has had a makeover. The main content of the site has remained the same and we will continue to... More