THE WORK OF THE WOMEN AND EQUALITIES SELECT COMMITTEE IN THE UK PARLIAMENT
THE WORK OF THE WOMEN AND EQUALITIES SELECT COMMITTEE IN THE UK PARLIAMENT
Rt Hon. Maria Miller, MP is the
Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in the UK Parliament and a member of the CPA UK Branch Executive Committee. Before entering Parliament, Maria worked for 20 years in marketing. Maria was first elected to the UK Parliament in 2005 to represent Basingstoke and has held a number of Ministerial roles including Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and Minister for Women and Equalities (2012-2014).
Last year, the UK Parliament celebrated Vote100 to mark the anniversary of 100 years since it passed a law enabling some women and all men to vote for the first time. As Chair of the UK Parliament’s Women and Equalities Select Committee, I was delighted this milestone was celebrated with such enthusiasm and hope. I
“I am particularly proud of the cross-party nature of the Select Committee’s work and how concern for these issues overrides any political divisions. Working collaboratively and applying our collective range of experience and skills is key to driving forward the Committee’s ambitious programme of inquiries.”
50 | The Parliamentarian | 2019: Issue One | 100th year of publishing
particularly enjoyed participating in the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians British Islands and Mediterranean Regional Conference and a panel discussion organised by the CPA UK Branch on empowering women’s voices in the UK Parliament with my colleagues, Angela Rayner, MP and Baroness Jenkin. When I first became a Member of Parliament in 2005, it was hard to believe I was only the 265th woman ever to be elected to the UK Parliament. The low number of female Parliamentarians made me think I could never be one myself, but I was inspired to put myself forward by witnessing the inspirational contributions of trailblazers such as the UK’s first woman Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Margaret Thatcher. I am delighted to say the outlook has improved with more women than ever being elected in the 2017 general election, although I am also pleased that the common conclusion of the Vote100
events was that a 50/50 genderbalanced Parliament is the only acceptable outcome. In 2019, the UK now has some of the best laws protecting women, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ community; however, there is still much more to be done on all fronts. While more rights are enshrined in law than ever before, instances of sexual harassment at work and discrimination of disabled people and pregnant women in the workplace are all too common. It is all very well creating laws, but if they don’t work in practice, there needs to be robust processes for scrutiny and review in place. That is where the Women and Equalities Select Committee centres its work. As the Minister
Left: Rt Hon. Maria Miller, MP speaks at the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians workshops on gender equality held at the 62nd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in London, UK.