United Kingdom

House of Lords

Political system: Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members: 785
Women: 228
Percentage of women: 29.0%

Speaker

No information available

Secretary general

No information available

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body	Theme	Name	Sex	Age
Joint Committee on Human Rights	Human rights	Harriet Harman	Female	73
Foreign Affairs Committee	Foreign affairs	Baroness Anelay of St. Johns	Female	76
Finance Committee	Finance	Baroness Doocey	Female	75

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2019-12)

Breakdown of members by age and gender
	18 - 20	21 - 30	31 - 40	41 - 45	46 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80	81 - 90	91 and over	Totals per gender
Male	0	0	3	6	8	54	153	221	115	9	569
Female	0	0	2	4	8	39	65	71	25	2	216
Totals per age interval	0	0	5	10	16	93	218	292	140	11	785
	Total <= 45: 15				Total >= 46: 770

Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal	Overall	Male	Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger	0.6%	0%	0.3%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger	1.9%	1%	0.8%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups: Yes
Electoral quota for women: No

Sources: Cf. The Bishopric of Manchester Act 1847 and The House of Lords Act 1999.

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament: 1918

Notes: 1918: The first woman elected to the House of Commons at a general election, Countess Constance Markiewicz, refused to take her seat in Parliament together with other elected members of her Party, Sinn Fein, as a protest at British policy in Ireland; on 15 November 1919, another woman was elected during by-elections

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker: 1992

Women’s suffrage

Women’s right to vote: 1918
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: Women over 30

Women’s right to vote: 1928
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: Full voting equality with men. Age restriction lowered to 21 and now 18

Women's right to stand for election: 1918
Restricted or universal: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: Women over 30 only

Women's right to stand for election: 1928
Restricted or universal: Universal