Never before in the history of Northern Irish politics...part 4

...have women secured more first preferences than men in the European seat.

Despite only have 4 of the 10 candidates women broke through a certain glass ceiling in last week's European election in Northern Ireland for the first time they secured more first preference votes than the men.

In 1979 there was only one female candidate Bernadette McAliskey who was standing as an independent republican. Her 33,969 (5.94%) was enough to see her survive the first three stages before she was eliminated, there were twelve men against her in those first elections.

Five years later in 1984 men took 100% of the votes as there were no women among the eight candidates.

In 1989 there was again a sole lady, Myrtle Boal was standing for the Conservatives and secured 25,789 (4.82%) of the first preferences there were nine men against her five secured more votes than her. She was also the first woman not to be eliminated, but then this was an election that the surplus of the stage one winner elected the final seat on stage two and nobody was excluded.

1994 saw Myrtle joined on the ballot by Mary Clark-Glass (Alliance), Dodie McGuinness (one of three Sinn Féin candidates), June Champion (Independent) and Susannah Thompson (one of three Natural Law candidates). It was the most congested Northern Irish European ballot so far with 17 candidates. Between them the five women won 47,477 (8.48%) votes.

However, after the high of five female candidates there were none again in 1999 when 8 men filled the ballot.

In 2004 women returned to the ballot and one of them was to make a little history. Bairbre de Brún (Sinn Féin) was to become the first female Northern Irish MEP she was joined on the ballot by Lindsay Whitcroft (Green). The two secured as record 119,351 (21.73%) first preferences for women.

2009 was to see another ground breaking result with two of the three seats being won by women. Diane Dodds (DUP) was to join de Brún in Brussels but they were the only two women amongst the 7 candidates. Bairbre de Brún was also the first woman to top the poll as between them they secured 214,530 (44.27%) of the first preferences.

Which brings us to this year de Brún had been replaced as Sinn Féin candidate by Martina Anderson, along with Dodds they took the top two spots after first preferences. Anna Lo (Alliance) was 6th and Tina McKenzie (NI21) completed the quartet. Between them their 345,961 votes was greater than the 6 men they stood against who got 285,164. So in the 2014 European Election here in Northern women secured 55.25% of the first preferences from the 626,125 valid votes.

Lembit, Brent Central and women only short lists

Back in the real world. Well the one where I no longer am looking at how I can get called to speak in a debate at party conference I have decided to handle the three big issues that Lib Dems have been discussing since they emerged into the Glasgow sunshine (where had that been all week) inspired by Nick Clegg's words.

The first I'd heard rumours of from within the SECC was that Lembit Öpik has written that he is considering throwing his hat into the ring for Brent Central. But in an article in which he decries dissent at party conference (I was there, there was some from the floor) and a fall in membership turning up (did anyone spot Lembit himself) it seems a bit much.

But Lembit standing for Brent Central fails to address another problem within our party the lack of female MPs.Ed Davey has said that the party should revisit the issue of women only short lists after the 2015 election to resolve that issue. 

Now women only shortlists work for Labour and their A-list partially worked for the Conservatives (although anyone remember A-lististo Louise Mensch) because they have something Lib Dems don't have in abundance; safe seats. I also think Ed is a bit premature in deciding what the party does after 2015, that is the year that our leadership programme is having its first test at, simultaneously at the same time as the party is having its first test as a party of Government. 

So where does all this leave us as Lib Dems?

Well frankly to deal with Lembit considering stepping back in Westminster I'm minded to make Brent Central a women only short list, but I fear that may not be enough to stop Lembit and he will announce he is going to transition. 

Footnote: The author in no way endorses the use of women only short-lists, does all he can to encourage good women candidates to become MPs, even being a member of Liberal Democrat Women. Now does he endorse using a method to stifle local party democracy merely to blog 'troublesome' candidates. This is a satirical piece based around real issues, it appears that some readers less familiar with my style and believes have been confused.

Onward, Church of England, inching to reform

Rather appropriately the tune to Onward Christian Soldiers is written by Arthur Sullivan, no doubt if he and W.S. Gilbert would be getting down to write and Operetta about the Church of England, women bishops and gay clergy right about now.

In the meantime here is a little something to sing to that tune of his.

Onward, Church of England, inching to reform
With selective bible standards cited as the norm.
Christ, the royal master, treating women as the men
But he got that wrong, for ever and Amen!

Refrain:

Onward, Church of England, inching to reform
With selective bible standards cited as the norm.

Women though not silent, nor to husbands subject,
While some preach from pulpits shall not rise to Bishopric.
With their heads uncovered, they can sing your praise
But the House of Bishops can not bend to their ways
(Refrain)

Sisters in Scotland or Ireland, Bishops they could be
But we can't allow that in the C of E
We are all divided, not one body we,
Kick out hope for doctrine picked selectively.
(Refrain)

Crowns may pass to women, Bishops' thrones no way
The Supreme Governor wears a dress, but our Bishops nay.
We'll let you ordain women, but glass ceiling will prevail,
They'll not wear a mitre, now in purple cassocks sail
(Refrain)

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with yours our voices, women Bishops are wrong.
Glory, laud and honour, and misogyny
Shall for countless ages rule the C of E.
(Refrain)

Wojdan Shahrkhani piece of Olympic history #London2012

It may have only lasted 82 seconds but in the first round bout of the women's +78kg judo a little bit of history was made this morning.

Shahrkhani at opening ceremony

Wearing a tight fitting black cap rather than a loose fitting head scarf Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shahrkhani stepped unto one of the two competition tatami to make a piece of history. The 18-year-old was the first female Olympian to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


Unfortunately  she lost to an Ippon, landing firmly on her back, from a throw from Puerto Rico's Melissa Mojica. 

However, I do hope to see her again in Rio in four years time, along with more female competitors from her nation.


Heaven knows what Andrew Brown from the Telegraph will make of this liberating moment of Olympic history, but take a look at what Caron has made of his comments on women's judo in general.

More women but still a ways to go #AE11

One of mine and politicians of all persuasions over the weekend was the sight of Dawn Purvis being eliminated from the count in East Belfast. Last year after the UVF the paramilitary group associated with the Progressive Unionist Party of which she was leader murdered Billy Moffett, she stepped down as leader and resigned from the party. She was a vibrant and feisty member of the Assembly and did a lot of work in highlighting the double and triple jobbing of some of her colleagues. She will be sorely missed.

However, there are now more women in this Assembly that in the last, which had 15. Twelve actually got re-elected and there are eight new faces to join them. That raises the representation of women to 18.5 percent still a long way to go to gender equality. Northern Ireland may be moving out of a warlike status of politics but the combatants are still largely male.

Margaret Ritchie had a appalling performance in the final leaders debate. She really was the sniping old wife at the garden fence with he snide one liners. It wasn't becoming and may have affected some of the SDLP's slide. She is better than that and hopefully some of the new in take will show what women can do. Of the women returning both Anna Lo (Alliance) South Belfast, Michelle Gildernew (Sinn Féin) Fermanagh and South Tyrone and Michelle McIlveen (DUP) Strangford all managed to join Ritchie in topping their polls and getting in on the first count. Sinn Féin's Jennifer McCann (West Belfast) and Martina Anderson (Foyle) along with the DUP's Arlene Foster (Fermanagh and South Tyrone) were other women returned by reaching their quota on the first round.

They include Brenda Hale the war widow who is now DUP MLA for Lagan Valley who has already said she will fight for war widows' rights, the DUP's Paula Bradley who is just completing her term as Mayor of Newtownabbey but now now MLA for East Antrim, the UUP's women's officer Sandra Overend was also elected in Mid Ulster and Judith Cochrane of the Alliance Party continuing the party's success in East Belfast where she joined Chris Lyttle who had replaced Naomi Long as MLA when she was elected to Westminster.

 The other debutantes in the Assembly are DUP's Pam Lewis (South Antrim), UUP's Joanne Dobson (Upper Bann), Sinn Féin's Michaela Boyle (West Tyrone) and Karen McKevitt for the SDLP in (South Down).

Somebody's put a little tribute together for Dawn, I like it especially as it has a shot of Dawn out with us for the Yes! campaign last Sunday in it.

Red magazine have named their top 20 women under 30 and includes three politicians one from each of the three main parties. From left to right they are Maryam Khan Labour PPC for Bury North, Jo Swinson Lib Dem MP for East Dunbartonshire and Chloe Smith Conservative MP for Norwich North.

Now I'm not a regular reader of Red Magazine but they did send me an email promoting their March issue in which the full list of 20 is discussed. I don't think Jo's use of Red in the Common's chamber while debating was the only reason she made this list.

American Health Failure for Rape Victims

Came across this from the Huffington post shared by one of my American friends on Facebook.

Apparently a rape victim who was drugged before being sexually assaulted followed sound medical advise and took a months worth of Anti-AIDS medication. You would have thought in the word of the memorable line from Trainspotting to 'Choose Life' would have been the salient choice.

Not so her health insurance company. They refused to sell her a policy as the HIV medication asked too many health questions, this despite the case being explained to them. So now you know it people, do not get raped in the USA, or if you do don't take preventative measures for STDs, if you do your insurance company will leave you without health cover.

While a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans the trade organisation said that insurers do not discriminate against victims of sexual assault and ordinarily would not even know if a patient had been raped. The exclusion of some of the people who have taken this medication is from those who have been victims of a sexual crime and therefore is discriminating against them.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/insurance-companies-rape-_n_328708.html

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/insurance-companies-rape-_n_328708.html

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/insurance-companies-rape-_n_328708.html

Men Have Eating Disorders Too

I'm the first to admit that I used to be lighter, that I don't like the slight bulge of middle aged spread around my middle. But I used to be an athlete, I was eating the required calories to complete the training and racing and my body though thinner was tuned muscle. I don't have an issue with a little extra poundage, I know the work I went through before was not for body image reasons but for sporting achievement, however that isn't always the case.

When Jo Swinson launched her campaign about Airbrushed ads leading to unrealistic images only related to girls and women. Of course that is part of the 'Real Women' policy paper that is before conference later this year.

As I Tweeted or commented at the time the same applies to men. There are magazines aimed at men that show the idealised male torso in adverts for cologne, underwear or whatever, just like there are those that affect the women amongst us. For the gay male there are additional sightings of the somewhat 'perfect' form by whatever means. Bombarded by images men are also likely to try and emulate those images.

The problem for the men with eating disorder there is the added problem that often their condition is not taking seriously enough, even by doctors and other health practitioners. Currently of the 60,000 people with an eating disorder only 10-20% are male. Yet amongst men, and in particular gay men, the image of what is average is at the lower end or below what is actually ideal for their body type and height.

While Jo is looking at potential causes there is a great need for males with eating disorders to get help with the effects. There is a Facebook Group set up to highlight the issues of male eating disorder, promoting a Downing Street petition stating:

'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure men with eating disorders are given the same opportunities for treatment and care as female sufferers and are by no means discriminated against by their doctor / other health practitioner because they are male.'

Please go along and sign it too.

Women Died for the Right to Make their Own Decision

Admittedly when he was doing his fantasy Liberal Cabinet meme Irfan Ahmed said he didn't know a lot about history, so sadly yet again this morning we see a need to educate him a little about this. He writes:

'Many women don’t have a clue about politics so they need someone to make their decisions for them and for that reason its OK for the man to decide who the women votes or is it? I don’t see anything wrong with a man making the decision in the household to who everyone votes but then that is just me.'

Ouch! For a start many people of both genders don't have a clue about politics it is not restricted by gender, but we have allowed universal suffrage to both men and women on equal terms since 1928. Yet we don't ask people before they step into a ballot booth can they name all the leaders of the main parties (if we did we'd have even lower turnout). So that is not a valid reason to say it is alright for anyone not to vote, nor is it justifiable to hide the sexism or misogyny of his statement above. It does suggest he himself doesn't have a clue about certain aspects of life.

However, Irfan may be interested to know that that great Liberal mind John Stuart Mill was one of the early male advocates for women to have the right to cast their own vote back as far as 1865 when he presented just such a platform to the electorate.

Women hassled Asquith and Lloyd George in the streets of Westminster in the early part of last century after the women on New Zealand were given the right to vote in 1893. The chained themselves to railings, set fire to mail boxes, set off bombs on occasions, were imprisoned for their direct actions, went on hunger strike. In 1913 on Epson Downs Emily Davison even threw herself bodily and fatally in front of the King's horse Anmer as it ran in the Derby.

It took almost 60 years from when the movement started for women to get equality with men and their own voice at the ballot box. It is not a right they should give away to a husband of father to tell them how to cast it.

Irfan if you really want to describe yourself as a 'political commentator' you really are going to have to learn a little about the political, governmental and social history of the politics and country you are commentating on. Otherwise a lot of what you say is just shallow, ill-informed vitriol.

AWS: My Tuppence Worth

Three years ago I wrote this:

Why am I a white, middle-class male supporting the latest initiative by the Liberal Democrats
to encourage more female and ethnic minority candidates? The answer is simple, the supporters and people who vote for our party are diverse, in fact they are as diverse as the people who make up our country; even in West Lothian with a small ethnic population this is true. We need, as a party, to truly represent that community and multi-cultural.

A quick scan down the list of names supporting the three leadership candidates shows anyone just how diverse our party is. Look at the number of
councillors who names betray their ethnicity and of course their gender. There are people out there who already hold elected office, who know what being a politician is all about at local level. Why are they not coming out to stand for key and target parliamentary seats? As a party we are making inroads into urban seats where the greater proportion of our ethnic communities live so these seats are targets and some of the most diverse.

The candidates and elected representatives who have come through from the initiatives of the Gender Balance Task Force are a sterling example that this focus is producing good, no make that great candidates. This work can continue and be expanded to aid ethnic diversity and balance as well.

Will it be harder for us white, middleclass men to get selected? Definitely, but that only means that we too have to lift our game. In other words the cream will be rising to the top; and when that happens with high calibre candidates of all genders and ethnic origins we will have a team that is ready to govern Britain. Surely that is something we can aspire and look forward to.

Now I've not been drawn into the Scottish Blogosphere debate on All Women Short lists, until now but Mrs Tactical Voting making a rare trip into the Political scene made a very strong point.

The problem is very simple. You can never give power to anyone. They have to take it. If it is given it is still the giver that possesses it and the one that controls it. Women cannot and most of all should not be dependent on men to give them power.

We should take it. Take it in a way so that no one can say that we don’t deserve it or we didn’t earn it. Because let’s face it, we do deserve it, we do earn it and we do not need anyone to give it to us as if we were small children with our hand stretched out hoping for candy.

Isn't that just what a certain Margaret Hilda Thatcher (nee Roberts) did? Isn't that what the late Benazir Bhutto did? And Tansu Çiller and Golda Meir and Angela Merkal amongst others have done? Both of these women rose through the mysogeny of a male dominated world, is Ms Bhutto's case even more so in a rigid Islamic state.



But yes each of the women listed above had to work harder than any male colleague to get to the top. That is sad because it is the perception of voters both male and female that is keeping good women down. One of my female commenters recently commented that the actions of cartain men in the political sphere's behaviour was one reason she was disillusioned with politics as a whole. The whole adversorial nature that our election system throws up makes it hard for women to engage in the process (having said that some of them are good at it). Is it the system of winner takes all, both in selection and then election that makes this so?



Having been a Lib Dem activist or supporter since I first signed up at freshers fair 21 years ago I've often found myself voting for committees or shortlists looking at what is a fair representation of skills and experiences. My top preferences in those STV situations always go to achieve that sort of balance. Being the sad anorak that I am I keep a note of most of those votes I notice that my trend is to knock men who have pretty much a guarnateed position on such committees way down the list (a bit like a reality show I'm sure others will vote for them) and boostering the strongest women and ethnic candidates higher up the list than I would do (all other things being equal). It doesn't always work mind but I still think that all women short lists is the wrong way to go, just as having parishes in the CofE having flying Bishops look after those opposed to women vicars is wrong.



Yes women candidates, as with ethnic minorities (something most of the bloggers have ignored) have to work at it, still. But I'm proud that the only woman on my candidates approval day Katy Gordon is standing in the Glasgow North seat. Yes our party has given her support and training which us blokes are not eligible for, but not an AWS. She is a worthy candidate who deserves the chance and position she has acheived nobody can deny she has got there on her merits either, but like many of our other female representatives she has had to do that little bit more work, the end result is that unlike many of the Labour MPs who take their electorate, or LCP, for granted she never will do.



If you are guaranteed a chance to shine in an AWS somewhere why bother challenging for a tougher seat? Why lock horns with the men? The end result is unpreparedness to take them on once elected, feeling out of place and like many of Blair's babes, many of whom came off AWS you drop out soon after. I'd argue they aren't the best preparation to get the best out good women candidates, far better to give them the support and training to face the challenge head on and as Susan Dalgety says over on Kez's Soapbox "The electors [of Rwanda] chose women candidates over men." over and above twofold the quota system that they introduced. They ceased their chance time for our woman to do the same, then I might join Jeff reading Good Housekeeping.

40 Women a Week

This is a pre-recorded posting, because I am actually be out and about in Glenrothes somewhere.

Right about now a symbolic 40 women will be wearing a t-shirt bearing the image to the left in a protest outside City Hall in Belfast. The reason for 40 is that is the number of women who currently wish to seek an abortion in Northern Ireland but have to travel to the mainland to do so.

They are protesting to have the law in Northern Ireland changed to bring it into line with the rest of the UK.

Let me lay a few things out straight. Should I personally, as I have in the past, face the question of a possibility that I may have fathered a child I would do all I could to make the choice that that child survives easier to be made. However, I know not everyone and every situation is going to look at the situation that way. Personally I would see myself as pro-life but I respect every woman's right to choose. It is all about choice and that i wholeheartedly support.

Being of a liberal mindset sometimes mean that you have to allow room to manoeuvre for a mind set that is not naturally you own. Which is why I hate the fact that so many from both sides what to make this situation so black and white when it is actually very grey. There should really be three camps, pro-choice, pro-life and somewhere in between where people are personally of one or the other persuasion but respect the right of the other camp to hold their views. In an ideal world that third camp would be full and the others empty, and doctors wouldn't be threatened and family planning clinics wouldn't be picketed and (often) young, scared mothers wouldn't be terrified of taking whatever action they wanted.

There is a petition to sign to support the law in Northern Ireland catching up with the 1967 Great Britain legislation. If you haven't already may I please ask that you consider signing it.