209 Women: New Exhibition Marks 100 Years Of Female MPs
The 21st of November 2018 marked 100 years since the passing of the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, which allowed women over the age of 21 to serve as Members of Parliament for the first time.
To commemorate this significant moment in the nation’s history, a new exhibition is championing the achievements of women in UK politics while highlighting the ongoing need for greater gender equality throughout all of society.
209 Women, which is on show at Portcullis House until 14 February 2019, features portraits of female MPs, all captured by female photographers. The figure 209 refers to the number of women currently serving as MPs.
The exhibition is a fine tribute to important milestones that saw women given the vote and the right to represent their communities. The portraits depict women who are continuing the efforts of those who came before, and all have been taken by equally talented female photographers (another area that tends to be dominated by men).
However, 209 Women is also a stark reminder of how far we have to go. Parliament is still majority male, and people of colour are noticeably under-represented.
Yet there are a number of high profile exceptions, such as Preet Gill, the first female Sikh MP; Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, who became the first-ever black female MP when she was elected to represent Hackney North & Stoke Newington in 1987; and the Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani, who in 2018 became the first Muslim woman minister to speak from the House of Commons Dispatch box.
We hope the presence of all these women in the 209 Women exhibition will inspire a new generation to contribute to the changing face of politics in this country.
Check out some images from the exhibition below:
209 Women runs until 14 February 2019 at Portcullis House. Free tickets are available on the Parliament website.
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