The continuing under-representation of women in political and public life remains a matter of concern across a wide range of countries, including the UK and Ireland. Within the UK it is a topical issue as political parties currently debate strategies, often controversial, which will increase women's representation. At the same time, devolution has ushered in significant change in the level of women's representation in Scotland and Wales and improved representation for women in Northern Ireland. That such increases in women's representation in political institutions have been slow in coming is indisputable, given that full enfranchisement of women on equal terms with men was achieved in Ireland in 1921 and in the UK in 1928.

Author Biography

Pat Thane is Leverhulme Professor of Contemporary British History at the Institute of Historical Research and Director at the Centre for Contemporary British History. Amongst her other books are The Long History of Old Age. Esther Breitenbach is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. She was previously a research fellow in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh, and this included secondments to the Scottish Executive Equality Unit, and to the Women and Equality Unit in the Department of Trade and Industry. She has written widely on women in Scotland, and on gender equality and equal opportunities issues.