ABSTRACT
Why does women’s political presence matter? For the new Labour women MPs it matters for symbolic reasons: more than 80 per cent considered symbolic representation an important dimension of political representation.1 The presence of 120 women MPs in the 1997 Parliament challenges, and changes, the ‘cultural impression’ of politics and Parliament. It symbolizes women’s equality by demonstrating that women are equally capable of participating in politics. Their presence also confers legitimacy on the House of Commons, engendering ‘faith’ and ‘trust in the democratic process’; preventing Westminster from appearing ‘backward-looking’; reducing electorate cynicism in politics; and demonstrating the basic fairness and equity of legislative recruitment.2
