Angela Eagle MP, Labour Party Chair said:

“David Cameron has a real blind spot when it comes to women, and this report hammers home the lack of action on his watch to improve the gender balance in Parliament. 

“While the Tories still allow all-male shortlists in safe seats and the Lib Dems have fewer women MPs than knights, Labour is the only party committed to taking the necessary steps to increase the representation of women in Parliament and public life. Just 16 per cent of Conservative MPs are female and David Cameron is failing his own test to make the Tories representative of modern Britain.

“If David Cameron was serious about female representation he would have taken action before now. Instead we have had four years of a Government which has let women down.

“This is an interesting report, with a number of useful recommendations to make Parliament a more inclusive place. However, it is political parties which play the biggest role in attracting and promoting women to stand for Parliament.”

Sharon Hodgson MP, Labour’s Shadow Women and Equalities Minister and a member of the APPG’s inquiry panel said:

“The progress made over the last 30 years towards a more representative, gender-balanced House of Commons has already resulted in significant shifts in public debate, leading to improvements in policy which have greatly benefited millions of women across the country.

“However, when less than a quarter of MPs are women, there’s clearly much further to go to ensure that Parliament properly reflects the wider public, and this report makes a number of welcome recommendations to address some of the issues which currently hold women back.“