New Labour's Women MPs Women Representing Women [Paperback]

It was not long after the election of a record number of women to the House of Commons in 1997 that the backlash began. The criticism was all-encompassing: they wore the wrong clothes, they voted the wrong way and they were concerned with the wrong issues. Above all, they were accused of failing to make difference, to have failed women, and were dismissed by some as Blairs Babes.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than half of the new Labour women MPs, Sarah Childs reveals how these women actually experienced being MPs, and explores whether they acted for and like women  in their constituencies, in parliament and in government. She presents important insights into theories of womens political representation, showing that the relationship between womens descriptive and substantive representation is complicated, that party and gender identities are crucial, that womens differences must be acknowledged and that it might not always be possible for women representatives to act for women even if they want to.

Including a key section on womens selection for parliament; whether women MPs act as role models; why it is important that women should be present in politics; as well as exploring in depth the subject of womens substantive representation, New Labours Women MPs is essential reading for all those interested in women and politics, legislative studies, political behaviour and representation.

1. Introduction 2. Women's Political Representation 3. Women's Numerical Representation 4. Symbolic and Descriptive Representation 5. Substantive Representation 6. Women's Substantive Representation in the Constituency 7. Substantively Representing Women in Parliament 8. The New Labour Women MPs' Loyalty
9. The Women's Minister and the Substantive Representation of Women 10. A Feminized Style of Politics 11. Conclusions 12. Epilogue Appendix . Interview guideSarah Childs