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This paper reflects on the recent experience of interviewing women MPs. The research process is analyzed in terms of the micro-politics of the relationship between the researcher and the researched. Relevant methodological debates from two areas of sociology which are rarely brought together have been incorporated. Elite Studies and Gender Studies. Both of these fields have discussed the politics of space within the process of interviewing. However, the research experience of interviewing female MPs does not neatly fit in with the descriptions of interviewing to be found in either of these fields. This paper will discuss how the experience meets, criss-crosses and contradicts research reflections that are to be found in both of the above fields. So at times my experience echoed Ann Oakley's description of interviewing women as a cosy, friendly and sisterly exchange of information (Oakley, 1982: p. 55). Whilst at other times I could relate to Stephen Ball's description of interviews with MPs as '…events of struggle, as a complex interplay of dominance/resistance and chaos/freedom.' (Ball, 1994: p. 113). Often the same interview shifted between these two types of scenarios. After a short introduction to the debates on space and power within Elite Studies and Gender Studies this paper will go on to detail some of the complexities of interviewing women MPs for a feminist project.

It is established that the percentage of women elected to parliament in the Pacific region is amongst the lowest in the world. In this paper the authors do not revisit debates about why this is the case, but identify a common profile of successful women MPs in the Pacific by looking at two countries where they have been relatively well represented — Samoa and Kiribati. In doing so, they identify a number of characteristics that do matter for women MPs. ; AusAID

Drawing on interviews with over half of new Labour women MPs, Sarah Childs reveals how the women experienced being MPs, and explores whether they acted for and like women - in constituencies, in Parliament and in government.

Between 1918 and the end of the 1990s, Wales had only four women members of Parliament. This article concentrates largely on that period, exploring who these women were, and why there were so few of them. It analyses the backgrounds and careers of Megan Lloyd George, Eirene White and Dorothy Rees, the first three women to be elected, arguing that two of them were aided into their positions by their exclusive social connections and family backgrounds. These features were seen by their political parties and local associations as important in order to override concerns about their sex. Local associations were important because they always had a significant say over who was selected as a parliamentary candidate. This article will argue that many of these associations, from across the political spectrum, actively sought male candidates to stand for Parliament. Even women, who made up the core of voluntary teams at the local level, held conservative views about who should represent them at Westminster. This was relevant in areas dominated by heavy industry and the masculine culture it engendered, as well as other parts of the nation. This article reflects on the broader, under-studied theme of cultural conservatism in Welsh history. To demonstrate the long-term persistence of this theme, it outlines the mixed reaction from the mid-1980s to Ann Clwyd, the fourth woman to be elected an MP in Wales and the first candidate to ever stand in a south Wales valleys seat. The article then covers how more women slowly entered parliament, mainly via the mechanisms of all-women shortlists after 1997 despite a great deal of resistance to them, again at the local level. Finally, the record of the National Assembly for Wales, and the European Parliament, with its many more women members, are contrasted with the record of Westminster.

Feminist conceptions of political representation often claim a link between descriptive and substantive representation: that women representatives are more likely to act for women than male representatives. The election of 101 Labour women MPs to the House of Commons in 1997 provides an opportunity to examine this claim. This article is based on data from in-depth interviews with new intake Labour women MPs in both 1997 and 2000. It shows that many of them seek to and consider that they have substantively represented women since their election. According to the women MPs, their presence in Parliament has enabled the articulation of a feminised agenda in parliamentary debates, in select committees and in the Parliamentary Labour Party's women's group. At the constituency level, they consider that it has engendered both women's access, particularly by women's organisations, and the voicing of women's concerns. (Parliamentary Affairs / FUB)

The 1997 British general election saw a record 120 women returned to the House of Commons, 101 of them Labour. Yet if the most striking feature of the 1997 intake into the House of Commons was the number of newly elected women, then the most striking feature of the backbench rebellions in that parliament was the lack of these women amongst the ranks of the rebels. They were less than half as likely to rebel against the party whip as the rest of the Parliamentary Labour Party; even those who did, did so around half as often. Attempts to explain this difference fall into two broad groups: (i) those that attempt to explain the difference away, as resulting from other characteristics of the women, and (ii) those that attempt to explain it – indeed, celebrate it – as evidence of a different, women's, style of political behaviour. Attempts at (i) are largely unconvincing: most of the supposed explanations for the difference do not stand up to empirical verification. Although difficult to prove, a belief in (ii) is dominant amongst the new women themselves.

This article investigates women's representation as Northern Ireland (NI) MPs in the House of Commons since 1953. The central argument of the study is that the political and cultural positions dominant at the formation of NI in the early 20th century reverberate through the generations and continue to inform women's political under-representation today. The article provides an historical context for women's political and public participation from the 1950s, highlighting the gendered political culture in which this engagement took place. It examines the additional freezing effect of the ethno-national conflict on women's civic and political involvement from the 1970s–1990s. In terms of women's Westminster contributions, the article focuses on the period following the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast agreement and details the extent of women's candidacies in general elections. It highlights their participation in parliamentary voting, and some of the issues to which they have contributed. The study shows the influence of a conservative, gendered political culture on the issues that have engaged women MPs from Northern Ireland. The article concludes that Northern Ireland's privileging of male power continues to frame the political agendas and work of women MPs.

The 1997 British general election saw a record 120 women returned to the House of Commons, 101 of them Labour. Yet if the most striking feature of the 1997 intake into the House of Commons was the number of newly elected women, then the most striking feature of the backbench rebellions in that parliament was the lack of these women amongst the ranks of the rebels. They were less than half as likely to rebel against the party whip as the rest of the Parliamentary Labour Party; even those who did, did so around half as often. Attempts to explain this difference fall into two broad groups: (i) those that attempt to explain the difference away, as resulting from other characteristics of the women, and (ii) those that attempt to explain it - indeed, celebrate it - as evidence of a different, women's, style political behaviour. Attempts at (i) are largely unconvincing: most of the supposed explanations for the difference do not stand up to empirical verification. Although difficult to prove, a belief in (ii) is dominant amongst the new women themselves. (British Journal of Political Science / FUB)