Women in Politics and Public Life

In both politics and public life in the UK, women have historically been underrepresented. In recent years, however, women’s representation has increased. Men are, however, still often overrepresented, particularly in more senior positions.

This briefing presents statistics on a range of positions held by women in UK politics and public life. Data on the demographic characteristics of different workforces tends to be limited, so it is not always possible to include intersectional analysis, for example, on disabled women or women from minority ethnic groups.

UK Parliament and Government

As of March 2026, around 41% of MPs in the House of Commons were female, and 32% of the House of Lords. Of the 22 cabinet members, 10 were female. This is shown in the figure below.

Devolved legislatures

Representation across the devolved legislatures of the UK is comparable to those of the Commons. This information is shown in the figure below.

Public life

Representation in public life has improved, though differences often exist depending the grade or kind of job someone holds.

The figure below shows the proportion of various professionals which were female in the latest data available, as well as an example of a more senior roles associated with that profession.

Selected sources

• Members Names Information Service
• International Parliamentary Union
• National Census of Local Authority Councillors
• Civil Service statistics
• Judicial diversity statistics,
• UK Armed Forces diversity statistics
• NHS workforce statistics

See document for a full list of sources.