On Tuesday 8th March, Mary Macleod, Member of Parliament for Brentford and Isleworth, gathered together female MPs and Peers from all parties in Westminster to mark the centenary of International Women’s Day.  The ladies were joined in Westminster Hall by the Speaker of The House of Lords, Baroness Hayman, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Dawn Primarolo.

Since its launch in 1911, International Women’s Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. 

Mary said, “I was eager to mark this important day.  International Women’s Day was founded even before women in Britain were given equal voting rights to men and has been a symbol of women’s rights for one hundred years. 

“We have come a long way since then, but the fact remains that of the 649 MPs currently sitting in the House of Commons, only 144 are women.  This is something that I hope will change and I have set up an APPG on Women In Parliament to champion this.

“We are fortunate in this country that girls and women have good access to education and indeed are outperforming their male counterparts at all stages in the education system – but I believe there is more we can do to encourage and increase uptake of science and technology subjects by women in the UK, both of which are extremely important to the future of the economy. 

“The global picture is of course quite different.  I welcome the role that the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals have played in defining global aims on key issues including access to education for women.  In many countries in the world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia and North Africa, women do not have easy access to education, particularly beyond Primary level.  It is right therefore that we use International Women’s Day to focus on this issue for girls and women across the globe.”