Women MPs from Northern Ireland: Challenges and Contributions, 1953–2020

Yvonne Galligan

doi:10.16995/olh.591

Abstract

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.

Highlights

A summary history of Northern Ireland The establishment of Northern Ireland 1914–1921Historically, Northern Ireland (NI) is the most contested part of the United Kingdom
This gendered imagery is repeated in the political culture – nationalists represent Ireland as a Celtic female warrior or an old woman; unionists draw on biblical tropes of selfless women, devoted to their families and the union of the British state, or as a woman in need of male protection and defence (Morgan, 1996; McKane, 2018: 334)
On 19 October 2019 she asked Prime Minister Boris Johnston in the House of Commons ‘to reassure the people in Northern Ireland that there is nothing in his deal that undermines the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, as guaranteed by the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, and the consent principle.’13 She repeated this question to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Julian Smith MP, on 23 October 2019 during a meeting of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. Her criticism of the Prime Minister and senior colleagues was forthright: Could we focus on the fact that the Prime Minister was not able to give any reassurance or even quote what you have just put on the record? The Brexit Secretary was not able to do so

Summary

Introduction

A summary history of Northern Ireland The establishment of Northern Ireland 1914–1921. Ward and McGivern (1980: 69) powerfully describe these images: ‘the chaste, pure imagery of Mary with her passive, unquestioning role has been a model for all young Catholic girls’, while the Calvinistic form of Protestantism prevalent in Northern Ireland ‘is a patriarchal religion where the image of woman is invisible’ This gendered imagery is repeated in the political culture – nationalists represent Ireland as a Celtic female warrior or an old woman; unionists draw on biblical tropes of selfless women, devoted to their families and the union of the British state, or as a woman in need of male protection and defence (Morgan, 1996; McKane, 2018: 334).. Eight of the 13 women MPs, all elected in the post-1998 period, served as local councillors and/or Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) prior to taking their seats in the House of Commons This is an established pattern of political service in Northern Ireland, as in the Republic of Ireland (Buckley et al, 2015; Galligan, 2017). Sylvia Hermon contributed more frequently than other members, including others from Northern Ireland (Figure 4)

Anderson

Summary

Findings

Conclusion