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In a world that currently seems increasingly dominated by ‘strong man’ politics and macho posturing, this International Women’s Day it seems more important than ever to take stock of where we are on the representation of women in politics.

Internationally, only six countries have 50 per cent or more women in parliament – with none of these in Europe. According to the UN, at this current rate of progress, gender parity in national legislative bodies will not be achieved before 2063.

Here in the UK, steps forward have been taken in Westminster. Following last year’s general election 40 per cent of MPs are now women – the highest figure ever, and the UK now has our first ever woman Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves. While more needs to be done to maintain and improve progress, this is positive. However, we should note there have been some steps back too – with less women in UK cabinet now (at 26.1 per cent) than there was at its peak in 2017 at 34.8 per cent.

At the local and regional level, meanwhile, the need to improve the representation of women is even more urgent. Only around 36 per cent local councillors are women and around 95 per cent of local council’s are male dominated. While devolution offers us a chance to take back control in our communities with representation reflective of the local population, combined authorities aren’t there yet. In last year’s mayoral elections just 27 per cent of candidates were women (a far cry from IPPR North’s 2021 target of 50:50 parity by 2030). When it comes to metro mayors, there has been an increase in women’s representation since 2020 – when every single metro mayor was a white man. Today, three in 12 metro mayors are women, with varying social-class backgrounds – however all three women are white. While increasing gender parity is key, true gender equality needs to be felt by all women – and that also includes women of colour, disabled women, and LGBTQIA+ women.

Existing research highlights some of the barriers that women face in entering representative politics. This includes time and financial constraints with inflexible working paired with costly childcare provision and unpaid caring responsibilities being a disproportionate barrier to women – and one that has too often been overlooked within social policymaking. Challenging local party-political dynamics and selections processes can also be a barrier to women in politics and, unsurprisingly, misogyny and abuse is rife, with data by the Fawcett Society highlighting sexism as worryingly commonplace in local government.

Women in politics also face barriers when it comes to advancing to positions of greater power. As IPPR North has previously argued, the lack of visibility for women in political positions is not because they lack skill or ambition, but because they lack a level playing field. This is why we, alongside other partners, are currently carrying out new research to identify and advocate for solutions that can improve the representation and empowerment of women, including women of colour, in local and regional government.

This is essential if devolution is to lead to better politics. There is evidence women in leadership can reduce corruption, and result in specific policy areas being prioritised – such as health, education, childcare.

We’ve already seen this with Jess Philips MP – the first Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, who has introduced new measures to support the government’s commitment to halving violence against women and girls in a decade. These include placing protection zones around abortion clinics, an expansion of the Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, more protection for stalking victims, and embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms with Raneem’s Law.

At the regional level we have also seen women mayors develop strategies that are cognisant of women’s experiences. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness is leading the development of a North East transport strategy which includes measures to enhance safety for women and girls, and West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has created the first dedicated Women’s Safety Unit to tackle gendered violence. .

When you lift women up, you lift everyone up, so achieving gender parity in politics will only be a good thing.

India Gerritsen is a researcher at IPPR North.