90 years ago today

Jon Bright (London, OK): Today is the 90th anniversary of women first winning the right to vote in the UK. This is from Katherine Rake at the Fawcett Society:

Ninety years ago on Wednesday (6 February 2008) one of the most important steps to women’s enfranchisement was secured with the legal right to vote. Yet nine decades later we find that women’s full enfranchisement has not been achieved

Even 90 years after the fact, women are still woefully under represented in political institutions, making up, for example, only 20% of MPs in Westminster. This is a perfect illustration of how much more there is going on determining access to power in our country - entrenched interests, prejudices, nepotisms and traditions - than the simple majoritarian voting system which crops up every four or five years or so, and which is often referred to affectionately as "democracy."

Inequalities like this are a way of making the arguments of democratic reformers tangible, and of highlighting why it is the structure of power in our country - not which party currently sits on top - that we should pay most attention to if we would like to achieve real change. I hope that in another 90 years we are able to celebrate the equal access of men and women to positions of power, whilst also celebrating the anniversary of when change first began. Sadly, even today, this is a hope rather than a certainty.