§ Lord Brockwayasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will take steps to increase the proportion of women members of the House of Lords and encourage the adoption of women as candidates for election to the House of Commons; and whether they will state what is the proportion of women in other legislatures, or prepare a record of this and place it in the Library of the House.
§ The Lord President of the Council (Viscount Whitelaw)The Government have no proposals to modify the present basis of membership of the House of Lords. The number of women selected as candidates for membership of the House of Commons is a matter for the political parties in which it would be inappropriate for the Government to intervene.
As regards the final part of the noble Lord's Question, it has not proved possible to trace any available statistics relating to the proportion of women in all other legislatures, but the European Parliament published earlier this year a press release showing the portion of women in all the legislatures of countries within the European Community. A copy is in the Library of the House.