Please everyone write to the Women & Equalities Select Committee inquiry to explain why we cannot afford to loose any women MPs with the proposed boundary changes. See details here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/women-and-equalities-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/women-in-the-house-of-commons-16-17/ #WomenMPs2020 The statistics speak for themselves: of our 650 MPs, 458 (70%) are men and only 192 are women. There are still more men in the Commons than there have ever been women MPs. The Lords has around 600 men and 200 women. Women make a massive contribution to society with their paid and unpaid work, they merit fair inclusion*. Representation shapes policy. We want better gender balance at Westminster so that our Parliament draws upon the widest possible pool of talent and experience. We want the best of both, men and women, running the country together. We cannot afford to loose any of the women that are already at Westminster. Diversity leads to better decision making. It ensures more informed and balanced, policy-making on ALL issues such as the economy, defence, security, policing, health, education, welfare, foreign policy, transport, environment as well as other key issues like reproductive rights, VAWG, FGM, domestic violence, equal pay, pensions, sexism, discrimination, inclusion, maternity care, family life, caring and parenting. Please take a look at the requirements and write a submission to the Inquiry by 12 September explaining in your own words why retaining our women MPs is a democratic imperative. Thanks for all the fantastic contributions to our Just Giving page for campaign materials. We have nearly reached our target and now have what we need to reach out over 600 people at a conference in September. Any extra funds would really help our awareness raising, to donate see: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/5050Parliament If you have any questions concerning submissions to the inquiry feel free to email Frances@5050Parliament.co.uk. All Best Frances, Brian, Hannah, Jeanette, Bridget, Ayana, Apolline, Ruby, Zoe and all 50:50 Parliament Team *The Office of National Statistics valued the unpaid household economy at £1 trillion in 2014. Just unpaid childcare provided by households and not included in measures of the paid economy were valued at £321 billion in 2014, emphasising the scale of some of these unpaid activities, many of which are carried out by women. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/satelliteaccounts/compendium/householdsatelliteaccounts/2005to2014