JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Researchers at Loughborough University report that although the UK’s general elections have a record number of woman candidates this year, only 14% of the politicians appearing in election coverage are women.

26% of candidates in the May 7 general elections in the UK are women, a record-breaking number and a 5% increase over the previous general elections. The centrist Alliance Party of Northern Ireland leads the parties with a 41% woman parliamentary list, followed by the Greens with 38% women and the pro-Scottish independence Scottish National Party (SNP) with 36%. The lowest rate of women candidates is held by the anti-EU right-wing UKIP with 12%.

In spite of this, the media are excluding women from every area of coverage. After SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, the most frequently-appearing woman in election coverage is a male politician’s wife, according to researchers. This despite the fact that three of the seven major parties’ leaders are women (Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP, Leanne Wood of Welsh independence party Plaid Cymru and Natalie Bennett of the Greens). Even aside from the candidates given space in election coverage, only 19% of those who appeared in election coverage overall were women and little space was given to women commentators and intellectuals.

Right-wing newspapers like The Sun have become known for their virulent portrayals of Nicola Sturgeon, including Photoshopping her into a bikini and calling her “devilish.” Portrayals also tend to focus on women’s appearance, weight and makeup.

The university also announced that women’s issues take up only 1.3% of elections coverage.

(cm)