General election 2019: Record number of women set to stand

A record number of women look set to stand for Parliament next month, with female candidates likely to comprise about a third of the total.

Provisional PA analysis found 1,120 of 3,322 registered candidates are women.

The Conservatives and Labour are set to field candidates in every constituency in Britain, except Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s seat in Chorley in Lancashire.

The Brexit Party has put forward 275 candidates, having stood aside in all the seats won by the Tories in 2017.

Nigel Farage has controversially withdrawn all his candidates from the 317 seats that the Tories are defending in an effort to avoid splitting the pro-Brexit vote.

However, the PA figures suggest the party has also opted not to contest handfuls of other seats being defended by other parties, particularly in Scotland.

The party, which topped the polls in May’s European elections, is not standing in two thirds of Scotland’s 59 constituencies, including Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson’s East Dunbartonshire seat.

PA’s analysis of candidate lists in each of the UK’s 650 constituencies has yet to be finalised but it suggests there will be a healthy increase in the number of women standing.

According to its figures, 333 – or 52% – of Labour’s 632 candidates are women while 190 – or 30% – of the Conservatives’ 635 candidates are female.

The Greens and Lib Dems are fielding 204 and 188 female candidates respectively.

In 2017, 973 female candidates took part in that year’s snap election, according to research by the House of Commons library, down from 2015’s record of 1,033.

There have been concerns that levels of abuse on social media might deter women from standing, with a number of high-profile former female ministers citing this as their main reason for quitting frontline politics.

The Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru are set to field fewer candidates than in 2017, the parties having agreed to stand down in some seats in order to maximise the pro-Remain vote,

However, UKIP is set to see the biggest drop in representation. It is set to field 45 candidates, down from 467 two years ago.

Total candidates by party (women in brackets)

• Conservative and Unionist Party – 635 (190)
• Labour – 632 (333)
• Liberal Democrats – 611 (188)
• Green Party – 498 (204)
• Brexit Party – 275 (54)
• Independent – 205 (32)
• SNP – 59 (20)
• UKIP – 45 (10)
• Plaid Cymru – 36 (9)