International Women’s Day

Baroness Gale Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gale (Lab)]

My Lords and my Ladies, I am delighted to follow my noble friend Lady Hunter and to congratulate her on her excellent maiden speech. I think all of us who know her would expect nothing less than such a great speech, and I thank her. I got to know my noble friend during my time as general secretary of the Welsh Labour Party. By then, she was working for the leader of the Labour Party, Tony Blair. After the general election in 1997, she became director of government relations and has been described as

“the most influential non-elected person in Downing Street”.

I can believe that.

My experience of working with my noble friend was a very good one, and I believe that I can speak for other members of the Labour Party staff in saying that we all felt the same about her—there are some in the Chamber today who worked for the Labour Party when my noble friend was in No. 10. I can think of a number of occasions when, if I had a political problem, I could ring her up and discuss it with her. I know my noble friend will recall that, occasionally, there could be some difficulties in Wales. I knew I would always have good advice from her.

Whenever the Prime Minister visited Wales, we would have many conversations on the visits—all positive, I may add—and the visits were always successful. So one thing I can say about my noble friend is that she was always approachable and cheerful, she would always have time for a chat and she was always reliable, and that made for some very good relationships. I always regarded her as a friend in No. 10, and I certainly look forward to working with her again in a new role in your Lordships’ House, to which I know she will make a great contribution.

Today’s debate focuses on how to promote women’s participation and leadership in science and technology. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was held on 11 February this year. To mark the day, the general secretary of UNESCO said:

“On this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, let’s reiterate this fundamental message: women need science, and science needs women. Only by tapping into all sources of knowledge, all sources of talent, can we unlock the full potential of science, and rise to the challenges of our time”.


I so much agree with that view.

But if we look around, we see the same problems that women encounter if they want to succeed in many walks of life. I see it in politics and public life, where women can be held back not because they are not good enough but because the barriers placed before them are very high. I know how difficult it is and what the barriers are—I think most of us here know. There are many: they talk about the glass ceiling, the brick wall, discrimination and the leaky pipeline, which is a new one to me and which has come about for women in STEM. There is also misogyny, which is a very difficult problem, especially these days. It seems to me that there is very little difference in what women in any area of public or professional life experience, and the barriers to overcome. There has been some progress, but it is very slow.

According to data from the World Economic Forum, it will take until 2158 at the current rate of progress to reach full gender parity, as my noble friend mentioned in her opening remarks at the Dispatch Box. That is an awful long time to wait, is it not? So what action can be taken to increase the rate of progress? Where positive action has been taken, there have been some great results, for example in politics. Following the general election of 2024, 263 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons are held by female MPs. This is the highest number of women ever to sit at the same time in the House of Commons.

Now this did not happen by accident. Over the years, much campaigning has been done to highlight the need for positive action. Positive action in any field can cause big discussions, disputes and arguments. I am so aware of this in politics, especially when all-women shortlists were introduced to address the underrepresentation of women in politics. Labour was the first to use all-women shortlists in 1997, and that did increase the number of women MPs. Later, other parties used positive measures to ensure that there was a good number of women candidates. So, gradually, the numbers have increased and there are now 263 women MPs, the largest number ever. By 2024, all-women shortlists were not used by the Labour Party, as this policy had been so successful that there was not any need for it. This is one example of where action was taken and worked.

Another piece of good news that I saw in the newspapers today is that there are now, for the first time, more women doctors than men. This is women in medicine. So I feel there are some hopes for women in science and technology. I was very pleased to learn that the Government have set out policies on how to encourage women to study STEM subjects. My noble friend Lady Smith of Malvern, the Minister for Skills and now the Minister for Women and Equalities, on which I congratulate her, said that the Government continue to support the take-up of STEM subjects in girls and women in higher education. She said that such skills

“are crucial for the delivery of the government’s missions. This is why the department is building a coherent, flexible, high quality skills system to break down barriers to opportunity and drive economic growth, underpinned by a new Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy”.

I believe that that strategy may be published soon. This positive approach by government is to be welcomed and I await the outcome, which should benefit all women and girls who want to progress into a career in STEM subjects. I look forward to the Minister’s response.