Female Members of Parliament

There are currently 263 MPs who are women.

Women have been able to stand for election as an MP since 1918, following the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act. Since 1918, there have been 693 female MPs. 

The first female MP elected was Constance, Countess Markievicz. She won the Dublin, St Patrick’s seat in the 1918 General Election but in line with her party Sinn Féin’s abstentionist policy, she did not take her seat. The first women elected to the House of Commons who took her seat was Nancy, Viscountess Astor, who won Plymouth, Sutton at a by-election in 1919.

Download data on female MPs 

The Excel spreadsheet that you can download from this landing page provides a list of all the women who have ever been elected to the House of Commons.  

MPs are listed election by election. When more than one MP was elected on the same day, they are listed in the order in which they took the oath or affirmed (that is, in swearing-in order).

This list provides the names of the female MPs, the party they were first elected for, the constituency or constituencies they represented and the dates they sat as MPs.

Please note Sinn Féin MPs have never taken their seats in the House of Commons. They are included in the list; they are listed after the final MP to swear in at the relevant election.

Women in the 2024 Parliament 

Following the 2024 general election, 263 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons (40%) are held by female MPs. This is the highest number of women ever to sit at the same time in the House of Commons. It includes 129 women elected for the first time.

It represents an increase from 220 at the 2019 general election; and from 226 at the dissolution of the 2019 Parliament.

For more information on the number of women elected to the 2024 Parliament and for comparisons with earlier Parliaments, see the Library Insight, 2024 general election: How many women were elected?

As many female MPs ever as male MPs in the Chamber

Until December 2016, there had been fewer female MPs ever than there were men sitting in the House of Commons, at any one time. When Dr Caroline Johnson won the Sleaford and North Hykeham by-election on 8 December 2016, she became the 455th woman to be elected as an MP. There were 455 male MPs in the House of Commons at that time. For further information, see the Library Insight, As many women MPs (ever) as men (now). 

Further reading 

Women in Parliament and Government 

The Library briefing Women in Politics and Public Life includes the number of women elected at each general election and provides information on the women who have served in the Cabinet. It also contains comparative data on the devolved legislatures and draws international comparisons.

History of the parliamentary franchise 

The Library briefing The History of the Parliamentary Franchise shows the incremental stages which led to universal suffrage across the UK. It  draws on recognised sources and looks at important  legislation.

Further information on women and the vote can be found on the Living Heritage pages on the parliamentary website.

Women in the House of Lords 

In 2018, to mark the 60th anniversary of the first female life peerages (four were announced at the same time), the House of Lords Library published a list of current and former female peers, Lords Membership: List of Current and Former Female Peers, which has since been updated.