Esther McVey Quotes

When it comes to getting more women into parliament, politicians have at least started to take active measures. The British Labour Party introduced all-female shortlists in 1997.

Boards without women - blacklist those suckers. It's 2011. They've had the time - it's significant that they don't have women.

There are days when I think the National Endowment for the Arts should issue a quota system for the production of plays by women - especially when you realize women buy 70 percent of all theater tickets.

The Labour party has done more than any other to address gender inequalities, through legislation and other means, and to increase women's representation in politics, which has led to recent increases in the number of female politicians.

I am proud of the fact that women have been recognised as being as capable, as able to do the senior jobs in Europe as any man.

Gender equality and women's empowerment have been a top priority for me from day one as Secretary-General. And I am committed to making sure that the U.N. leads by example.

In Tunisia, where women have long enjoyed greater rights than many of their Arab neighbors, women pushed for and won a new electoral code that guarantees women will make up half of a candidates' list for office.

Actually, I don't ever think there will be a men-only team of leadership in the Labour party again. People would look at it and say, 'What? Are there no women in the party to be part of the leadership? Do men want to do it all themselves?' It just won't happen again.

I will feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as incompetent as some of the men who are already there.

The image of the unions is still not in tune with where we actually are, which is fifty-fifty men and women, with an increasing number of women at the top. I think it is changing, but I'm not complacent about this.

Politics need to stop treating women as a special-interest group.

In Canada, women's rights are a vital part of our effort to build a society of real equality - not just for some, but for all Canadians. A society in which women no longer encounter discrimination nor are shut out from opportunities open to others.

The list of women to potentially be on a major party ticket, in both parties, is embarrassingly short.

Women in politics are the hope of American politics. They are either going to break the control of the bosses or put the political parties out of business.

If there was a Liberal Democrat government, there clearly would be women in the Liberal Democrat Cabinet.

One of the things 'Cosmo' feels really strongly about is we need more women candidates running, and we need more women across the parties in D.C.

In politics, they found there were not enough females in the House of Commons, so they came up with the idea of shortlists having to have women on them.

I look forward to the day when half our homes are run by men and half our companies and institutions are run by women. When that happens, it won't just mean happier women and families; it will mean more successful businesses and better lives for us all.

As a husband and a father of two daughters, I want young women around the globe to have the same rights and opportunities as my daughters.

More countries have understood that women's equality is a prerequisite for development.

What is being called the UN 'gender architecture' is more like a shack. Women need a bigger global house if equality is ever to become a reality.

For me, a better democracy is a democracy where women do not only have the right to vote and to elect but to be elected.

In politics, the number of women in the cabinet has fallen and, if current poll trends continue and Labour loses a number of marginal seats, the number of female MPs is likely to drop significantly.

An interim government was set up in Afghanistan. It included two women, one of whom was Minister of Women's Affairs. Man, who'd she have to show here ankles to to get that job?

We're long past having to defend or explain why women should be on boards, given all the data that shows how companies with female as well as male directors perform better. It's unfortunate when companies with a large percentage of women constituents don't reflect that in their boardrooms.