'To the surprise of absolutely no one': Gendered political leadership change in Northern Ireland. (May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Matthews, Neil; Whiting, Sophie
• Is Part Of: British journal of politics and international relations. Volume 24:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 224
• Page End: 242
• Publication Date: 2022-05
• Subjects: consociationalism -- Democratic Unionist Party -- gender -- gendered opportunity structures -- intra-party democracy and organisation -- nationalism -- Northern Ireland -- political party leadership -- post-conflict -- power sharing -- Sinn Fein; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1997-2007 -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- 1945- -- Periodicals; 320.094105
• DOI: 10.1177/13691481211018308
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1369-1481

Abstract

The office of political party leader remains one that women rarely occupy. In the largest comparative study of party leadership to date, only 10.8% were women. One region which has made significant advances in this area is Northern Ireland. Since 2015, the two largest parties, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party, have experienced a rapid feminisation of their leadership. Such a development is particularly remarkable given Northern Ireland's historically poor record on gender equality. This article explores the puzzle of gendered leadership change in Northern Ireland to reveal that the transition was primarily facilitated through the parties' informal practices rather than embedded structural change. In doing so, it demonstrates the relative importance of party- and system-level factors on women's political presence. As a power-sharing democracy, this case also provides comparative insights for those interested in addressing persistently low levels of female representation in post-conflict settings.