ONE of the issues that keeps coming up in international political debate is the need for more women in politics. It is not that there have never been any outstanding women politicians. In the Caribbean there have been towering figures like Guyana’s Janet Jagan, Dominica’s Eugenia Charles and Jamaica’s own Portia Simpson Miller. But overall the numbers are small.

The Commonwealth would like to see at least 30 per cent women politicians in each legislature. But the majority of Commonwealth countries have nowhere near that number of women. Even Britain itself has only 22 per cent women in the House of Commons.

The question often asked is, “What does it matter what gender a politician is?” What should matter is talent. But in an era of deep cynicism about politicians, many people think it is important that politicians reflect the society as a whole. They shouldn’t just be interchangeable middle-aged men apparently in for what they can get. Otherwise many people, particularly young people, will find it increasingly difficult to relate to politicians as a class and politics in general.

Politicians should look like the societies they seek to represent; and that means at least 50 per cent women. But the argument is not just one of simple social justice. As someone who has served in the British legislature for over 20 years I would venture to suggest that women politicians tend to bring a particular skill set to politics that is sorely needed.

Recently an American congressman had to resign from office because he repeatedly sent (tweeted) young women photographs of his penis. It is difficult to imagine a woman politician being so silly or so self-obsessed. Women politicians generally are far less likely to be caught up in sex scandals.

Generally speaking, we do not delude ourselves that young people of the opposite sex are interested in us for anything other than our political status. But male politicians repeatedly get into trouble because they assume that much younger women must be dazzled by them sexually.

And women politicians (whatever their party) tend to be more conscientious, more practical and more people-orientated. Women politicians tend to see politics as an extension of family and community life. Men are more likely to see it as an extension of sports.

But once you accept that it would be desirable to have more women in politics, the question is, how do you go about it? It is striking that in the Caribbean, where women are doing so well in so many areas like law and public service, they are still so under-represented in politics.

Some people, both here in Britain and in the Caribbean, argue that women do not go into politics because they have too much common sense. Wisely they keep away from the shouting, the posturing and the nonsense. This is a persuasive argument. But it is noticeable that women do not keep out of politics altogether.

All over the Caribbean political parties are kept together by the energies and efforts of women. They are there in the background, but just not in leadership roles.

The British experience may shed some light on what the Caribbean could do. Although there are still only 22 per cent women in the British Parliament, in the last decade the number has doubled. This did not happen by chance or by people wringing their hands and saying how nice it would be to have more women MPs.

Instead, in the 1990s women in the British Labour Party and its affiliated trade unions fought a long campaign to have positive action to secure more women MPs. The system that was finally settled on was to choose half of the most winnable parliamentary seats and then the national party insisting that those local parties choose a woman candidate. This was a controversial policy, not least amongst “favourite son” politicians who had been nursing a constituency for years. But it worked.

The number of Labour women MPs went from 21, when I was first elected in 1987, to over 100 in 1997. Positive action by the Labour Party also had another effect; it forced the opposing Conservative party to take action. The Conservatives insisted that they were not going to adopt formal affirmative action. But Prime Minister Cameron realised that his party was going to look irredeemably old-fashioned without more women in its ranks and he put unprecedented pressure on local parties to adopt women. The result is that the Conservative party in Britain currently has more women members of parliament than at any time in its history.

The moral of the British experience is, whether you have formal affirmative action or intense behind-the-scenes pressure, party leaders have to lead on this issue. But the time is long overdue when political parties around the world should reflect the best and the brightest of the entire society, not just the best and the brightest men.