Emmeline Pankhurst descendant calls for gender-equal Parliament

Prof Helen Pankhurst wants to see a gender-equal parliament by 2028

The great-granddaughter of Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst is calling for more female MPs in the House of Commons.

Prof Helen Pankhurst, chancellor of the University of Suffolk, comes from a family of women's rights activists.

Continuing their legacy, she established Centenary Action, which is calling for a gender-equal Parliament.

Ms Pankhurst said: "If women aren't in that space, their interests are not taken into account in that way."

Emmeline Pankhurst was vital in securing women's rights to vote

Prof Pankhurst said she began to think and ask questions about women's rights after watching the BBC series Shoulder to Shoulder, which portrayed the suffragette movement and the Pankhurst family.

Her great-grandmother Emmeline Pankhurst founded the British suffragette movement in 1903 and helped women win the right to vote.

Speaking on International Women's Day, Prof Pankhurst continued: "Often it's a marker and in this case, we're focusing on political representation and the female voice because of the election in the UK - you realise how much still needs to be done."

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As of February, there were 225 women in the House of Commons, representing one third of its members.

"It's really not good enough. Parliament, of all places, should be the place that represents the whole of us, all of us, all citizens, not just some of them," said Prof Pankhurst.

Centenary Action has brought together women from a host of organisations and political parties, who have pledged to support actions that will deliver a gender-equal parliament by 2028.

"Different parties will have different strategies and it's up to them to develop their own, but they need to commit to ensuring that their parties, and therefore Parliament, overall reaches that [goal]," said Prof Pankhurst.

"Whatever way you get involved politically, the importance is that you do, and that together we get that change."