By Claire McGing, IRCHSS scholar, Dept of Geography, NUI Maynooth 

Women comprised just 15 per cent of women candidates in the 2011 general elections, but how did those that ran fare in comparison to their male colleagues in terms of voting patterns?

The table below shows first preference votes cast by candidate sex and party in February. Overall, female candidates courted slightly more first preference votes on average than male candidates, although this is in part explained by the large number of ‘no hoper’ non-partisan men. Looking at the five main political parties only, men received more first preference votes per head than women candidates, largely explained by incumbency, although the difference varied considerably between parties. The largest gap emerged for Sinn Féin, with male candidates winning nearly 2,000 more votes on average than their female colleagues. If women are polling less than men, and in the absence of a mandatory electoral gender quota, it could be argued that there is little incentive for parties to run more females on pragmatic grounds alone. On the other hand, women that ran as part of the ULA umbrella group won just over 700 more votes per head than male candidates, suggest that it would be worth their while to run more women in future elections. Independent women received marginally more than male independents.

Table: First preference vote by sex and party, 2011 election