By Jess McCabe | 6 May 2005, 15:56

OK, Fawcett have published the figures:

125 women MPs have been elected so far, a record number for the House of Commons.

Conservatives:

Number of women MPs up from 14 to 17, or 9% of their party.
At the current rate of change, it would take the Tories 400 years to achieve equal representation.

Liberal Democrats:

Number of women MPs up from 6 to 10, or 16% of their party.
It would take them 40 years to achieve equal representation

Labour:

Number of women MPs up from 94 to 98, or 28% of their party.
It would take them about 20 years to achieve equal representation.

A spokeswoman for the Fawcett Society said: \x93We warmly welcome the increased numbers of women in parliament. Nonetheless, there is no reason to be complacent yet as all parties still have a long way to go.

\x93Labour is particularly to be congratulated for increasing its numbers of women MPs even though it lost seats \x96 a clear vindication of its use of all-women shortlists.

\x93The Lib Dems have done well to almost double their numbers of women, but must not rest on their laurels as their proportion of women MPs is still only 16 per cent.

\x93The Tories may be celebrating large gains, but there is not much for those of us who believe there should be equal representation to celebrate in their results. They urgently need to address their failure to pick women for winnable seats \x96 or else they will look more and more out-of-touch compared to the other parties.”