Why feminists are smiling after the election results

Whatever your political allegiances there was one clear winner last night - in a historic general election result, women now make up nearly a third of parliament.

One hundred and eighty-nine women were elected yesterday, 42 more than in 2010, which was previously the best election for gender parity in parliament.

Given that in 102 seats there were no women candidates whatsoever, that’s an astonishing result.

The SNP, led by Nicola Sturgeon, has seen its female MP headcount skyrocket from 1 to 20.

Twenty-year old Mhairi Black (pictured above), the new MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire, is also the youngest member of parliament to be elected since 1667.

The new women MPs aren’t equally represented amongst different parties though. All seven women Lib Dem MPs in the last parliament have lost their jobs and the Tory MP male/female split is still 249 men to 66 women.

But the new parliament will also be the most diverse ever: it was also a good night for minority representation, with 41 non-white MPs winning election compared to 27 in 2010.

More: 11 ways to make the next general election more democratic