Cameron is slammed for female board quota call
A SUGGESTION by David Cameron that quotas could be introduced to force an increase in the number of women on UK boards has been met with criticism, after the Prime Minister suggested that the country’s economic recovery is being held back by a lack of women in top jobs.
Speaking at a summit in Stockholm, Cameron said he was keen to “accelerate” the process of getting more women onto FTSE boards, and said he could not “rule out quotas” if targets were not met.
Last year a comprehensive report led by Lord Davies called for FTSE 350 companies to boost the percentage of women at their board tables to 25 per cent by 2015.
But according to research by executive search firm Norman Broadbent, if boards continue to change at their current rate, the FTSE 100 will miss Lord Davies’ target by two years.
The Institute of Economic Affairs hit out at Cameron’s latest comments, with director general Mark Littlewood saying: “Proposals to force companies to increase the number of women on boards are extremely ill-advised… Burdensome overregulation of this kind is not a driver of economic growth.”