David Prosser: Use law to put women in the boardroom

Outlook How do we improve women's woeful under-representation on the boards of Britain's big companies? That was the debate over lunch between Theresa May, the minister in charge of women's affairs, and business leaders yesterday.

The Government has already asked Lord Davies to investigate this question and Britain shouldn't beat itself up too badly. A survey published by recruitment consultancy Egon Zehnder yesterday reveals that, at 13.3 per cent, the number of women on the boards of large companies is higher than the European average of 12.2 per cent. And the other large economies of Europe – Germany, France, Spain and Italy – all score worse than us.

On the other hand, what's really noticeable about the survey is that only in Scandinavia are women anything like properly represented, with Norway topping the table on 31.9 per cent. That's almost certainly because Scandinavian governments have passed legislation to force companies to act, rather than just hosting lunches to talk about the problem.