Tim Ridgway rightly points out that Parliament needs to change in order to attract more women to serve as MPs (“Why is Parliament still no place for my mum?” April 14).

Only around one-fifth of MPs are currently women.

Britain ranks 53rd in the world in terms of the percentage of women MPs in our Parliament, behind countries such as Rwanda and Afghanistan, and more than 350 constituencies have never had a woman MP.

That matters, not only as an equalities issue but also because, if half the population is excluded from decision-making over policies that affect us all, it’s hardly surprising that those policies frequently fail to take into account women’s priorities.

As well as measures such as the introduction of better childcare, all-women short-lists and perhaps even more radical proposals like job-sharing (which could enable more people to consider a role in Parliament, including those with disabilities or caring responsibilities), we urgently need to change the way we do politics itself.

That means changing the culture of Westminster so that constructive engagement takes the place of macho posturing and the House of Commons becomes a beacon of best practice as a workplace, rather than an embarrassing anachronism.

It also means changing the voting system to one of proportional representation and introducing a right of recall so that all MPs are fully accountable to their electorates and safe seats become a thing of the past.

It’s an ambitious agenda but a crucial one if Parliament is to look more like the people it is meant to represent and to begin the long process of regaining the trust of the electorate.

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion