New UK passport at centre of sexism row after featuring seven men but only two women

Shadow minister Emily Thornberry complained that the new passport features seven men but only two women

The new passport was unveiled by immigration minister James Brokenshire on Tuesday morning (PA)

Ministers have been accused of sexism over the new UK passport, with shadow minsiter Emily Thornberry complaining that it features seven men but only two women.

The new passport, which has a makeover every five years, has been created under the theme of "Creative United Kingdom" and celebrates the achievements of Britain's artists, architects, authors and comuter programmers over the last 500 years.

The Labour MP used the hashtag "#weexist" to highlight the lack of gender equality in the list of nine famous Brits featured in the new-look passport.

It echoes a similar sexism row in 2014 when social reformer Elizabeth Fry was dropped from £5 notes in favour of Sir Winston Churchill. It sparked a campaign by feminist activist Caroline Criado-Perez to get Jane Austen featured on £10 notes.

The seven men featured are:

• The painter John Constable
• John Harrison, the inventor of the marine timekeeper
• The architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
• Charles Babbage, the inventor of the computer
• William Shakespeare, the playwright 
• The two sculptors Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor

The two women featured are:

• The architect Elisabeth Scott
• Computer programmer Ada Lovelace

Shakespeare is heavily featured in the design of the new passport, and Immigration minister James Brokenshire chose Shakespeare's Globe theatre in central London to launch the new design. Two high-security watermarks of the playwright appear on each page of the passport.

James Brokenshire, the Immigration minister, launches the new-look passport at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London

Mark Thomson, Her Majesty’s Passport Office Director General, said: "I am proud to launch the new United Kingdom passport which celebrates the creativity of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the past 500 years to the present day.

"Not only are we constantly striving to stay one step ahead of those who seek to undermine the passport, but we have created a document that marks just some of the greatest creative achievements in the UK."