On Saturday afternoon, at the Women's Conference, I went to the panel on Women in Leadership, which was chaired by Olivia Bailey.
The panel also included the MPs Cat Smith and Jess Phillips. Another speaker was Nan Sloane, Director of the Centre for Women and Democracy and coach for the Women in Leadership programme. A suprise visitor to the session was Dawn Butler, Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities.
Cat Smith said that women's representation in the PLP was not yet 50%. For that reason, all-women shortlists were still needed. She highlighted the problem of abuse targeted at women on social media. The message from Labour is one of zero tolerance. Women need to stand with their sisters. BAME members suffer worse abuse than other women. We also still need to deal with old-fashioned sexism. (When standing for selection as a candidate, Cat Smith was asked how she planned to get her children's tea on the table.) Her message was we should call out examples of abuse and sexism. We need to stand with our sisters. We need to encourage other women and particularly those that aren't like us.
Jess Phillips had lost her voice and said she might have to make her points using interpretive dance. She encouraged the women delegates to ask other women to stand, e.g. in council elections where women are still underrepresented. She argued that quotas are needed for council and mayoral elections and that Labour is looking for ways to legislate to ensure that women are adequately represented.
The session informed about the Labour Women's network and encouraged women to join (see information at http://lwn.org.uk) and about the Jo Cox Women in Leadership programme.
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