Derek, the LabourSisters are done with you…for now!

By Rowenna Davis

Alas it is time to take Derek Draper out of the cupboard, remove the gaffer tape and reinstate him as editor of LabourList.

As I sign off as guest editor, I hope that I have not smeared too much virtual feminist custard over this Laddish Labour site, and that – despite posts celebrating the occupation of DWP, the gunging of the Labour Lord and the radical feminists calling for the resignation of Ms Harman – Derek is able to convince everyone that his site is Labour supporting and is really getting somewhere.

Because – despite all my rhetoric on the dick waving bloke-o-sphere and the valid points that have been made on women’s marginalisation – Derek did genuinely manage to “let go” of the reigns and make space for some fantastic feminist debate. Although I’d never say it to his face, I am very grateful for the opportunity (and to Alex Smith, who – if anyone didn’t know it already – is the real puppet-master of this office).

To finish off the International Women’s Day series, we’ll have a powerful piece on this morning’s news from Northern Ireland from a young Ulsterwoman. Please keep your eyes open for that one over the next couple of days.

With all this, I sincerely hope things don’t go back to normal after my departure. The female contributor list has been expanded, women commentators have increased and a women’s group blog has been launched. There is no longer any excuse for not asking more women to post on LabourList, nor for failing to link to their sites. International Women’s Day is great, but female voices need to be heard 365 days a year. Hopefully now the lads’ stranglehold on the site has been broken, ListerSisters can start doing it for themselves.

Thanks again to all our contributors including Nesrine Malik, Stella Creasy, Sadie Smith (you can’t out-tweet-this-sister-labour-lister) , Anne Perkins, Joy Johnson, Laurie Penny, Fiona Millar, Senay Nihat, Anne-Marie O’Reilly, Anna-Helga Horrox, Rachel Reeves, Rebecca Galbraith, Harriet Harman, Jessica Asato, Leila Deen, Mary Honeyball and Holly Sutton, Glenis Willmott, Seema Malhotra, and all the list readers who have been contributing to the debate.