Why do we need a women’s conference?

By Kate Green MP

Looking ahead to this weekend and the start of conference, I’m personally delighted that we’re repeating last year’s successful women’s summit, that it’s even more popular than last year, and that we will extend it to a whole day. But out there in the twittersphere, there are grumblings about the event. Why do we need a women’s conference, the mutterers ask, why is it that men can’t attend?

Over the summer, I’ve been involved in a number of meetings for women party members, and for women in my constituency, to hear what they have to say. These have been vibrant, informative and energetic events – women really want to speak out.

There’s a clear pattern to the topics and subjects they’ve raised – and the way that they’re discussed. Not surprisingly, there’s been lots about cuts to public services, about making ends meet and the future for our young people, about pensions, about balancing work and care. But themes around women’s security, about autonomy, and about women’s participation – inside our party and in wider society – have come out strongly too. There’s a clear sense that women feel we need to fight harder for a greater recognition of women’s experiences and interests, and to bring about the society they want to live in.

Listening to women really matters for our party, and for our overall policy process, something I think even those who have question the need for a women’s conference would agree with. The women I’ve been meeting over the summer have talked about issues that we might have thought as a party we already had covered, but from a distinct and female perspective there is clearly more to be done. I’ve gained some valuable intelligence and insights from the women I’ve been listening to, and I know the party would too.

For example, at these events, crime and disorder has been related to women’s own sense of physical safety, and led to fascinating policy suggestions on planning, on public transport, and on facilities and opportunities for young people. Changes to women’s pension arrangements were contrasted with employment prospects for young people, and led to some thoughtful ideas about balancing working and caring, about promoting health and wellbeing among older people, and about rights at work and how the labour market should respond to demographic change. A discussion of the economy and the impact on family budgets had women describing how they’re cutting back on hairdressing appointments and going out for a coffee, and the impact that in turn will have on jobs and the local economy.

All this might seem a trivial or over-personalised way to look at wider socio-economic challenges, but it offers a real insight into the effect of the government’s policies, and the way people think about them affecting their lives. This is not an irrelevant point – our party needs to hear and respond in kind if we’re to develop and communicate policies that resonate with the electorate.

And it’s been at dedicated women-only events that these points have come out in this way, literally telling us what it is that voters want to hear. When women find their voice, they tell us much that we need to know, but they need the right forum in which they can speak.

So a summit dedicated to women’s important, not as separate from, but as part of the policy-making process, of which conference is (or at least should be) the party’s supreme decision-making body. It’s good therefore that the women’s summit will sit right alongside conference, and, rather than resenting its existence, the party should seize on the intelligence and information it brings.

I believe we have a real opportunity to listen to the messages that emanate from the women’s summit this weekend, and mainstream them into our campaigning and strategy. That’s why I’ll be listening closely on Saturday, and why, as Vice Chair of the National Policy Forum, I will be working hard to ensure that the priorities that come out of it are fed into the party’s policy review, and that the party demonstrates how they’ve been pursued.

Women have much that’s important to tell us, much that matters for our party, for our policies and for political success. The women’s summit has a vital role in ensuring their views are heard, and I look forward to writing again for LabourList on Saturday to report back on the main themes from the day.