We have a long way to go on gender equality, but today we should praise the Labour Party

Our Shadow Cabinet is now almost balanced in terms of gender. This is a great place for us to be. We have a plethora of talented women taking the Labour case to the electorate.

This is important morally – women make up half the country – and of course politics at every level should reflect that. When it doesn’t women suffer. The effects of austerity under this male dominated government has been much harder for women than it has been for their male counterparts. Having women to make the case in government is important in policy terms as much as it is important that girls grow up with great role models.

It is also vital politically. Women may well determine the outcome of the next election. The decisive women’s vote helped Labour to our three previous victories – and it was the loss of this vote that brought about our defeat last time. Women cannot be ignored and we must not be sidelined.

Women don’t vote because they see women in the cabinet. Like everyone else they vote on the issues they care about, their perceptions of the parties, their leaders and senior politicians and the local candidate, and on the balance between their hopes and fears.

But having a diverse shadow cabinet (and we should have more representation from ethnic minorities, the disabled and across the class spectrum too – our commitment to diversity should not start and end with gender) means we hear a more diverse range of voices and experiences. This makes for better policy making. The current cabinet is made up of far too many people whose experiences are far too similar. No wonder they are so unable to empathise with those affected by their cuts or by the cruelty of measures like the Bedroom Tax.

Finally, it is important because Miliband made a promise that he would have a balanced Shadow Cabinet. Politicians should keep their promises. David Cameron also made a promise to have at least a third of women in his Cabinet. He has signally failed to do so. Nick Clegg has not appointed a single woman at Cabinet level and with his last reshuffle having taken place will not do so. So much for the Liberal Democrats.

It is worth examining why we are able to keep this promise in a way other parties cannot. We have a number of highly talented women in our party at Shadow Cabinet and Shadow ministerial level – at least in part – because we have been committed long term to developing women in the Party. Measures like AWS and balances within delegations and at CLP level have meant women have long been encouraged to develop their political talent within the Party. That’s how you build an equal talent pool to draw from. It doesn’t start with token changes at the top. It starts with grass roots culture change at all levels. That’s what the Labour Party has – largely if not wholly successfully – been doing for many years.

In the early days of Ed’s leadership, he made a point of talking about our desperate need for a different kind of politics. A politics that recognises the important voice of women would indeed be different. A politics where leaders keep their promises on gender equality would be different. A politics where I can stop writing about gender equality because it is no longer an issue would be different.

We’re a long way from there yet. I’m sure I’ll have several columns on this to come – and some where I am angry with my own party as much as the others.  But today is a day to praise the Labour Party and Ed Miliband. We are keeping an important promise – one others have failed on. That’s important and I for one think we should take a moment to celebrate it.

Emma Burnell is Contributing Editor of LabourList