The campaign victories of 2014

As we start looking to the new year (or at least the bit before May), I thought it was time for a reminder of the campaign victories of 2014.

It’s been a bleak year in a lot of ways: a housing crisis, more eye-watering cuts, the rise of UKIP and human rights atrocities abroad.

But there have been significant wins too, none of which would have been possible without the hard work and determination of campaigners. Although Class is a policy think tank, all policy makers owe a huge debt to campaigners who start the conversations we need to start proposing legislative change.

The victories of 2014 show that even small actions can make huge differences to the real lives of thousands of people, and there is no excuse to stop fighting.

1.      Campaigners against the bedroom tax emphasised the terrible effect it was having on tenants. As a result, many exemptions were passed and Labour promised to repeal it if elected.

2.      After exhaustive campaigning by feminists, politicians overwhelmingly passed a bill to make companies reveal their gender pay gap.

3.      The OECD predicted tax havens will close by 2018. At the conference where this was announced, journalist Richard Brooks noted that campaigners had played the biggest part in raising the issue of tax avoidance.

4.      After the deaths of Michael Brown, Tamil Rice, and Eric Garner in the US, the #BlackLivesMatter movement exploded across the world and, this optimistic writer hopes, heralded the start of a new civil rights movement, which is already winning legislative changes.

5.      A group of mums from Stratford in London took on their local mayor, refused to be evicted, forced said mayor into an apology, and kicked off a series of housing campaigns across the capital.

6.      The Labour Party welcomed its first transgender candidate, Emily Brothers; just one of the many ways in which transgender rights have made progress this year. Long may it continue.

7.      Disability campaigners fought hard this year against government cuts and for better rights. In October, they secured a victory when Crossrail agreed to make all of its stations step free – a first step in making the whole London Underground fully accessible. In previous years, campaigners have won huge victories against the disproportionate effect cuts have on those with disabilities.

8.      Climate change was high on the agenda this year, with several significant deals made by governments to reduce emissions. None of this would have been possible without activists, though, who launched numerous incredible campaigns throughout the year. In October they persuaded the University of Glasgow to be the first in Europe to divest from fossil fuels.

9.      The first same sex marriages took place in the UK this year, thanks to the tireless efforts of LGBT campaigners. Not a moment too soon.

10.     Unite the Union scored a massive victory over holiday pay, which will force employers to count overtime when calculating holiday pay. Not only is this a blow for zero-hours contracts, it also shows how indispensable unions are to improving conditions for workers.

Ellie Mae O’Hagan is the Media and Communications Officer at Class