Lead the party, lead the country and lead for women

We have at least a 50% chance that the next leader of the Labour party is going to be a woman. We have a 60% chance that our deputy will once again be a woman. That’s maths. (My ancestry, however would not forgive me if I didn’t point out that it’s not very good maths and doesn’t take into account the many, many other variables that give each candidate more or less of a shot at each role.)

But whether the next leader is a man or a woman (and as a genuine floating voter, I am yet to decide which gender my eventual candidate of choice will be) they will lead a Party that has always led the way on gender equality in Parliament and in the wider country. And proudly so. We have a more balanced Parliamentary Party than any other with women making up 43% of our MPs.

Women and men are not alien from each other nor are they incapable of representing each others interests. So whoever leads (and deputises for)  the party will have to lead for the whole country no matter their age, ethnicity (though this sadly is not in doubt (neither is their status as able bodied) – something the Labour Party should be concerned by), class, sexual orientation or indeed gender. But women as a class do experience society differently from men and so it is important that their voices are heard and represented at every level in the Party.

This is why the Labour Women’s Network are making sure that we are pressing the candidates on these issues throughout the campaign.

We will be asking all the candidates to answer  the following four quite simple questions:

1. Will you actively defend the principle and implementation of All Women Shortlists for both Parliamentary and council seats, and support other positive action measures where appropriate?
2. Will you ensure 50:50 membership of Labour’s Shadow Cabinet/Cabinet and enforce fair representation throughout local government?
3. Will you support the institution of a comprehensive policy against sexual harassment in the Labour Party covering staff, elected representatives, activists and members?
4. Will you join LWN as a member/supporter and sign the LWN #powerpledge – www.lwn.org.uk/powerpledge

At the moment we are asking for quite simple YES/No answers to these questions and will share them with you all as they are provided. Whatever they are. And we will be interviewing the candidates to tease these answers out further. All interviews will be posted online and you can see a schedule of who has agreed here.

Like myself individually, LWN aren’t backing any candidates. We are asking them all to back women in our Party and will hold their feet to the fire to ensure that they do so. And the work will not end on September 12th. Because whether the candidates agree with the actions we are asking for now or not, we will continue to campaign to ensure that the Labour Party maintains and builds on it’s strong reputation for gender equality.

We will also work with friends across our movement to ensure that more women from BAME backgrounds, more working class women and more women with disabilities are encouraged to come through and succeed in our Party at every level. Not just because it is the right thing to do (though it is) but because to reconnect with the country we seek to lead we have to reflect it back in all its diverse glory.