‘More women Labour MPs than all the Tories combined – the election was a win for women’

Waking up on July 5th this year felt like a dream – and not just because barely anyone in the Labour Party had slept. After 19 long years, finally we had the prize of winning a general election.

Watching the results come in, I was delighted to see more and more of my sisters elected to join the women’s parliamentary Labour Party, ready to take their places on the green benches.

Following our success in May’s local and mayoral elections, seeing scores of women elected as councillors and metro mayors, it was a true moment of pride to see so many incredible women elected to represent their communities in our UK Parliament.

Today, as our National Annual Women’s Conference takes place, we have a chance to celebrate our diversity after the summer’s historic win – more women of colour elected, more LGBT women elected, more disabled women elected.

And what an achievement – more women Labour MPs than all the Tory MPs put together, elected across the country from Cornwall to Cowdenbeath.

READ MORE: ‘Women at the table – why Labour women’s voices matter’

‘We will ensure all parties are held accountable for who they put up for election’

But we can never be complacent when it comes to equality. So, we will safeguard our success, for the next Parliament, and the next after that.

We will ensure more of our sisters are elected in future elections, continuing to bring women’s voices to the heart of Government.

And we will enact Section 106 of our Equality Act, so that all political parties have to publish the gender split of their candidates.

Labour knows how this is done – we brought in all women’s shortlists, and we trained and supported women to run.

Our victory in 1997 was the first time women had held more than 10 percent of seats in the House of Commons.

In the Senedd, we had the first gender-balanced parliament in the world.

Now, 190 Labour women sit in the House of Commons. To build on this, we will spread our success and ensure all parties are held accountable for who they put up for election, shining a light on their deeds, not their words.

As Minister for Development and for Women and Equalities, it is an honour to work with talented women across government. The first ever gender-balanced Cabinet, with a female Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor, and many more!

READ MORE: Angela Rayner promises to deliver devolution across north of England

‘Female representation alone is not enough – it has to lead to policies with women at their heart’

Of course, female representation alone isn’t enough to guarantee change for women; it has to lead to policies with women at their heart. So that is what we will deliver.

We will halve the shameful levels of violence against women and girls allowed to proliferate under the Tories, with better support for survivors, and pursuit of perpetrators.

We will break down barriers to opportunity with better childcare, and more nurseries – we know that for too long under the Conservatives, the motherhood penalty cut deep, and too often unpaid caring falls to women.

We will fix our broken NHS and make it fit for the future, so women’s health isn’t neglected. We will tackle the health service’s longest waiting lists, in gynaecology, which skyrocketed under the last government.

And when it comes to the government’s central mission to grow our economy, we recognise that women’s economic empowerment is the key to unlocking growth. Under the Tories, women became £1200 worse off a year than they were in 2010. Labour will grow the economy and tackle the gender pay gap.

It was Labour’s Barbara Castle who first passed the Equal Pay Act over 50 years ago – following action by trade union sisters in Dagenham.  Then it was Labour who passed the Equality Act in 2010.

Today, we have more to do. Now we’re getting to work.

Labour conference

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