‘Women’s voices still need to be more prominent in politics’

Two months ago, hundreds of women marched down Park Street, through sleet and rain, and onto College Green to celebrate the centenary of some women winning the right to vote.

We marked suffragette activists’ achievements and applauded the accomplishments of the Bristol Women’s Commission, who secured hundreds of thousands of pounds to put on a year of events to continue to educate and inspire.

With slogans and speeches, we recognised that women’s voices still need to be more prominent in politics and that more needs to be done to eliminate gendered inequalities such as the pay and progression gap, gendered violence and workplace harassment.

Labour led the way in introducing all women shortlists in the party to deliver greater gender balance and bring a wider range of voices and experiences to decision-making. As a result, in 1997, more women were elected as MPs than ever before.

In 2016, Labour locally had similar successes with women standing in wards across the city. More women were elected for Labour than for all the other parties put together.

Marvin Rees, our mayor, has gone on to appoint a city cabinet which is two-thirds women and is more reflective of Bristol than any executive which has gone before it. We are close to equal representation on our side of the council chamber, and are redoubling efforts to better engage and represent.

Working together, Bristol Labour’s women councillors have been crucial to passing a budget which draws down reserves, generates additional income, and cuts in-house costs like City Hall senior management to protect front-line council services at a time of Tory austerity.

A collective of Labour councillors hit out at proposed NHS cuts that they argued would have a discriminatory impact on women

Labour women are playing our full part in an administration which is delivering for Bristol, including:

–          Transformative adult social care reforms.

–          Winning u-turns on planned local NHS cuts to IVF and breast cancer reconstruction surgery.

–          Keeping open every single children’s centre.

–          Securing UNESCO City of Film status.

–          Investing extra in crisis prevention and children’s homes.

–          Providing more publicly-accessible toilets than  before.

–          Backing City of Sanctuary’s ‘Dignity Not Destitution’ refugee pledge.

Our Labour group leader and councillor for Lawrence Hill Marg Hickman, working alongside our cabinet member for women, Helen Godwin, and members of the local Bristol Labour Party, such as Jane Britton and Carol Billinghurst, are continuing to lead the way.

This week, in City Hall, Labour hosted a reception for dozens of women to encourage them to consider standing to be Labour councillors and make a difference for the city we all call home.

There’s also more to do on how we better draw on all the diversity of Bristol’s talent, and my colleague Afzal Shah’s call this week for all-BAME (black, Asian, and minority ethnic) shortlists is an interesting contribution to this debate.

We welcome women candidates from  all backgrounds and age groups. Whatever skills and experience you may have will be appreciated, but we offer training and you will learn on the job.

All that you need is commitment, passion, and desire to serve one’s community. If anyone is interested in learning more about being a councillor, I would encourage them to reach out to Marg, Helen, or myself ahead of the local party starting to accept applications from prospective candidates this summer.

Marg Hickman

Harriet Bradley is the Labour party councillor for Brislington West ward and serves as the women’s officer for the Bristol Labour Group on Bristol City Council.

Main image by Evoke Pictures.

Read more: A woman’s place is in Parliament