Why I need your vote in Labour Women's Network election

Picture: With my daughters outside Wembley. I love how football is no longer just a men's thing.

We live in an era when anti-women rhetoric is on the rise. Whether it’s the US President or online influencers, there’s a backlash against what once seemed like assured progress to women’s equality. We won’t put up with it. We won’t be silent.

I am standing in the Labour Women’s Network elections, to join the fight back. And I need your vote.

Early in my working life I benefitted from LWN training to get over my fear of public speaking. LWN still does amazing training and helped Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves get where they are today, but there’s so much more to do.

When I stood as an MP in Oxfordshire, I was the only woman on the ballot paper. Night after night I sat on hustings tables where not only the candidates but also often the Chair was male. Sometimes the only people asking questions were men too. This is symptomatic of the barriers that women - minoritised women even more so - still face in public life. I want to work with members of Labour Women’s Network to break them down.

As a long time Labour member, campaigner on women’s rights working for domestic abuse charities, and as someone who has been a board member for a small charity, I have the skills and experience to support LWN.

Whether we’re calling out the online misogyny faced by female candidates or making sure the lived economic and social realities of women are understood by the party, the work is urgent.

If you’re a member of Labour Women’s Network you’ll receive a ballot in your email inbox. Voting opens 11^th August. Please use one of your votes for me.

This is your network and I will always be keen to hear your ideas about how LWN can support you. Together we can be a force for equality!

PS. You can follow https://www.facebook.com/V4LabourWomensNetwork for campaign updates!