We have a new political party, the Women’s Equality Party.
Sandi Toksvig, one of the founders, says that the turn out at the last election was so poor and many women didn’t vote. Perhaps this will give them a chance of representation even if they only take votes away from the other main parties. They’ve already had an effect in that quotas for women are suddenly in the news and PM David Cameron is talking about equality.
Perhaps a party representing women’s equality could field more of its members into Parliament; it’s never going to happen through the current main parties. Women in both the Cabinet and in parliament are probably at an all time low.
This year, the speaker at Women of the Year Foundation was Baroness Shirley Williams, 88, one of the ‘Gang of Four’ rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party in 1981. Shirley Williams made many interesting points. Not only would some MPs refuse to speak to her as a woman, but on one occasion an MP was so embarrassed by the topic under debate, he told her not to ‘trouble her pretty little head about it’.
It was the vote on homosexuality.
Several prominent women have mentioned the importance of the family in women’s success. Most people will remember Shirley Williams’ mother, a feminist, pacifist and author of ‘Testament of Youth’, as one of the first suffragettes and feminists.
However, she credits her father with encouraging her to ‘climb to the top of the bookshelves’. His encouragement strengthened her self-belief. She believed she was good enough to be an MP, but interestingly not Prime Minister. She believes that the greatest challenge facing women today is their self-confidence, but another is that it is difficult to get people to vote for a female leader.
You don’t have to go very far north to see a country with strong female leaders. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland may be a better role model than former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, but you can’t argue that they are both strong women.
The Irish also have a proud tradition of female leaders, from Mary McAleese to Mary Robinson and yet in many ways, Ireland is one of the most traditional countries.
Recent women interviewed have credited their strength of mind, opinion and their abilities to argue their case on the hours spent with their fathers, discussing politics. The most prominent being former Speaker, Betty Boothroyd; Rashada Harry, one of WeAreTheCity’s Rising Stars last year; and Patricia Hay-Justice, the Mayor of Croydon.
The space scientist and communicator, Maggie Aderin-Pocock also credits her father, who had four daughters.
He told her, “if you become a nurse, you could marry a doctor”, but Maggie had other ideas. In Chile, Maggie single-handedly assembled the largest telescope and now co-presents ‘The Sky At Night’.
Not that we’ve not forgotten the mothers, but that’s subject for another article.
One of the common themes for this year is the strength and support of the family, as mentioned by Julia Gillard, the first Australian woman Prime Minister, whose family moved her to another country for her health. Family support and education: two themes that are really important for all women across the globe.
The next Women of the Year lecture is to be held at the Royal Institution, another male bastion, having had only one woman director who was treated similarly to Julia Gillard. This year, the lecture is by Steve Shirley, an early pioneer in IT.
There are wonderful women; they just don’t get the press or the publicity. Let’s hear it for the women. Our new party is certainly going to raise women’s profile.
©2016 ionthecity.com
