International Women’s Day – #AskHerToStand

100 years since women got the vote, and Parliament still woefully lags behind in terms of gender equality.

Whilst there are more women in Parliament than ever before, we are still on 32% of the Commons. We languish at 49th in the world for the number of women in Parliament. At this rate it will take 50 years to achieve gender equality in Parliament. 100 years after women won the right to vote 50:50 are aiming to achieve better gender balance in Parliament sooner than this.

I was thrilled to join 50:50 Parliament earlier this year as an Ambassador and Liberal Democrat representative. We work together as a cross-party team, with the aim of getting more women from across the political spectrum to stand and win Parliamentary seats.

So what can you do to make a gender balanced Parliament a reality, and to make it happen in less than 50 years?

1. #AskHerToStand - know a woman who would be brilliant in Parliament? Ask her. Encourage her. Support her. An easy way to do this is through 50:50's #AskHerToStand website. She'll receive an email with a message from you about why she should take the plunge. 50:50 can also offer support through events and mentoring. If you're asking a Lib Dem woman to stand, make sure you point her to the Campaign for Gender Balance. They can train and mentor on everything from improving public speaking; managing a campaign team to winning a selection.

2. Support women candidates at all levels in the party - 50:50 focuses on Parliament, but we don't have enough women at all levels of Government. A study from IPPR in 2017 showed that only 33% of councillors and 17% of council leaders are women. In my own area of Tower Hamlets it is particularly stark. Out of 45 councillors, only 12 are women. The official opposition party is entirely male. There are women up and down the country that are running for office and rebuilding their local parties. You can read more about 17 of them on Lib Dem Expand here: https://libdemexpand.co.uk/2018/02/06/100-years-since-women-first-got-the-vote/It helpfully includes links to their Fighting Funds as well.

3. Are women getting the space to shine in your area? Jo Swinson talks eloquently in her book "Equal Power" about the emotional labour that women do. In workplaces and families, this the role women often take on to make sure there is 'glue' that holds a team together. This is everything from organising birthday cards; mentoring junior people to making sure there are events to bring people together. Think about who is doing this on your campaign and in your local party. Is it women who organise or host most of the non-campaign events? Who does most of the welcoming and introducing people to each other? Who does the bulk of the tea-making? If this work is skewed towards one woman or a small group of them, consider how you can change your team to stop this happening and to give those women more opportunities to shine at other things. Our party doesn't have enough women in roles throughout the party. I rarely meet women agents, and I know of two campaign officer roles advertised recently that had no female candidates. We need to give women experience and opportunities at the many different roles in campaigns and in the party, and make sure they're not just doing the emotional labour that brings a team together.

Finally, a big thanks to Dipa Vaya, who in true #AskHerToStand fashion messaged me to say 50:50 were looking for someone from the Lib Dems to work with and that she thought I'd be fab. It is amazing what a few words of encouragement can do for you!

* Elaine Bagshaw was the candidate for Poplar and Limehouse in the 2017 General Election. She is a former chair of Liberal Youth and a past member of the Federal Executive.