I am very proud to call myself a member of the Conservative Woman’s Organisation and on Thursday I joined their London branch to celebrate the one hundred years anniversary of their foundation. The CWO has witness the entire lifespan of women in parliament as on December 1st it will be exactly 100 years since Viscountess Astor took her seat for Plymouth Sutton. A century on, and I believe our imminent election is a real opportunity to see greater parity with more female MPs effecting real change in Westminster.
The event was evidence that the Conservative Party is by far the most representative and inclusive that it has ever been. Both guests, Chairman James Cleverly and London Mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey have Sierra Leone and Jamaican heritage respectively and I was really impressed with the calibre of their speeches. The message was clear, the more woman on the candidates’ list, the better the party will preform. At election time we will demonstrate a wider appeal to a cross section of society, and in office more effective policies, more beneficial and sympathetic to women’s interests in the UK. Furthermore, the ability to address problems from a female perspective can not be valued highly enough.
I believe that Brexit will continue to break down traditional electoral norms between the major parties. For example, I believe that more people than ever before will vote Tory in my area of Wakefield as only the Conservatives demonstrate a respect for the 2016 referendum result. Although many wards in the surrounding city voted in excess of 70% in favour of leave, their Labour representatives have disrupted leaving at every opportunity. Many constituencies once deemed safe on both sides are at are risk and this will provide new opportunities for ethnic minorities and women to contest their local seats with real chances of winning. I’m glad the Conservatives have recognised this, policies such as the Town’s fund, broadband renewal and local bus investment will benefit most in cities that until recently were considered very safe Labour heartland.
I am very excited to be part of the party at this important time. There were a number of very impressive and committed woman such as Victoria Borwick and the CWO London Chairman Gonul Daniels present on Thursday who are waiting patiently for their opportunity, they will be fantastic candidates. The state of the party is strong, bring on a general election and #AskHertoStand.
