Labour Women Leading was established in 2016 to support the Corbyn project and particularly socialist feminist Labour members and candidates. We have an elected committee and a nationwide supporters’ list (with active groups in the North West and West Midlands), and an agreed procedure for endorsing and supporting women candidates. We organise conference fringe meetings, training sessions and an annual AGM.
This year has of course been different in many respects. Like others on the left, we were dismayed by the General Election result and then by the failure to agree a left slate for the NEC by-elections. There was nevertheless plenty of enthusiasm to continue the struggle. We applied and were accepted as members of the Centre-Left Grassroots Alliance and, whilst we had some misgivings about the inclusivity of the slate-making process, we are actively supporting the six candidates on the agreed NEC left slate.
This summer has also seen a series of successful discussion meetings on Zoom, starting with “The structural role of racism” in June, “Women and Build Back Better” and “Violence against Women is a Pandemic too” in July, “Women, education and Covid-19: who’s paying the cost?” in August, and lastly “Can women save the planet?” in September.
We have received regular reports from members of the NEC and the Women’s Conference Arrangements Committee, and we salute their efforts to secure a meaningful digital women’s event on 19th September and a stand-alone Women’s Conference in 2021. We also look forward to the introduction of new democratic party structures proposed by the Democracy Review. We plan to hold a digital fringe meeting around the time of this year’s women’s event.
This year’s covid-delayed AGM and training session is scheduled for Saturday 17th October on Zoom, and more details will be available shortly. There are several ways of contacting us: email – labourwomenleading@gmail.com; facebook and Twitter @labourwomenlead.
Ruth Clarke is Secretary of Labour Women Leading