Get a (Public) Life

This year marks two important dates for women’s suffrage in the UK. The 90th anniversary of women over 30 getting the right to vote and the 80th anniversary of women getting the vote aged 21 on a par with men

It was with this in mind that I attended an event hosted by Harriet Harman, the Minister for Women and Equality, to launch a new taskforce to help more women of colour to become councillors, and so make councils more representative of the community they serve. We’ve reported on this here.

This is an initiative that I'm delighted to support, but I would take this further and say we need to get more women of colour onto public bodies too. Public bodies have a role in shaping and influencing our society and making decisions that affect all our lives. Surely these decisions are more effective when made by those who reflect the society we live in?

Whether it’s the National Consumer Council, or regional bodies such as Havering Primary Care, the more women of colour we see in positions of power like this, the more our voices will be heard and the diversity of our society will be properly reflected. What’s equally important is that young people also realise that this is another route to leadership that is open to them too.

Precious will be working with the Government Equalities Office to put Harriet Harmon’s initiative in the spotlight, and we'll make sure the issue of women on public bodies is high on the agenda too!