Women for Independence /WFI/ published my blog, Sunday 12th June. I had no idea how women in public life, and specifically, politics would feature by the end of the week....
.............So particularly for Jo Cox but for all women everywhere..........
Reflections
on moving into political, public life…..
What a day, at
our National Council meeting in the Inchgarth Community Centre
Aberdeen. A
real honour for me to chair yesterday, but with all those #audacious women in
the hall, the debates around the EU, information on the Bay of Nigg Campaign,
TTIP and enthusing more women into public life, the day passed too quickly with
the sure knowledge that the debates would continue long past our all leaving.
We heard from Gillian
Martin, just one of the new intake MSPs, her experiences in campaigning and
listening to the subsequent discussions,
..............I
look forward to seeing other brave women
make the move into public life. I no longer belong to any political party and
have no desire to enter politics. But having listened to WFI discussion at local,
EdinWFI, National Committee and National Council level, I have great admiration
for those who have made that leap or plan to do so................
In Scotland, we
introduced a system of proportional representation with single transferable
voting (PR STV) in 2007. As part of the lead up to this ‘innovation’, various
advocates for change argued this would renew local politics and at the same
time provide new opportunities for women to be selected and elected. To be
honest, I can’t find any great evidence of sustained programmes and initiatives
and to bring this (‘new opportunities’) about.
By dint of (some)
research I’ve found that the 2012 Scottish local authority elections saw 297
(24.3%) women elected as councillors. It would appear then that there is
(still) a higher number of older, (aged 50+ ) councillors, and more men than
women. I’ve also discovered that in Scottish local government the vast majority
(93.75%) of council leaders are male according to COSLA, 2013.
But to play
devil’s advocate, does this lack of female politicians at this local level
matter? (Yes!) Do we need role models? (Yes!) So, do we need more women
standing in 2017? YES!
And listening
yesterday to the input, we had a frank discussion around some of the barriers
that hold women back in their pursuit of that local political life.
Financial: That same 2007
change brought about the introduction of a councillors ‘wage’, in the region of
£16,000.00. Most councillors would tell us it’s a full time job, so for some
that’s a very good salary. But if you are in employment, would you be taking a
‘hit’? Might your new role bring about life/home changes that require you to
expend more financially on home/family matters in the first instance.
Then, there’s ‘experience’. Just what is ‘experience’? Do you
have to be ‘experienced’ and do you have to be ‘political’ to be a politician?
We’re all ‘political’ in our own way. Use public transport? That’s political.
Many of us will have been through some or all of the educational system, or
have children, grandchildren in the system. That’s political. Using your
doctor’s surgery, the dentist, the hospital: it’s all political. So we will
have some experience of using local services, and possibly contributing at
various levels. Look at the volunteering work we do. But think of us, WFI
women. All of our campaigns, the engagement, the leafletting, the door
knocking, it’s all political and it’s all experience
Since
I don’t belong to a political party, I don’t know about their structures: are they entrenched, male,
pale and hierarchical? Or are there mechanisms designed to support, nurture and
promote? Do parties have training programmes for women and men considering the
move into public politics? Or is it sink or swim in the soup of meetings, with
subtle nuances that ‘newbies’ find difficult to negotiate? And how long do you
have to stay a ‘newbie’? Sadly yesterday
showed again that there are still current examples within parties of old style
power bases, sexism and cliques.
.................We
heard directly about the women hating, women baiting, women sniping we see when
sisters put their head above the parapet in various forms of public life? Social media and the media in general
has such a lot to answer for, How often do we sigh, cry, weep, and yes, fear,
as the bad, the very bad, the threats, the criminal, outweighs the good?......................
In all of this
maelstrom I believe there is a role for those of us on the side lines. When we know a sister needs support, no matter her party, her
affiliations, let’s find ways of providing that support. Within all that which
we know and see, it’s also good to remember it’s structures, systems,
processes, sexism, conditioning (to name but some) that needs challenged, called out, and
changed. Our experiences, our talents, our strengths, our gifts are there, and
outweigh the downsides.
But
what might be practical support? Courses? In what, where? How ‘local’ would any
‘courses/sessions’ need to be? What length: a few hours, Longer, day time,
evening, weekend? Or perhaps internet sessions: chat rooms, seminars, sharing
experiences, coping mechanisms. What of shadowing, amd mentoring, and not just
confined to the immediate political arena, but across various sectors? After
all, all experiences should be used to best advantage, no matter the setting.
..........At the beginning then, I used the words
‘brave’ and ‘admiration’ deliberately. I think you are brave and have nothing
but admiration for you...............
You
decide to make that leap, and let us make every effort to support you where and
when we can, where and when you need us. It’s what we all need to do, if we
truly want to do politics differently.
Gillian Martin MSP http://www.parliament.scot/
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