Welsh Labour Leadership — Only men allowed — Cllr Debbie Wilcox
Just in case we hadn’t noticed: it’s the 21st Century.
You might laugh at that but it looks like a lot of people haven’t noticed. Though I’ve debated many times on the issues relevant to my work, I’ve never been one to mince my words when it comes to equality.
It’s been 100 years since some women got the vote. The Suffragettes fought hard for our rights. Those women put their lives on the line so that we could enjoy our democratic rights. In 2018, our Carwyn [Jones] honoured this by calling for a feminist government.
It’s a bit rich then that our same government is now running the risk of not even having a woman on the ballot for the election of our leader!
Imagine the scenario: September comes and the other parties in the Assembly have had their contests; Leanne Wood leads Plaid, Suzie Davies leads the Tories, and Mandy Jones leads UKIP but Labour doesn’t even have a woman in the competition. Nightmare. A painful one but a nightmare that’s looking all too real.
As a woman, I’ve faced my fair share of sexism in pursuing political answers. As women, we meet sexism at every juncture. I’m not saying that there’s wilful sexism in the leadership election but I am saying that something is wrong with the way we’re handling this.
If we want a feminist government, equality, and diverse representation, it isn’t enough to only have men on the ballot. As this is not possible under the current rules of the competition, the competition needs to change. We need a woman on the ballot and Eluned Morgan is it.
In the Lords, the EU Parliament, and in the Assembly, Eluned has proved herself to be an ally time and time again. Not just an ally to women but to all under-represented communities.
Women’s Officers are calling for a woman on the ballot and now so am I. I’m calling on AMs to come forward and nominate Eluned so we can ensure a woman’s perspective feeds into the debate.
Let’s have one less suit, one less man - let’s have a real competition and hear Eluned’s ideas.