Like so many others, I was charmed into social activism and identity politics when Jeremy Corbyn won the 2015 leadership election. At 17, passionately shouting the monotonous chants of ‘oh, Jeremy Corbyn’ at the 2017 Durham Miner’s Gala, it marked the beginning of my socialist awakening, firmly rooted within my North-East mining heritage.
As cliché as it is, I had my reservations, declining a number of Labour membership forms. My enthusiasm was inarguable, delighted when David Miliband walked into the popular home town restaurant where I worked as a full-time waitress, practically begging my boss to let me serve his table. I was no stranger to the crippling effects of Tory austerity in my community, with the Save South Tyneside Hospital campaign the topic of conversation in those days. But fast forward two years, swapping the populist-havens of the North East with the crippling Scottish Labour performances I witness as a university student in Edinburgh, I realise the root of my hesitation, all along, was the reality of underrepresentation. The Labour Party does not represent me: a party supporter, new member and young activist.
The hardest part of this realisation? It makes no sense. Labour is, traditionally, the pioneering party for the representation of women in parliament. As a party, it has contributed 57.8% of all women MPs elected to parliament since 1918; it champions all-women shortlists; 45% of Labour MPs currently in government are women. So why, after all this time, have we still never had a female Labour leader?
Just two weeks ago a picture circulated showing Cat Smith, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Angela Rayner from behind the despatch box on the opposition front benches. I double-glanced. I’ve never seen this before. Three women in a position of power that spoke like me, looked like me and were fighting back. It is the power of this double glance that is consistently undervalued by the Labour Party; there still exists a degree of institutional misogyny within the party that is simply not good enough.
This misogyny stems from a dislike of ‘progressive’ ideals. Progression necessitates a break with the past, and a break with the past means upsetting the mantra of the powerful, and above all, masculine domination of party leadership. A break with the past means rejecting potential male leaders lined up for leadership for years in support of potential female leaders. Just because Labour has introduced progressive policies before does not mean we can continue relying on our history as if we are continuing in a similar fashion.
For example, although the ‘Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedure’ motion was passed at conference at the start of the year, the decision to take further action regarding a complaint is still at the discretion of the NEC and/or NCC. Committee only needs to listen to the advice of an independent person; it is still, ultimately, the NEC’s decision on whether to refer a case to the NCC. The lack of independent autonomy dictating further action projects the reality that those in powerful positions, within the party, still have final control over cases of sexual harassment.
Yes, it’s a start, but we are better than this. We must remove any element of bias in our sexual harassment procedure, supporting solely independent committees to make final decisions so that the rhetoric of our party, founded upon social justice and promoting progressive attitudes, is watertight. Only then can we shout that we are still the party which champions the rights of those most disenfranchised in society.
However, if we are committing to fight for such changes in the name of progression, our leadership needs to realise that they can represent this commitment, widely and accessibly, through representation itself. And this is why Labour needs a female leader. Not because I believe the women of Labour to being more capable of leadership, as a feminist since the age of 13, I have become very used to justifying such claims without prompt; but, to have a woman as the next leader is a smart move. One that could result in a Labour government.
The effect of seeing three Labour women on the front opposition benches was that it mobilised me. If you are mobilising new demographics of the electorate, working-women, you are winning votes. You send a message to the British electorate that Labour is moving forward, not backwards. That we reject the far-right rhetoric currently normalising hate crimes as the ‘politics of the people’; we reject the backwardness of a social climate supporting a return to Section 28.
It is time to call out the institutionalised misogyny for what it is and ask the current Labour leadership to open their eyes to their impending failure if they are not willing to change. Labour needs a female leader. Now.