STELLA CREASY MP AND PREGNANT THEN SCREWED LAUNCH PROJECT TO GET MORE MUMS INTO PARLIAMENT
Almost 2000 mothers have already registered to be part of the new ‘This Mum Votes’ project
Date 17TH November 2021:
Today, Pregnant Then Screwed have announced the launch of ‘This Mum Votes’ a groundbreaking movement to address the underrepresentation of new parents in politics. Taking inspiration from Vote Mama in the United States, ‘This Mum Votes’ will be the UK’s answer to a shortage of mothers standing for election and a lack of family friendly policy making
Research by The Good Parliament Project shows that when it comes to family, if you have young children and you are a man it is not a barrier to selection and election to office. Yet, the same cannot be said for women. Motherhood is the key barrier to selection and election for women.
This underrepresentation means that many of the issues affecting new parents every day, such as the availability of childcare and paid parental leave, do not receive the political attention they deserve. ‘This Mum Votes’ will help address this by supporting candidates who are keen to help develop and lobby for policies that break down the barriers to participation for those with caring commitments. This includes good quality and affordable childcare, properly paid and ring-fenced paternity leave, all jobs to be advertised as flexible by default and reforms to universal credit.
Working with organisations within different political parties, ‘This Mum Votes’ seeks to redress the balance by encouraging mothers to stand for selection and election and supporting them with challenges related to childcare, the cost of standing for election, and mentorship. Alongside this, there will be projects within different political parties to directly support and fund mothers to stand for selection, and overcome the barrier to participation childcare costs create. This mimics the approach taken in the USA, where bi-partisan programmes help build support for progressive policies at every level of Government and partisan campaigns have helped mothers get selected to stand for office
Stella Creasy MP said: ‘’During the pandemic, the needs of mothers were completely overlooked by politicians – whether this was the lack of an action plan to ensure pregnant women could access the vaccine, or the numbers of mothers lumbered with home-schooling who lost their jobs or reduced their hours and pay. In return the Government offered them a pat on the back – as thousands of nurseries have closed, and childminders have left the industry there is little sign this crisis will be addressed until we have people in charge who truly understand the issues experienced by mothers.’’
Britain’s economic competitors understand investment in childcare and care sectors is a key driver for development and productivity. Research by the Women’s Budget Group shows that providing universal childcare almost pays for itself whilst also creating 2.7 times as many jobs as the same investment in construction – yet there are few voices for this policy in our parliament.
Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed said: ‘During the pandemic, when we looked at those leading us through the crisis we were always asking – where are the women? The war cabinet didn’t contain a single woman and only one woman was allowed to lead the daily briefings, while 11 men were on regular rotation. The needs of mothers are being ignored by this Government with devastating consequences for families and the economy. We have to take radical action to ensure our economy is rebuilt with the needs of mothers at its heart.’
This Mum Votes will launch on Monday 22nd November with an instagram live event at 2pm between Pregnant Then Screwed, Vote Mama and Professor Sarah Childs to explore why so few mothers stand for election and what we can learn from the Americans. In addition to this non-partisan activity, the MotheRed project to support mums to stand for office within the Labour movement will be lead by Stella Creasy MP and launch early in the new year. Representatives of other political parties are also developing their own programmes for mothers as part of this project and these will be announced in due course.
-ENDS-
For further press information from Pregnant Then Screwed please contact: [email protected]
Notes to Editor:
About Pregnant Then Screwed (www.pregnantthenscrewed.com) is a project and campaign which protects, supports and promotes the rights of mothers who suffer the effects of systemic, cultural, and institutional discrimination through our various schemes and activities, including: A free legal advice service, a website where women post their stories of discrimination anonymously, lobbying the Government for legislative change, and a mentor scheme that supports women who are considering legal action against their employer.
This Mum Votes programme will include:
- Campaigns to support the provision of paid parental leave, flexible by default jobs, universal childcare and reform of universal credit
- Workshops to help mothers understand the selection and election process
- Interviews with MPs, Ministers, Councillors and Lords on the challenges facing mothers who stand for election
- Workshops on confidence and public speaking
- Bespoke mentoring and campaigning support for Mums to stand for office in all major political parties in the UK
The sign up link is available here https://workingforwalthamstow.org.uk/content/sign-help-get-more-mums-politics
The MotheRed programme is a parallel project within the Labour party and will include:
- Direct grants to support candidates with childcare needs during selection processes who commit to backing the This Mum Votes campaign pledges
