Whilst much USA 2020 election news is creating storms across the globe, there is a positive vibe with the appointment of Kamala Harris as the first Black and Indian woman to be US Vice-President elect in history. The good news is that progress on women in political office is an ongoing world-wide trend. More women around the world are being elected in politics and achieving high office. Four countries have over 50% women in their parliaments. 53 countries now have over 30% women in parliament, and 25 Prime Ministers and Presidents are women.

2020 has seen women’s political leadership in the spotlight as never before, with many articles suggesting that female leaders have performed better than their male counterparts in this crisis.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has reached almost rockstar status, and the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin leads a five-party coalition headed by five women, four of them under the age of 35.

With these great steps forward for equality, where do we go next? What can we learn from the pathways of these women that might inform our own political involvement, or our choices about who we support?

Let's learn and take action - #BeTheAlchemy

About this Event

The event will start with a 40 minute conversation between women’s rights activist Lesley Abdela MBE and Executive Coach and journalist Mary Fenwick. Both women have a wealth of anecdotal stories that will rally us into action. Mary Fenwick has coached, among others, Stella Creasey MP. Lesley Abdela stood as a Parliamentary candidate for the East Herts constituency in the 1979 General Election.

Lesley says,

“The results of the 1979 General Election brought into sharp focus for me, just how few women there were in Parliament. Margaret Thatcher was elected UK’s first woman Prime Minister. Thatcher was one of only 19 women out of 635 MPs. The Media, the political Parties and most of the public didn’t seem to notice nor care how few women were in Parliament.”

Let's hear from the two of them about the battle to get more women into leadership positions in politics, the key steps that have proven to make a difference over the last 40 years, and what we can all do to make sure it’s not another 40 years before we reach full equality.

You will be invited into breakout groups for 15 minutes to discuss a question posed by the speakers.. This will enable you to make connections with fellow change-makers and use diverse thinking to make a change. Then all participants will be invited to return into the main session to create an Alchemy Manifesto and action plan on how you can take action.These events are all about taking action and transforming the world that we live in.

About the Speakers

In 1980, Lesley Abdela, then a parliamentary researcher, formed the 300 Group as a national and apolitical voluntary organisation to campaign for more women in Parliament, European Parliament and local governments. This year the 300 Group celebrates 40 years (the group has disbanded, but the fight goes on).

At almost the same time, 40 years ago, Mary Fenwick was shadowing a woman member of the New Zealand Parliament, who had stood for election at time there were only four female MPs out of 92.

Lesley Abdela MBE is Senior Partner in Shevolution Consultancy; Associate Consultant, Nordic Consulting Group Sweden – Member of the Sida Gender Experts Help Desk providing guidance to Swedish Embassies globally to ensure gender equality is integrated into development cooperation projects. Lesley Abdela She is a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Gender Advisory Services Expert Panel. She has completed assignments providing expert advice on gender and equal opportunities for EBRD clients in the private and public sectors in: Turkey; Egypt; Ukraine; and Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.

Mary Fenwick

Executive Coach and Leadership Builder. Psychologies Magazine Columnist

Mary works as a coach to women in leadership positions, including in politics. She has a special interest in the challenges for women, including the perceived need to be likeable, and the level of abuse. One of her MP clients succeeded in having her abuser jailed for the level of his threats on Twitter. Mary grew up in New Zealand and can tell us what has worked there to create a parliament which is one of the most diverse in the world.