Bristol’s Counting Women In Initiative

Susie East

Overview

1. Background information

2. Our activities since 2012:

Mayoral election 2012

Local Council elections 2014

General election 2015

3. Collaboration/who we work with

4. What we have achieved

5. Lessons learned

Background Information

Who are Bristol Fawcett?

Local statistics:

21 out of 70 councillors are women.

4 MPs – 2 Labour, 1 Conservative, 1 Lib Dem.

What we want to achieve:

“Our vision for a feminist politics is one that recognises women as over 50% of the population, that recognises the strengths and benefits of collaborative decision-making and that conceptualises leadership as power to enable rather than the exercise of power over others.”

How we work:

Compile and report data, work with/advise politicians, inform voters, and work to increase turnout.

Our Main Activities Since 2012

Mayoral elections 2012: Published a report, “The Right Man for Bristol?” and helped organise a Bristol Women’s Question Time with Mayoral Candidates.

Local council elections 2014: Compiled and published a report rating candidates’ engagement with women’s issues in Bristol.

General election 2015: Write briefings for candidates on transport, childcare, women’s representation in politics, health and the economy. We will meet personally with them to discuss the briefings before the hustings in April.

Mayoral Election 2012 We produced a report called “The Right Man for Bristol?”.

Mayoral Election 2012

Percentages of Female Councillors by Party:

Mayoral Election 2012 Women’s Question Time

Local Council Elections 2014

Created three questions and

scoring system

Contacted council

candidates through Bristol

Women’s Voice

Analysed and scored their

answers

Compiled report and

shared online

(See handout for finished report)

General Election 2015 Write briefings for MP candidates on Health, Transport, Political

Representation, Childcare, Violence Against Women, and the Economy.

Meet up with key candidates to present briefings, talk about women’s issues, and network/create relationship.

Collaborate with Bristol Women’s Voice on hustings before the general election and send a representative.

Compiling data of MP voting behaviour to inform public.

Starting a new webpage to use in the run-up to the general election.

Collaborations

Bristol Women’s Voice

Pros: Use data/reports, takes off pressure of ‘doing everything’.

Cons: Work to a different schedule, had some issues with local elections.

Bristol Women’s Commission

Pros: Invited to events, sharing platform.

Bristol Feminist Network

Pros: Join in with campaigns eg. Reclaim the night.

University of Bristol

Pros: Expertise, a platform to speak from, students.

Cons: In and out of touch.

Local councillors, the Mayor, and MPs.

Pros: Having influence, staying informed.

Cons: Maintaining impartiality.

What We Have Achieved Creating and sharing numerous reports: Cutting Women Out 2014,

Views of Local Council Candidates on Women’s Issues, PPC Briefings, “The Right Man for Bristol?” etc.

Attending events and speaking on behalf of Bristol Fawcett, encouraging new members to join.

Positive relationships with MP candidates and councillors.

3000 visitors per month to the website, 188 facebook members, over 1000 twitter followers.

Lessons Learned

Campaign plan, minutes, and agendas keep us organised. Need to take into account minor details and how they effect strategy.

Sometimes we just don’t have the resources, have to agree to leave issues because we don’t have the time.

Our group meets once a month which means that we have to plan in advance, difficult to be spontaneous, more about long term strategy.

Using social media to spread word/reports works well.

Thank you