2021 Labour Women’s Conference was held online on 26 and 27 June 2021.
INTRODUCTION:
(Tina) I had previously been to main Conference as a day visitor and a press rep (for New Ground – SERA’s magazine) around 30 years ago but had not been recently and wondered what the experience would be like online. I was hoping for some inspiring conversations with like-minded comrades. The information provided by Conference Arrangements Committee in the run up to Conference was comprehensive and useful. Theresa had suffered an accident a couple of weeks previously so I had been in contact with CAC about the process for nominating a substitute but fortunately she was well enough to take a full part.
(Theresa) I had been a delegate to main Conference before so knew what to expect for that but, like Tina, was curious as to how the Party would replicate the experience online. We both felt pleased and proud that the stand-alone Women’s Conference was going ahead given previous false starts.
COMPOSITING:
(Tina) We had submitted the Women’s Branch motion on Ending Violence Against All Women, one of over 40 on this subject, where ours and 2 others had a particular emphasis on recognition and rights of trans women. I attended the Compositing Meeting which I felt was well run and proceeded smoothly. There were delegates who felt they had not been permitted to speak, but it appeared (from the start of comments made and then cut off, and remarks made later via CLPD) that they were attempting to discuss protected characteristics which the Chair ruled as (rightly in my view) not permissible. We subsequently had discussions between 6 members of Women’s Branch around whether to withdraw from the composite or remain within it. Opinion was evenly balanced as to whether trans rights were implicit in what had been included (both in terms of the spirit and the content around inclusive recognition, support and services) or should be more strongly stated separately. The decision was to remain within the composite.
FRINGE EVENTS:
Prior to Conference we took part in several fringe events, the main ones being: CLPD Briefing (both), The Design Gap around women and transport planning (Tina) and In Conversation with 6 Left Women (both).
MAIN CONFERENCE:
During Conference on 26th June we both took part in the following sessions – Welcome to Conference; Equal Recovery (economy); Women’s Equality After Coronavirus; Women and the Economy; Women and Climate Justice; Women’s Rights, History and Intersectional Feminism; Social Care; Women and Palestine and the Middle East; and Rebuilding a Fairer Economy that Works for Women.
On 27th June we took part in sessions around – Sunday Welcome; Women’s Committee Results (the 6 women elected were those supported by left organisations); Early Years and Education; Working Parents’ and Carers’ Rights; Violence Against Women and Girls; Thinking Globally and Acting Locally; Be a Labour Councillor; Closing Plenary – Rebuilding a Better World.
During the VAWG debate we had agreed our speech beforehand in case only one of us was called to speak, which turned out to be the case. Due to a technical issue, Tina was not called to the waiting room so was able to experience the whole debate. Theresa was called and was able to deliver our speech very powerfully, but the waiting room was isolated from the main debate, so she had no idea what was going on in the actual debate!
OVERALL:
The 8 motions debated over the 2 days were all passed. The 2 voted to go to main Party Conference were VAWG and Women’s Equality after Coronavirus.
We have many pages of detailed notes and hours of voice recordings which we can make available to anyone with a particular interest in a topic.
Although this had been presented as a Zoom event, most sessions were actually more like Webinars. It was not possible to know how many delegates were present, their identities or their Branch/Affiliated Organisation unless they were speaking. There were no Breakout areas functioning (although I believe this had been planned). This made for quite a disconnected experience.
While this was a useful and interesting event, and the content and the outcomes of the votes were heartening, we were left very much looking forward to live events resuming, including Annual Conference in Brighton where we were both delegates and where we appreciated being able to meet other delegates in person, take part in more fringe events and experience the general buzz around real life events.
Tina Cox and Theresa Mackey, 8 October 2021
Brighton Pavilion Labour Party 