Harman demands women’s quota
By politics.co.uk staff
Labour party rules should change so that half of the shadow Cabinet are women, Harriet Harman has said.
Speaking at the Unite conference in Manchester, the acting Labour leader argued that Labour had twice as many women MPs as all other parties put together.
“Labour is the only party in parliament which speaks up for women in this country,” she said.
“We have some excellent experienced women and some brilliant new women MPs. The Labour men are great – but they are not twice as good as the women.”
Ms Harman argued that the Labour leadership contest was an ideal opportunity to for the party to re-engage with voters.
“The contest will be open engaging and energising,” she continued.
“It will be a chance to invite supporters to join the party to have a vote. Our biggest loss of support was from hard-working families who, worried about housing and jobs, felt insecure and concerned about immigration.
“Now there is our chance to debate these issues throughout the party and through the contest for the next Labour leader.”
