Lothian candidate Lee Chalmers invites Scottish members and supporters to join her at a special event on International Women's Day.

WE are celebrating the Women’s Equality Party’s first birthday – and International Women’s Day – with a special event at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh tonight.

Why Women? will be hosted by comedian Karen Dunbar, and will feature TV’s Maureen Carr, founder of the all-women comedy group, Witsherface, as well as me, Lee Chalmers – our Lothian candidate.

We can’t wait to celebrate an incredible year with this incredible show, which falls on International Women’s Day. It is just a year since Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Mayer stood up at the Women of the World Festival in 2015 and suggested the idea of a women’s equality party. Twelve months later, and WE are the UK's fastest-growing political party with 45,000 members and supporters, and are seeking election to Holyrood in May. It’s unbelievable.

The time is absolutely right for a party that is focused on putting women’s equality at the top of the political agenda, and keeping it there. We’ve achieved so much and come so far in such a short space of time, and want to make Scotland the first gender equal country in the world by taking seats in Holyrood.

Standing alongside me for the Scottish Parliamentary elections is Anne Beetham, representing Glasgow. We’ve both been working really  hard to get the WE message out in Scotland.

This week I handed out flyers at Stockbridge market in Edinburgh – a lovely place and the sun was shining. The reaction was awesome too! People support women’s equality, and they are going to vote for us.

I also spoke on a panel about at an Amnesty International Student event on abortion rights, as the law is being devolved to the Scottish Parliament. On Thursday WE were at an exhibition highlighting stories of BME women's experiences in Edinburgh, which was very moving. WE are a diverse and inclusive party, and look to represent all women’s experiences.

In Glasgow, Annie and her team have been out and about too. They also baked a very special birthday cake as #WEare1.

Today, you can catch me in George Square at Edinburgh University at lunchtime, before I head to the Festival Theatre at 5pm to be interviewed by Claire Stewart about the first year of WE. Then, join us at 7pm for the Why Women? event at the Festival Theatre, Nicolson St, Edinburgh EH8 9FT. Come along!

Finally, WE are launching our manifesto in Scotland on April 2nd and need lots of volunteers. If you would like to support us, and take part in some street action, let us know at [email protected].