Mandu Reid finishes fifth in WE's first ever parliamentary by-election.
Published 15 June 2018
Our candidate Mandu Reid finished in fifth place in the Lewisham East by-election, ahead of nine other candidates including Ukip.
It was the first parliamentary by-election the Women's Equality Party has ever stood in, and our five-week campaign spread an optimistic message about the importance of equality to thousands of people.
Labour's Janet Daby won the seat on a 33% turnout, with the Liberal Democrats second, Conservatives third, and Greens fourth.
Mandu Reid, Women's Equality Party candidate for Lewisham East, said:
"WE gave voters in Lewisham East an optimistic and hopeful message about how our policies can help to build a better society for everyone. The support we received – as well the fact that four out of five of the highest-polling candidates were progressive women – shows that in the three short years since WE were founded our influence is growing and our vision for a gender equal future is starting to resonate.
"Congratulations to Janet Daby on her victory. I also want to thank the residents of Lewisham East for their support – both at the ballot box and with their conversations on the doorstep.
"A hundred years after the first women got the right to vote, it was an amazing experience and immense privilege to be the WE candidate. The support and commitment from WE members and volunteers has been overwhelming and was the lifeblood of this campaign. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to and poured energy into our campaign."
Sophie Walker, Leader of the Women’s Equality Party, said:
"I want to pay tribute to our outstanding candidate Mandu Reid, whose campaign of hope and courage stood out throughout this campaign.
“Her determination to do politics differently – to inspire people to believe that we can raise the bar and make politics work better for everyone – contrasted with complacent, tired and divisive campaigns from some other candidates. A hundred years since some women won the right to vote, Mandu made history by galvanising voters to claim the right to vote for their own equality.
"I also want to thank our wonderful volunteers who worked so hard on this campaign. Their dedication brought our message to thousands of voters.
"The low turnout shows an electorate that is dispirited by a voting system that forces them to vote against what they don't want rather than being able to vote for something new. It demonstrates too how dissatisfied people are with how politics is done.”