FAQ - Deputy Leaders
FAQs
Why do we need Deputy Leaders and why now?
Where did the idea to have Deputy Leaders come from?
Why is this being introduced initially as a pilot?
Who made the decision to implement the pilot?
Who are the Deputy Leaders?
What will the Deputy Leaders do?
How will the party benefit from having Deputy Leaders?
How will the membership benefit from having Deputy Leaders?
Why have the Deputy Leaders been appointed, how were they chosen, and how long will they be in position for?
What is the relationship between the Deputy Leaders and the Policy Committee and Steering Committee?
Who do the Deputies report to and what authority do they have?
Will the Deputies be paid for these roles?
Why do we need Deputy Leaders and why now?
The Women’s Equality Party has achieved amazing things in the last five years - we have much to be proud of and to celebrate. But Covid-19 and the aftermath of it raises the stakes for women in ways none of us could have imagined. To meet the challenges that lie ahead we will need stamina, resilience and ingenuity at all levels of our party. Many hands make light work and diverse perspectives are a key ingredient of good decision making.
Where did the idea to have Deputy Leaders come from?
One of Mandu’s reflections after serving as interim leader for 9 months was that additional capacity would be of great benefit to the Leader and to the party. The idea for multiple Deputy Leaders was drawn from her experience of working for three consecutive Mayors of London over a period of 12 years. Once elected the Mayor of London is able to appoint up to 10 Deputy Mayors to support them with delivering their manifesto. Similar arrangements apply across the UK with devolved Mayors and Leaders selecting deputies that specialise in or lead on key areas to ensure the success of the region / country.
Why is this being introduced initially as a pilot?
Wherever possible, it’s really important when introducing changes such as this to do so on the basis of practice, not just theory. The pilot will enable us to test the model together, to find out what works, what doesn’t and why. So that when members get to vote at Conference on whether to formalise this model of shared leadership and make it part of the party’s future, they can do so on an informed basis.
Who made the decision to implement the pilot?
The Steering Committee, which is the Party’s main decision-making body between Conferences, decided to implement this pilot following discussion of the original idea.
Supporting statement from the Chair of the Steering Committee:
“When Mandu came to the Steering Committee meeting in January of this year, I had already asked her for ideas on how she could best be supported as our newly elected Party Leader. After discussion and agreement at that meeting, I am really pleased that this pilot scheme, appointing three Deputies to the Leader, is now going ahead. The pilot has the full support of the Steering Committee. The Deputies will help to ensure Mandu, and the Women’s Equality Party more broadly, are given every opportunity to succeed. When we all come together at Conference later this year we will have the chance to evaluate the merits of this pilot scheme. In the meantime, on behalf of the Steering Committee, I wish Christine, Hannah and Tabitha every success.”
Bea Gare, Chair, Steering Committee
October 2020 Pilot Summary Report submitted to Steering Committee
Who are the Deputy Leaders?
The new Deputy Leaders are Christine Dean, Tabitha Morton and Hannah Barham-Brown. They have all been Party Members for more than 18 months and Tabitha and Christine are elected members of the Policy Committee. With the Leader they bring a wealth of personal, professional and political experience to the leadership of our party. As a party we recognise that women are not a monolith and it’s a source of strength and pride to have a leadership team that, better than any other party in the history of British politics, reflects the diversity of women we are here to represent.
Find out more about the Deputy Leaders here >>
What will the Deputy Leaders do?
The Deputy Leaders will represent and serve the party - they will do so by supporting and advising the Leader or being deployed by staff to help to deliver the party’s mission, for instance by playing a role in fundraising or leading projects. When appropriate, they may deputise for the Leader as Chief Spokesperson. The call on their time will vary depending on the pressures and priorities of the Party, but as a minimum the expectation is that they will commit to at least 2 days per month of service in addition to any other roles they perform for the Party Each deputy will be paid a nominal ‘contractor fee’ for each period of service. They will also be expected to support and mentor party members.
How will the party benefit from having Deputy Leaders?
Having the Deputy Leaders on board will increase our capacity and provide our party with more resilience. They may deputise for the Leader as Chief Spokesperson when appropriate and will work with the leader to develop and achieve the party’s vision and strategy. The Deputies come from a range of different backgrounds and have a wealth of varied personal, professional and political experience to offer the party, thereby broadening our reach and appeal. If the Government’s response to the pandemic has taught us anything it’s that narrow perspectives make for poor decisions. Alongside the Leader our team of Deputies will set an example of how to break the mould of the macho, individualistic survival-of-the-fittest political leadership that excludes so many people, especially women.
How will the membership benefit from having Deputy Leaders?
Having additional leadership capacity will mean greater connectivity between members and branches and the Party’s core operation. The Deputies will ensure the leadership of the party is more accessible to you. They will engage with and support branches across the UK. Specifically, for the duration of the pilot, each Deputy has pledged to meet with at least two branches a month to hear and learn from you and give you a channel through which you can shape and influence the direction of the party. All three Deputies have either served in the past, or currently serve as Branch Leaders - in Leeds, Liverpool and Waltham Forest.
Why have the Deputy Leaders been appointed, how were they chosen, and how long will they be in position for?
The Deputy Leaders have been appointed by the Leader. This model takes inspiration from how the Mayor of London’s administration operates - the Mayor is elected and is able to appoint up to 10 deputies to provide support and advice, and to fulfil particular remits that are essential to the success of the city. Our Deputy Leaders share the Leader’s vision and have the skills and experience to super charge our work of building a more equal world. They will do this by helping to: grow, strengthen and diversify our movement; ensure our financial sustainability; develop our people; and increase our influence and impact by running successful campaigns and winning elections. Being able to select Deputies with a variety of skills that complement each other is important to achieving the optimum balance that will make the team work. The intention is for Deputy Leaders to serve a term of up to two years, subject to decisions on this pilot being voted on at party conference.
What is the relationship between the Deputy Leaders and the Policy Committee and Steering Committee?
The Deputies will complement and support the work and remit of the Policy Committee, where a Deputy is on the Policy Committee they will not have any additional authority over other members. The Deputies will not be members of the Steering Committee. The pilot period will be used to determine any governance refinements that need to be made to support cross-working between the Deputies and these two groups.
Who do the Deputies report to and what authority do they have?
In the first instance, each Deputy Leader will report to the Leader and through them to the Steering Committee, but ultimately - they are accountable to you, the membership, and will report to you at Conference. Deputy Leaders will not be responsible for Party staff or have authority over them.
Will the Deputies be paid for these roles?
Each deputy will be paid a nominal ‘contractor fee’ for each period of service.
Policy Committee
What is the Policy Committee?
The Policy Committee is made of the spokesperson and movement builder for each of our seven policy goals and the party in Scotland. It is chaired by the leader of the party, Mandu Reid.
The Committee helps us communicate our fantastic policies far and wide, growing our movement and representing us as spokespeople at events and in the media.
Go straight to the policy area you're looking for:
Equal Parenting and Caregiving
Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
About the Policy Committee
How were the Policy Committee members chosen?
Policy Committee members have been elected by Party members.
What do Policy Committee members do?
Individually, the spokespeople participate in public debates on their area on behalf of the Party, in consultation with the Party Leader or Chief of Staff. The movement builders reach out to organisations and individuals to build relationships with people relevant to their policy area. They are also required to monitor developments in their policy areas and update the Leader and other spokespeople on developments, as well as build alliances with organisations that share the Party’s objectives.
Can members put forward motions to update policies?
Motions to change, update or add to our policies can be put forward by members, branches, the Party Leader and the Policy Committee, in accordance with the Party’s Constitution. Collectively, the Policy Committee reviews all policy motions to check their coherence and consistency with our mission and objectives, before they are put forward to Party Conference.
You can contact the teams for each policy area at their dedicated email addresses, given below.
Objective: Equal Representation
Contact the team: [email protected]
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Harini Iyengar,
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Pamela Ritchie,
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Objective: Equal Pay and Opportunity
Contact the team: [email protected]
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Celine Thomas,
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Kathryn Adkins,
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Objective: Equal Parenting and Caregiving
Contact the team: [email protected]
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Cheryl Clements,
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Objective: Equal Media
Contact the team: [email protected]
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Emma Ko,
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Rozina Ahmed,
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Objective: Equal Education
Contact the team: [email protected]
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Caroline Hunt,
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Guilene Marco,
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Objective: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls
Contact the team: [email protected]
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Tabitha Morton,
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Christine Dean,
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Objective: Equality in Health
Contact the team: [email protected]
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Rebecca Manson Jones,
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Objective: Equality in Scotland
e-mail [email protected]
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Ruth Wilkinson,
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Suz Martin,
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Executive Committee
Bea Gare
Bea is a former British diplomat who specialised in multilateral security policy and international negotiations. She holds a doctorate in Biological Sciences. She is still learning about everything.
Catherine Mayer, President
Catherine is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist with a career spanning The Economist, the German news weekly FOCUS and TIME magazine. Her most recent book 'Attack of the Fifty Foot Women: How Gender Equality Can Save the World!' includes the story of why in 2015 she co-founded the Women’s Equality Party. She served as elected president of the Foreign Press Association in London, is on the founding committee of WOW - The Women of the World Festival and was a judge for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She is the Executive Director of the think tank, Datum Future.
Catherine is the President of the Women’s Equality Party.
Chris Paouros, Chair of the Executive Committee
Chris is a highly strategic business and charity leader, specialising in the growth of small organisations on a global scale. Chris is a Trustee of Kick It Out, football’s Equality and Inclusion organisation; Just Like Us, an LGBT+ charity for young people; is on the Board of the Football Supporters’ Association and Non-Executive Director of Leaders Unlocked, a social enterprise giving young people a voice.
Chris is of the firm belief that the Women's Equality Party is the only answer to our broken political system and a feminist analysis and solution-focus is the way to fix it.
Leila Fazal
Leila is a mixed-race London resident, a dedicated charity worker for over 20 years and an avid equality rights campaigner. Leila recognises the deprivation, racism and sexism she experienced in her childhood does not have to be the reality. Society can, and should, be equal. She dedicates her spare time to WEP canvassing and sitting on the Executive, Steering and BAME Caucus Committees. She has also stood as a WEP councillor candidate and is currently standing as a GLA candidate.
Annie Rickard
Annie has spent a long career in media and advertising ultimately running a global business.
She is passionate about womens' rights and equality, and believes in the importance of supporting and mentoring young women. the Women's Equality Party is a natural home.
Francesca Pridding
Francesca lives by the sea in Mid Wales and has twin daughters. She reads avidly, she writes badly, and she plays hockey with a level of aggression usually reserved for rugby. She loves live music and the theatre.
WEP is her only political home; until WEP she felt as if she was just screaming into a political abyss - now she's found her crowd...she's much louder!
As a Town Clerk, Francesca project-manages virtually everything for their town; from Summer planting to Christmas lights, allotments to skate parks. She also makes sure the Councillors stay on the straight and narrow.
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee is made up of the Party Leader, The Party’s Life President and Life M.C, ten members elected by Party Conference, five members recommended by the Steering Committee and appointed at Party conference, and five members randomly selected.
Your Steering Committee members, as of September 2018, are:
