London loves business and business loves London. No economy can grow without harnessing the smartest and most creative minds and supporting start-ups to grow and flourish. Attracting and retaining the best, most diverse talent would give London a strong competitive edge and help us deliver innovative products and services that cater for the needs of everyone. But such an approach has to draw from the widest talent pool possible.

Men are almost twice as likely to become entrepreneurs, while women are being driven into low-paid, undervalued sectors and part-time roles with lower growth potential. Women are under-represented in STEM and our education system is not working to change this. Girls out-perform boys in most academic subjects but face obstacles to then taking up high-paying jobs, meaning the economy is losing out.

WE will:

• Support women’s enterprise
• Work in partnership
• Strengthen investment in women
• Support equal apprenticeships
• Improve tech skills
• Set up Showcase London
• Reduce stereotyping
• Work with tech enterprises

Read more and see full details in our London Manifesto.

Nothing is a bigger barrier to women’s employment than unaffordable childcare. The chronic recruitment crisis in care for older people is further curtailing women’s employment opportunities. WE will work towards a system of childcare for all children from the end of paid parental leave at nine months and draw up a pan-London approach to meet the demand for care for older and disabled people. WE value carers for their contribution to London’s society and economy.

WE believe this is the ‘big issue’ for anyone serious about improving the lives of Londoners. The next Mayor of London cannot afford to overlook the caring crisis that is driving families into poverty, or the opportunities that a better work-life balance can bring to our city. WE will lead the way in building a world-class Caring Economy.

WE will:

• Close the care gap
• Make childcare flexible
• Put public land to good use
• Connect parents and providers
• Offer a London Baby Box
• Convene a commission on care
• Expect a living wage for carers
• Increase rights at work
• Create a London Carers’ Forum

Read more and see full details in our London Manifesto.

London is facing a housing crisis on an unprecedented scale. With new rent levels set at up to 80 per cent of market rates, the idea of affordable housing has become meaningless for women who make up the majority of lowincome earners. Young talent is moving away, people are being forced to live far from their workplace and women are the most affected by longer and more expensive commutes.

There is no silver bullet for a housing crisis on the scale London is facing. Instead of the current piecemeal plans, divided along party lines, we need to combine the vision and scale of our collective ambition in a cross-party committee. Within that work WE will consider what ‘affordable’ means for women who are less likely to be in work and more likely to be living in poverty, and what having a home means for women who have been victimised by domestic violence and forced out of their homes while the perpetrator stays there.

• Build a comprehensive solution
• Make housing more affordable
• Promote inclusive design
• Work with property developers
• Support survivors
• Ring-fence refuges

Read more and see full details in our London Manifesto.

Transport for all

London’s great transport system has to work for all of us. WE will make it safe and accessible, not pitting wheelchairs and pushchairs against each other for limited space. WE will also build cycle facilities so that more women and children can cycle safely around the capital and WE will work to ensure that planning takes into account other forms of road use.

An accessible, safe and reliable public transport system allows us to commute between home and work, visit friends and family and access all the wonders of London. But it is also key to building a greener city. Families, disabled people and older people rely on cars to get around more than other Londoners. If we want to cut down emissions and improve the air we breathe, we have to get serious about accessibility.

• Design better buses
• Build better tubes
• Drive up standards
• Increase accessibility
• Help plan journeys
• Support more cycling
• Use the Mayor’s contractual powers
• Combat harassment
• Rapid response
• Shine a light on safety
• Monitor rates of sexual offending
• Change behaviour
• Make decisions together

Read more and see full details in our London Manifesto.

From street harassment to rape and domestic violence, rates of male violence against women and girls are on the rise. Eighty-five per cent of young women experience harassment on our streets. Women are still being made homeless while abusive ex-partners continue living in the family home. BME women, disabled women, and women with uncertain immigration status are more likely to experience violence and are also exposed to different forms of it, including female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, and domestic abuse. London is also a destination for sex trafficking, which involves some of the most brutal human rights violations of our times.

Last year 5,500 rapes and over 146,000 incidents of domestic violence were recorded in London. WE will put prevention, protection, provision and justice at the heart of all our policies and not rest until violence against women and girls has been eliminated.

• Teach the next generation to respect and protect one another
• Tackle violence
• Support specialist services
• Improve sexual health
• Make refuge accessible
• Modernise policing
• Improve response to sexual violence
• Combat domestic violence
• Combat FGM and forced marriage
• Fund holistic support services
• Raise awareness

Read more and see full details in our London Manifesto.

Forty-five years after the Equal Pay Act the gender pay gap still exists. WE will make work flexible, promotion fair and pay equal. Part of the answer to London’s housing crisis is to put more money into women’s pockets by enabling them to work the hours they want and paying them fairly for it.

Enabling London’s women to work the hours and jobs they want would add an estimated £70 billion to London’s economy; creating more jobs, cutting the skills shortage, increasing public revenues and significantly adding to our quality of life.

• Lead by example
• Help with jobs
• Provide flexible workspace
• Be creative
• Offer training and support
• Encourage business support for equality

For full details, read our London Manifesto.