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The Labour Women's Network (LWN) is the
socialist society The Socialist Society was founded in 1981 by a group of British socialists, including Raymond Williams and Ralph Miliband, who founded it as an organisation devoted to socialist education and research, linking the left of the British Labour Part ...
officially representing the
women's wing A women's wing, sometimes also known as a women's group or women's branch, is an auxiliary or independent front or faction within a larger organization, typically a political party, that consists of that organization's female membership or acts to ...
of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. It is a
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
group which provides campaigning, training and support for women within the party.


History

The organisation was founded in 1988, with the aim of helping more women in the Labour Party to be chosen as candidates, and become elected as members of parliament. The Labour Women's Network was started by four women: Barbara Follett, Barbara Roche, Hilary De Lyon and Jean Black following the
1987 United Kingdom general election The 1987 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party, who won a majority of 102 se ...
, which saw a very low number of women being elected to the British parliament. In 2011, Jo Cox, MP was elected as the first ever LWN chair, until she was elected member of parliament for Batley and Spen in 2015. Following her death, the Labour Party and Labour Women's Network started the 'Jo Cox Women in Leadership Scheme', which would help invest in training for women within the party.


Purpose

The Labour Women's Network is a
big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a political party having members covering a broad spectrum of beliefs. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined ideology, seek voters who adhere to that ideology, and att ...
organisation which accepts women with different views of women issues within the Labour Party. It does not make policy, however its prime purpose is to help and provide training for women who wish to stand for public office in both local and national politics.


Structure

The organisation is run by a general committee, with elections taking place every year. Any woman can stand for election providing they have been a member for at least 4 months before proceedings begin. Committee members serve a 2 year term, unless there is a by-election.


Committee

The committee of the Labour Women's Network, was:


References


External links

* {{Labour Party (UK) Organisation of the Labour Party (UK) 1988 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1988 Women's wings of political parties in the United Kingdom