colleen, marzen and maria

Isle of Wight women take Island motion to Women’s Conference

Island Labour share this latest news. Ed


Last weekend, delegates from the Isle of Wight Labour Party were proud to attend the first stand-alone Women’s Conference arranged by the party in more than 20 years.

Marzena Turner, Colleen Brannon, Maria-Villa Vine and Sarah McCarthy-Fry joined over 1,000 other women from across the country, the youngest at 15 and the oldest 84, to discuss and vote on future party policy concerning Education and Childcare, Violence Against Women and Girls, Social Care, Pensions and other issues.

Island Labour motion goes to National Conference
Two motions from the Women’s Conference are selected to go forward to The National Labour Party Conference, where party policy is agreed.

maria villa vine and jeremy corbyn

A motion on Universal Credit and Employment Support, co-authored and selected by a vote of members of the Isle of Wight Labour Party at a Special All Members Meeting last month, was one of the two chosen to go through to the National Conference to be debated, along with a motion on Rights for Migrant Women.

Maria - dawn butler - colleen

The conference was attended by Jeremy Corbyn and members of his shadow cabinet, including Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott and the Shadow Secretary for Women and Equalities, Dawn Butler (pictured above), who announced a new labour policy guaranteeing workers the right to have flexibility over their own working hours, beginning on the first day of employment.

Brannon: Utterly awe inspiring
Colleen Brannon, of Ryde Branch, said,

“It was utterly awe inspiring to be around so many passionate and powerful women. I’m proud that Island Labour played a small part in formulating a motion that may go on to become Labour Party policy, especially on such an important issue.

“There is much work to be done to begin to undo the effects of Tory austerity, but the energy, ideas, expertise and hope in that room left us in no doubt that the next Labour government will build a much fairer, kinder and prosperous country for us all.”