Seven Labour women challenge constitution

Press, 19 September 1984, Page 9

Seven Labour women challenge constitution

Seven Christcuhrch Labour Party women have taken the first step in challenging the constitution of the party. Late last year they formed a Sydenham women’s branch of the party which was to concern itself with getting more women into decision-making positions within the Labour Party and the community. The group is comprised mainly of women under the age of 35 who feel the Labour Party is not fulfilling their needs. They organised assertiveness training and practised public speaking for mem-

bers before deciding they needed to set themselves goals. One of these was to seek representation on the Labour Women’s Council, while another, more farsighted, objective was to field candidates for local government. From that aim came the plan to get a collective from the branch elected to the L.W.C., as a collective.

Back came the news that a collective was constitutionally unacceptable, and so the branch decided to compromise and stand the collective under the name of one member. The member is Susan

Stewart, a secondary teacher-trainee who has been a party member for six years.

“I got up and spoke on behalf of the collective, not Susan Stewart,” the new L.W.C. member said. At the preliminary proceedings for the recent Labour Party conference, she was elected to the L.W.C. The other members of the collective are Carolyn Payne-Harker, Kathleen Robinson, Anne Bushnell, Jill Stewart, Wendy Hewitt, and Shelagh Gorringe. The youngest member of the collective is 20, the oldest 32. ~