Anne Begg MP gets my vote

Erm, Do listen to Anne Begg, MP for Aberdeen South, speak on Women’s Parliamentary Radio, about her experiences as a physically disabled MP in Westminster. She is to be the Vice-Chair of a new conference called the “Speaker’s Conference” in Westminster which aims to improve the representation of women, ethnic people and disabled people.

Anne came to Parliament as one of the so called Blair’s Babes, in 1997, and can you imagine she remembers when disabled people had to ride in the baggage compartments of trains! Who said 90 years since women first got he vote, that progress was well, a little on the slow side. It might seem so, but when all those years are rolled into a line, the achievements are really signifcant. It’s been a really informative series to work on throughout the year for www.wpradio.co.uk, with women MPs across party, and a great privilege for me to work so closely with so many of them for the past five years. The energy they have transfers to us when we speak to them, and along with the others who have worked with me on www.wpradio.co.uk, we want to thank them for trying to make the lives of women in all walks of life better. The suffragettes might even have

NPG launch

said a thank you too! This photo was taken at the National Portrait Gallery when we launched our four photos of women MPs party by party to mark 90 years since women first got the vote. Hopefully, it will tour schools next year. If you have some spare time at Christmas, you can try naming the women MPs here who attended. No prizes, and funds much needed to continue for another year!

wpradio.co.uk new interviews

Hi guys, well the old blog has been slow off the presses this week. Too much work in the Lobby to get on with, wpradio.co.uk new interviews are now on site. Caroline Spelman MP Chair of the Conservative Party on our Home section talking about introducing new laws to combat stalking. She is a first rate politician with a real sense of values towards women’s issues. Do listen. Then we have Sandra Gidley the Liberal Democrat’s health spokesperson on our International Section talking about the Millennium Development Goals 5 and 6 on women’s health. So good to meet these female politicians and be able to conduct intelligent women’s page style discussions where you actually learn something about their work rather than barracking them from the sidelines all the time. Sandra is so committed to women’s and men’s health issues here and internationally. Just go to wpradio.co.uk and let us know what you think. Ellie, would love to hear your views as a fellow political journo elleeseymour.com

Dawn Butler, MP goes out to play with wpradio.co.uk

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Hi,

Listen to my wpradio.co.uk podcast with Dawn Butler MP in her Brent constituency on a tour with local councillors of local playgrounds. Click on the picture below to listen to Dawn. Dawn is a very special local MP, and is vice-chair for youth for the Labour Party. She has £1 million to spend on new play facilities from government funds, and like other local MPs under the same development “playbuilder” scheme is talking to people about what to do where. This is real politics, with real people’s lives, not Westminster village stuff. Do listen. Update, thanks to Geoff’s invention you can now click on the picture and listen. Cool or what.

Men supporting women

A moving experience in the Commons today for me when I interviewed the Conservative MP John Bercow for Women’s Parliamentary Radio www.wpradio.co.uk He’d just come back from talking in the Darfu debate, and chairs a parliamentary group on genocide internationally. He spoke movingly about why he believes in women’s rights here and globally and spoke with tears in his eyes when he talked of seeing women and children in refuge camps in Darfu on a visit as a member of the International Affairs Select Committee. Just the memory of playing football with children in these camps – with a makeshift football of old rags – had this seasoned parliamentarian and father of two young children holding back the tears as he spoke. I’ll let you know when its up there to listen to, but for a political reporter in new media, this was moving for me too. Bercow is cool!