Chair’s report of 2024

Thank you for your continued support of Liberal Voice for Women this year. We told you it would be a big year and it certainly has been! Welcome to all our new members and supporters who joined us this year.

As you know, in 2023 we began to increase our profile among Lib Dem members with two successful in-person fringe events at Spring and Autumn conference respectively. However we faced continued blocks by the party administration, such as not being allowed a paid advert about our events in conference literature, and being refused the ability to have a stand at conference for arbitrary reasons that we could only assume were discriminatory. We saw no sign of the party taking seriously its obligation to comply with the Equality Act, despite our many representations to this effect. So at the end of 2023 we took the difficult and significant step of writing a solicitor’s letter regarding the discrimination we had faced over the years.

Looking back on that large leap into the unknown, I believe that it was the right decision for us as it has resulted in major progress this year. We continue to engage constructively with the party about the contents of that December letter to resolve the issues we raised. We are steadfast in our position and remain optimistic that there will be no need to progress our legal case.

Elections

From April to July, we rolled our sleeves up alongside many other Lib Dem campaigners to knock on doors and deliver leaflets for our candidates in the General Election and for councillors in the local elections. The GE result - 72 Lib Dem MPs - exceeded everyone’s expectations. It is already clear that with a far bigger parliamentary party there is now more space for a broader range of perspectives on a whole range of issues, including on women’s sex-based rights. It is also clear that there is a need for more grown-up policy, especially around pediatric “gender medicine”.

In terms of internal elections, we are delighted that several members and supporters of Liberal Voice for Women have been elected both to the party’s English Council Executive and English Council in the last few weeks.

Conferences

At Spring conference in York we held a fringe event on the medicalisation of gender questioning children. We were delighted to have Stella O’Malley and Stephanie Davies-Arai as our thought-provoking and incredibly knowledgeable speakers on this important issue. This event was prior to the publication of the Cass Review final report on April 10th, and meant attendees were well prepared for it when it was published. We, and Baroness Cass, are still waiting to hear from our Health spokespeople as to the party’s formal position on the Cass Review and the issues it raises such as the safety and efficacy of puberty blocking drugs for minors. 

The most visible breakthrough for us in 2024 was our first exhibition stand at Autumn Conference in Brighton, alongside the launch of our manifesto (please sign!). We had a huge amount of positive interest in our work from conference goers and lots of people came to ask questions and agree (as well as disagree) with us. I would like to thank everyone who helped staff the stall, carefully explaining with compassion and clarity why we are here and why women’s rights need defending. Special shout out to Anne and Imogen who seemed to constantly be on hand at the stall! 

Our conference motion regarding Women in Afghanistan made it to the emergency ballot, and our fringe event ‘Can We Talk?’ on the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act with superb speakers Helen Joyce, Almut Gadow and Laura Favaro – Chaired by our Honorary President Sarah Ludford - was a huge success.

Sadly, Mark Pack, the Party President, chose not to take the opportunity to bring the party together by making the case for the liberal values of diversity of thought, freedom of belief and non-discrimination. Instead, in his answer to a question about our presence during the Federal Board report to Conference he was at pains to make it known that the decision to allow our stand to go ahead had only been made because the law required it. He also chose to legitimise claims that our presence at Conference would make people “feel unsafe”. We wrote a review of events surrounding Autumn conference here.

We also had exhibition stands at LGB Alliance conference, and at two Lib Dem regional conferences, namely, South East and Devon & Cornwall. Again, we were well-received by delegates and had plenty of interest and new sign-ups.

Events

Thank you to Alison Jenner, Rachel Barker and the rest of the events team for the brilliant and wide-ranging free online monthly talks that have taken place this year, as follows:

In January Elaine Miller told us about her background as a physiotherapist and her decision to specialise in pelvic health. She uses comedy to help women hear about and discuss an embarrassing topic:  incontinence. She is so good at this that she was made a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists for her innovative methods of speaking to hard to reach groups.

February brought Professor Kate Newey, of the Theatre Studies dept of Exeter University, who spoke about an LVW heroine, Harriet Taylor Mill, an unsung star of liberalism, helping John Stuart Mill to write his most famous works. Because of her shockingly nonconformist background she was unwelcome in 19th century society.

In March we welcomed Sally Wainwright and Paula Boulton. Sally spoke about the WDI book she Co-edited, ‘Women’s Rights; Gender Wrongs: the global impact of gender identity ideology,’ which as well as an overview of global gender ideology gives reports from over thirty countries on its impact upon women’s sex-based rights. Paula detailed her career in music and drama and has produced numerous dramas and performances in Corby documenting the steelworks and society, together with the local, natural environment. Both women are lesbians and we also discussed the way that “gender” has badly affected lesbian culture.

April saw four members of ‘Caring About Dignity’ explain the varied issues requiring same-sexual intimate care at home or in care settings. Failure to respect a woman’s need for single-sex spaces and carers can have devastating effects on her body and sense of self.

In May we hosted Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology Sallie Baxendale who explained the impact of puberty blockers upon young people’s cognitive function.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Az Hakeem spoke to us in June. A previous guest, he  spoke about the second of his books, ‘Detrans: when transition is not the answer.’ His experiences and perspective were wonderfully direct.

July’s interviewee was Dr Kim Thomas, who wrote the report for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Birth Trauma, which called for a National Maternity Improvement Strategy.

In August we gave the floor to our partner group LGB Liberal Forum, whose Chairman Toby Keynes interviewed Bev Jackson and Kate Barker of LGB Alliance about the growth of the Alliance over the years since its launch.

Dr Karen Ingala Smith spoke to us in September about the single-sex service nia, the Femicide Census and ‘Counting Dead Women,’ which records and remembers women killed by men..

In October Almut Gadow spoke to us about her legal action against the Open University, concerning the impact of EDI policies on academic curricula. 

November brought us three women members of ‘Greens in Exile’. Nicola Watson spoke about the special privileges afforded to Young Greens in the Party. Emma Bateman explained the party’s structure in which trans activists have captured key posts. Dr Dawn Furness detailed the legal challenges to the GPEW decisions and the abdication of responsibility in a once science-based party.

Our final guest in December was Jean Hatchet, activist, journalist and co-founder of 12:05, organising street demonstrations on women’s sports and other issues.

Parliamentary Work

We continue to work cross-party with Labour Women’s Declaration, Conservatives for Women and Green Women’s Declaration providing high quality briefings on this topic for parliamentarians in addition to providing support to each other, swapping best practice and strategising.

We also spoke, alongside LGB Liberal Forum, with Christine Jardine about her upcoming paper for Spring conference on the challenges that LGBT+ people face. The full submission can be read here.

In memoriam

We have been saddened to hear about the recent passing of Barbara Lindsay, which was noted by Michael Meadowcroft here. Barbara was well-known throughout the party for her commitment to feminism and for her loyal campaigning. Here at Liberal Voice for Women we will remember her fondly for her insightful contributions and willingness to look, clear-eyed, at every aspect of contemporary debates around women’s rights. Her witticisms and prose will be much missed.

In thanks

Thank you to the outgoing executive team who have been absolutely steadfast and worked so hard to keep moving Liberal Voice for Women forward. You inspire me with your passion, commitment and brilliance.

I am delighted to welcome our new 11-strong executive, now slightly larger, with many of the same faces and 3 new ones. I was re-elected as Chair and Alison was re-elected as Vice Chair.

Thank you to all our supporters. Please remember to sign up here to get involved, and you can join and donate to Liberal Voice for Women here if you haven’t already.

I have created a summary of the year in pictures to go with this report here.

Happy new year and here’s to a successful 2025!

Zoe