Spring Soiree

An eclectic group of Pink Shoe ambassadors and guests gathered for the Spring Soiree on the very last day of Parliament before the General Election. 












Along with fabulous food and fizz in convivial company we also captured images of guests for our #VotingMatters campaign leading up to 7 May. The amazing Afua took the pictures and these will unfold over the coming weeks. 

Of course we found time too for the usual excellent networking with our brilliant and inspiring guests - sharing ideas, connections and business cards. 

The Women Who #MakeitHappen in Parliament

The second of our events to mark International Women's Day followed this year's theme of the women who 'make it happen'. 

This is certainly true of our host, Baroness Howells of St Davids who gave us a unique insight to her journey from Grenada to the House of Lords. Lady Howells has always championed equality and diversity and was an inspiring start to the afternoon. 



We then peeped behind the scenes of the Palace of Westminster to discover some of the extraordinary women who contribute in so many diverse ways to the success of Parliament and the smooth running of our UK democracy. 




We heard from women who work in this historic building, those who participate in the work of the House and add to all aspects of our Parliamentary process and those who keep and create its legacy.  

IWD Lecture at House of Commons

For International Women’s Day many members and friends attended some excellent events at the Palace of Westminster. 

The first event at the House of Commons was an excellent talk from Mary Branson, Artist-in-Residence to Women’s Suffrage. 




Mary was appointed to research and design a permanent work of art to commemorate women's suffrage for Parliament and she truly made the art work come to life with her insights and knowledge. We can't wait to view the piece once its installed!

We then enjoyed the IWD Annual Lecture organised by the Curator’s office. Helen Langley, historian and former modern political manuscripts curator at the Bodleian Library, spoke engagingly about Irene Ward MP, a doughty parliamentarian and campaigner.

Irene Ward left school at 16 and earned a living as a secretary.  She stood as a parliamentary candidate in the 1924 and 1929 elections and in 1931 was elected Conservative MP for Wallsend, thus starting a long and active parliamentary career.  

A formidable and independent-minded backbencher who achieved much, especially for disadvantaged groups,  she retired when she was 79 having served as an MP for an impressive 38 years!

Then followed a reception and the opportunity to view the stunning exhibition of images of women in Parliament, taking up the first floor of Portcullis House. 

Aperitivo at Westminster

For the latest in our occasional informal Aperitivo drinks & tapas we were back at one of our very favourite locations at Parliament Street. 

Numbers at Aperitivo are carefully limited so that members are able to have fuller conversations with each other.

Hosted by Helene Martin Gee and Pink Shoe Senate Chairman Jill Pay, we welcomed some lovely new members and caught up with many of our wonderful longstanding Ambassadors. 

We were also able to sing Happy Birthday to Sheila, and enjoy some red velvet cake along with our bubbles!

The security team were as welcoming as ever and Sasha laid on some yummy nibbles for us - thanks to you all!

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Public Appointments Reception at Admiralty House

The Cabinet Office organised another highly successful reception to encourage more women to consider a Public Appointment.  

A number of Pink Shoe members joined the event which was an ideal opportunity for those actively interested in a role in public life to hear from women already holding an appointment. 

PSC was glad to be joined by graduates of its pilot Public Appointments Shadowing Programme; and delighted that Francis Maude made reference to Pink Shoe Club in his opening remarks.

The Q&A with the Minister was an open forum and it was encouraging to hear the positive progress being made. 








Francis Maude demonstrated the genuine passion and determination of Government to continue growing the numbers of women in public life – women getting there on merit rather than via artificial quotas.

Pink Shoe Ambassador Susan Greenwood also raised the question of people with disability gaining greater numbers of Public Appointments, an area the Minister recognised as equally important and upon which there is strong resolve to improve.

UK Economic Blueprint for Women

The UK Economic Blueprint for Women is being developed by the Pink Shoe Senate under the guidance of WIPP International and with key Pink Shoe participants, corporate partners and other organisations such as the Royal Society of Arts and WEConnect. It has strong support from MPs, Peers and Ministers – and via the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship and other leading All-Party groups.

Excellent progress was made at the first General Meeting of the Economic Blueprint Task Force.  From all 14 participants there was huge enthusiasm, lots of great ideas and recognition of all the time and effort involved to make this work and the commitment to deliver all that's required.

As agreed in November at the House of Lords, for Stage I of the Blueprint we have set up a Taskforce to action ideas from the FQ conference. These cover each of the key areas, with the creation of separate groups for research and training:

Fair Access to Capital – chaired by Elspeth Openshaw

Fair Access to Markets – chaired by Jenny Wardle

Fair Access to Research – chaired by Ishreen Bradley

Fair Access to Training – chaired by Vanda Green

With their teams, the 4 chairmen are preparing an initial strategy document with summary of actions for their taskforce. At the next meeting co-chairs will be elected and additional members recruited. Jill and Helene are floating members for the groups.