All candidates invited to our hustings next week have also been invited to provide a short written introduction to themselves.
Next to respond is Lee Chalmers (Women’s Equality Party), whose words we reprint in full below.
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I live in Edinburgh, run a small coaching and leadership business, lead a not-for-profit organisation focused on encouraging women’s political representation, and am doing a part-time PhD on online trolling.
I’ve been involved in campaigning for gender equality for 15 years, as a board member of The Fawcett Society to most recently beoming a founder member of the Women’s Equality Party (WEP).
WEP is just over one year old and already has 45,000+ members/supporters. A fairer Scotland starts with equality. WEP believes that only by women and men having equality can Scotland truly flourish.
If elected I would work with other MSPs and organisations to achieve six core goals:
- Equal pay/opportunity in work and the economy.
- Equal parenting/caregiving so that everyone has the same opportunity in family life.
- Ending violence against women.
- Equal representation in politics/business/industry.
- Equal treatment of women by and in the media.
- An equal education system creating the same opportunities for all children.
WEP takes no party line on issues outside our remit. WEP has no view on Scotland’s independence – we want to see equality between women and men here in any and all circumstances.
Please give your second vote to The Women’s Equality Party.