The Women's Equality Party (WEP) is a feminist political party set up in the United Kingdom in 2015. The idea was conceived by Catherine Mayer and Sandi Toksvig at the Women of the World Festival, when they concluded that there was a need for a party to campaign for gender equality to the benefit of all. The launch meeting was on 28 March 2015 under the title "The Women's Equality Party needs you. But probably not as much as you need the Women's Equality Party". The party's full policy was launched by its then-leader Sophie Walker at Conway Hall on 20 October 2015. In January 2020, Mandu Reid took over as party leader.

The party's currently only known elected representation are two seats on Congleton town council.^[3]

Catherine Mayer

Sandi Toksvig

Co-founders of the Women's Equality Party

On 2 March 2015, author and journalist Catherine Mayer attended a "Women in Politics" event at the Women of the World Festival (at the Southbank Centre in central London). The panel was chaired by Jude Kelly (Artistic Director, Southbank Centre), and the panel consisted of Katie Ghose (CEO, Electoral Reform Society), Margot James (Conservative), Stella Creasy (Labour) and Jo Swinson (Lib Dem).^[4] Having watched the panelists agreeing collegially with each other on almost every point, Mayer stood up and said, "What about if I found a Women's Equality Party, tell you what, I'm going to go to the bar afterwards, anyone interested in discussing this come and see me."^[5]

On 8 March 2015 (International Women's Day), at the same festival, comedian Sandi Toksvig presented an event entitled "Sandi Toksvig's Mirth Control: Stand Up and Be Counted".^[6] Interviewed by Jenni Murray on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Toksvig said: "I had a fantasy cabinet of women, and I didn't care which party they came from, we had Doreen Lawrence as our Home Secretary. Can you imagine anything more wonderful? We had paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson as our Sports Minister, and I asked them to put forward practical suggestions. The world is in a parlous state, 9.1 million women failed to vote in the last election, we need to attract them, we also need to attract the more than 7 million men who didn't vote. Why are people not engaged in politics, because I don't think that the people standing represent the diversity of this country."^[7] Mayer phoned Toksvig, and the two agreed to become co-founders of the party.^[8]

The first meeting of the as yet unnamed party was on 28 March 2015.^[9][4][10] Speakers included: Suzanne Moore, who had previously stood for parliament as an independent candidate; Sophie Walker, who spoke on careers, parenting and ensuring that both parents have opportunities in both; Halla Gunnarsdóttir, who described a women's equality party in Iceland; and Hannah McGrath, who discussed the practicalities of starting a party. The meeting was covered on Woman's Hour^[7] and by the press, including Glamour magazine^[11] and the London Evening Standard.^[12]

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A second meeting took place at Conway Hall on 18 April, and included Sandi Toksvig, Mandy Colleran, Nimko Ali, Shabnam Shabazi and Stella Duffy as speakers.^[5]

On 30 April, Toksvig announced that she was leaving her position as compère of Radio 4's The News Quiz in order to help set up the new political party, which was now named the Women's Equality Party.^[14][15][16] Speaking at the Hay Festival in May, Toksvig reported that since she had announced the move on BBC One's The One Show, she had been subjected to a significant level of abuse online.^[17]

The Women's Equality Party was registered with the Electoral Commission on 20 July 2015.^[18] On 22 July, Reuters journalist Sophie Walker was announced as the party's first leader.^[8][19] Walker went on to stand in Shipley at the 2017 general election, but lost to Conservative Party MP and men's rights activist Philip Davies.^[20]

The party's mission statement opens with: "Equality for women isn't a women's issue. When women fulfil their potential, everyone benefits. Equality means better politics, a more vibrant economy, a workforce that draws on the talents of the whole population and a society at ease with itself".^[27]

• Equal representation in politics and business;
• Equal representation in education;
• Equal pay;
• Equal treatment of women by and in the media;
• Equal parenting rights;
• An end to violence against women.

— Women's Equality Party, six stated goals of the party^[19]

Describing the six aims, Mayer said: "It's a very narrow palette, we're not looking to be a party that can answer questions about what should be done in the Ukraine, or trying to have a platform on the environment or anything else, we are focusing absolutely narrowly on that equality agenda."^[5] Party leader Walker agreed: "We won't have policies on other issues. We are going to concentrate, laser-like, on all of the above, to make them happen. And we will welcome people from any other political party that agrees with our values of diversity and inclusivity to work with us."^[28] However, Walker promised that the party's working definition of the word "woman", as well as more detail of the party's policies, would be covered in its policy launch, following consultation with party members.^[29]

Early indications of what to expect included Walker's call for a gender quota system to select MPs at the following two elections so that equal representation could be achieved in the House of Commons by 2025.^[30] Walker also called for six weeks' paid leave, at 90% pay, for both parents after having a baby, as well as an extra 10 months of shared leave at statutory pay.^[31] Writing in the Daily Mirror, Toksvig stated that the party further proposed that industrial tribunal costs be reduced from over £1,000 to "£50 for those who can afford it" in order to "empower all women to speak out about sexism at work."^[32]

The party launched its full set of policies on 20 October 2015 at Conway Hall.^[33][34]

The party's name was "debated and discussed at two public meetings".^[45] When Toksvig was asked why the party was named the Women's Equality Party, rather than just the Equality Party, she answered: "Because there is a huge issue, women are certainly not equal.... It's time that women, finally, after all these years, what is it, almost a hundred years since we finally got the vote, it's time we stepped up and took our equal place in society." She also stated the party's motto, "Equality is better for everybody".^[7] Mayer has also stated, "I'm very happy with the name: all genders are joining us and I hope they continue to. More than half the population is living in inequality and that is genuinely not good for everyone, economically or culturally."^[46]

Reportedly, 1,300 people joined the party on the day that it opened up membership, which costs £4 per month.^[19] In the first financial year, the party raised £512,219 in membership fees.^[96] As of 13 October 2015^[update], 65 local and regional Women's Equality Party groups had been founded,^[30] and in July 2016 the party reported that it had 65,000 members.^[97][98] The WEP was described as "the fastest growing political force in the UK" in a Daily Telegraph article on the party's campaigning for the May 2016 London mayoral election.^[99] The party's membership reportedly grew from 25,000 to 55,000 in the month following the European Union membership referendum.^[100] In September 2020, it was reported that the party's membership was 30,000.^[2]

The party's first fundraiser, held in front of 400 people, including businesswoman Martha Lane Fox, took place at Conway Hall on 9 June 2015.^[101][102] In September that year Toksvig announced the dates for a comedy tour to raise funds for the party.^[103][104] In the party's first year (ending 31 December 2015) £512,219 was raised through membership fees, £38,528 through fundraising activities and £79,212 was raised through donations.^[96]

The artist Damien Hirst created a piece of work for auction entitled "Spin Drawing for Women's Equality" (2015).^[105] The piece, which contained the party's colours, raised £20,000 when it was auctioned in April 2016. The artists Jake and Dinos Chapman also began a campaign, stamping the words "Womens Equality Party" onto 2p coins and then returning them into circulation.^[106] (Suffragettes had also defaced pennies.^[107])

In the party's second year (ending 31 December 2016) £447,946 was raised through membership fees, £35,918 through fundraising activities and £261,394 was raised through donations.^[108]

A year before the creation of the WEP, Suzanne Moore suggested in The Guardian that a feminist party should be formed, saying: "the false doctrine of austerity has meant that women, single mothers in particular, and public sector workers in general, have been at the frontline of this war. They have been demonised and subject to punitive cuts."^[109] Writing in The Telegraph, Kate Maltby responded by saying, "My feminism is directly tied to a commitment to meritocracy and individual flourishing...if her [Moore's] grand new feminist party kicks off by nationalising private property, I'm hardly going to be able to sign up".^[110]

The British edition of GQ has also accused the party of "alienating 50 per cent of the electorate", adding that, "while the WEP may aim to appeal to both female Tory voters and female Labour voters, it doesn't take away from the implicit suggestion that the party – which aims for 'diverse' membership – is still aimed almost solely at women".^[111] The party has also been criticised "for being comprised mainly of white, middle-class affluent women".^[112]

The International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW) have criticised the party's stance on the criminalisation of commercial sex.^[113] This policy has also been criticised by other women, including the journalist Abi Wilkinson.^[114] The Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM), Scot-Pep, and National Ugly Mugs, have all condemned the way then party leader Sophie Walker spoke about a sex worker in 2018. The organisations rejected the party's idea of criminalisation in the sex industry, saying they don't support increased police powers, nor enforcement against sex workers, and that criminalisation would do nothing to end poverty or give migrants better work options.^[115]

The party has also been accused of being "both too ambitious and not ambitious enough", that, in order to maintain traction, it ought to concentrate on just one issue, e.g., quotas in the boardroom.^[116]

Heather Brunskell-Evans, a research fellow at King's College London, was a spokeswoman for the party on violence against women, and described by the party as "a tireless campaigner".^[117] Speaking on The Moral Maze on BBC Radio 4, she argued that transgender adults should be free to define themselves as they wish, but questioned whether positive affirmation was the only way to help children expressing confusion about gender.^[118] "What actually happens is that a small child is told there is something not quite right with its body, and it’s got the brain of another gender. I think we’re imposing… I think it’s abusive, actually. We’re imposing restrictions on children," she said.^[119] Subsequently, she withdrew from a King's event after protests by students, and three transgender members complained to the party that she was "promoting prejudice against the transgender community". Brunskell-Evans was investigated by the party and subsequently resigned.^[118]

• Feminism in the United Kingdom