I recently left my position as the Diversity and Inclusion Officer for a local political party where I live. I had a lot of fun, met some amazing people, and learnt lots about diversity, inclusion, and local politics.
I was also able to create a positive impact in the party and my local community. Now it feels like a good time for me to move on to new challenges, and for someone with fresh ideas, fresh thinking and fresh energy to move things forward.
I will still remain an activist in the party, and I am really excited about the party’s future.
Three things I learnt from the role:
TL;DR (1) People are different. (2) Diversity and Inclusion pledges are good. (3) People should get involved in local politics.
Short story long…
(1) We all have certain privileges and certain disadvantages in life.
It is useful to put conscious effort into empathising with others to try to understand their experience, and to understand how those experiences can shape who they are, and how they present themselves. Notably:
The most outwardly happy people might be feeling low.
Those projecting confidence might feel insecure.
The dour can be friendly and witty.
People who are quiet are often passionate about their beliefs.
The point being - different people are different (obviously). It is foolish to behave as if people are the same.
One practical consideration from this, is that the things that make some people feel safe and comfortable, will not work for others. If we design workshops, meetings, socials, or activities to be the same way every time, then we will make some people feel very comfortable every time and others excluded.
(2) Pledges are useful
After extensive engagement with the party Membership and Officers, I helped create the party’s Diversity and Inclusion Pledge. This pledge is shared with new members and prospective candidates to represent the party.
You can read the full pledge here:
I am fully aware that nice pledges, policies and platitudes by themselves don’t create change. However, a good pledge, endorsed by the party leadership, can have a positive impact.
The engagement around the ideas of diversity and inclusion pulled us together as an executive team. It was useful to be reminded of the core values and wider purpose of why we turn up to volunteer for the party. The pledge also triggered conversations within our membership, motivated action, and gave license for people to start to create tangible change.
A pledge doesn’t “solve” diversity and inclusion but it is a pretty decent step on the journey.
(3)“Politics” is loaded with preconceptions and distrust. It shouldn’t be.
It’s sad, but the most common response to me sharing that I volunteer in local politics is “oh that sort of thing isn’t for me”.
And I might also note that the people who are most likely to respond with “me too” or “where do I sign up” are typically middle aged heterosexual cisgender white men. CLEARLY there is nothing wrong with those people participating. But it is noteworthy that the demographics of people who are typically politically active do not match the demographics of the people they would seek to represent.
This demographic mismatch is important, because the mismatch between people and politicians, results in our social and economic system being designed from limited perspectives. To give a very clear example of this- up until recently women’s sanitary products were taxed as “luxury items”. I don’t suppose this was a deliberate or malicious decision - it was just that the historically male dominated parliament simply did not experience or even see the issue. It has only been since parliament has become more balanced, and following a concerted campaign of over two decades that the tampon tax will be scrapped. BBC News article on scrapping of the tampon tax.
Why is political participation is so low? Well at a national level, corruption and cronyism are endemic. I don’t want to go into negative ramble - instead I highly recommend checking out the Good Law Project for details about ongoing corruption and how to fight it - goodlawproject.com
But having said that- local politics is actually pretty good. Every politician I’ve worked with has genuinely wanted to make a positive difference. Even my interactions with politicians from other parties has generally been positive. And more importantly, there are many charity and community groups engaged in making our community a better place to live. And although most local charities don’t class themselves as political, they by necessity work with local government to coordinate and support each other.
I guess what I’m saying, is that while our individual abilities to make an impact at a national level are limited, and that reading national press is isolating and disempowering, I would highly recommend that anyone and everyone should get involved in local community groups - like political parties, charities or other groups - because it both connecting and empowering. It makes our communities better and also enriches our lived experience.
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