Westminster Foundation for Democracy at 30: 'We can’t assume democracy is safe – it’s not'
For 30 years, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy has been spreading the word about the importance of democratic structures. Sienna Rodgers hears from three of its current MP board members on how its work has never been more vital
Sitting in Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine’s parliamentary office, her Conservative colleague Maria Miller notices a little sign tucked into her whiteboard. It reads “465”. Miller turns to Valerie Vaz to ask: which number were you? “293,” the Labour MP replies. “I was 265 in 2005,” Miller says.
“I was shocked to find out I was only the 265th woman to ever be elected and, when I was in the Cabinet, the 38th woman to ever be in the Cabinet,” the Tory MP goes on. “You think, don’t you, as an outside observer, that our Parliament is so developed and so established. And it is. But the role of women within it is not well-developed and not well-established.”
Read the full article at https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/westminster-foundation-fo…
