|
WEP candidate for Liverpool
Mayor brings women's voices to the contest
THE Women's Equality Party have
unveiled Tabitha Morton as its candidate for Mayor of the Liverpool City Region; the only woman in the contest; and pledged to shake up a mayoral race that
has so far not spoken to the women of Merseyside.
"None of the other candidates in the running have focused on gender
equality. I want to make sure that women's interests are represented by putting
equality on the agenda for Merseyside..." said Morton, 40, an Allerton
resident who works in the manufacturing industry.
Morton grew up in Liverpool on a Netherton council estate and with little formal
education worked her way up in a male dominated industry to become Head of
Integration at Yale. She joined the Women's Equality Party as a founding member
in 2015 after a lifetime of work discrimination. "Sexism in this City is alive and well: I had to try twice as hard as my
male colleagues in order to achieve the same recognition.
Nearly 370,000 people are employed in the production industries in the North
West; a higher proportion than any other region in the UK; and this growing
sector is dominated by men, helping to contribute to Liverpool's gender pay gap.
I want to make things fair in Merseyside and I will be putting forward practical
policies to represent the needs and interests of everyone." she
commented.
Leader of the Women's Equality Party Sophie Walker said she was delighted to
introduce Morton to members and supporters at the launch event. Walker said:-
"There is an idea that politics happens in Westminster, but politics
happens right here in your communities and on your doorstep. Women in the North right now are overlooked, underrepresented and
disproportionately hurt by public sector cuts. And when the poorest households
suffer the most it's those that are doubly or trebly disadvantaged because of
their race, their ethnicity, their disability, that pay the highest price.
It is vital that the all the people in our communities, whose lives will be
moulded by these decisions and these deals, have their say. Local government as
well as national government must have gender equality and diversity at its
heart. It's time to raise the bar; so I am thrilled to introduce Tabitha Morton
as our candidate today. I have always voted for the party that I thought cared
about my City, my friends and family and their futures. Today I stand as
representative for a party that I know for certain has my interests, and the
interests of all women in Merseyside, at the centre of everything it does. We
are all equal at the ballot box. Let's make every vote count on 4 May 2016." |
