[It’s] about trying to play
my part in creating a world
that generations after us
actually want to inherit”
so far, it’s been ok. “I have made a
conscious decision not to engage
with those types of people on social
media platforms. That means I might
be missing opportunities to say and
do certain things, but actually I would
rather concentrate on being the best
representative and pursuing the goals
that the party has, and that our mem-
bership have signed up to, in ways
that aren’t going to end up in futile,
petty, petulant attacks.”
How does Mandu’s identity play
into her politics and priorities, and
how does she, as leader, make sure
WEP is looking at issues through
an intersectional lens, and not just
speaking to one kind of woman or
about one kind of feminism? “One of
my priorities is to build on the great
work we’ve done in just four years,”
she tells me. “We won our first seat in
the last local elections, a year ahead
of schedule. We’ve got 35,000 mem-
bers and registered supporters up and
down the country in 70 branches. That
is phenomenal, given the resources
we have and how hard it is for us to
get cut-through and platforms. The
job now is to make sure that what
we do and how we do it involves,
connects with, inspires and motivates
people from all sorts of different
communities to join us. Because of
my racial background and my sexual
orientation, I’ve always had to navi-
gate people questioning the integrity
of my identity. I’ve had to navigate
hostility from the white community
or from the black community. From
the gay and lesbian community, from
the straight community. I didn’t enjoy
that, as it was going on, but it’s made
me someone quite adept at getting
on a wavelength of people who I may
not see eye-to-eye with, and still con-
necting with them. It has made me
versatile as a human being.”
Mandu rejects those who dismiss
WEP, as some have, as a party for
“middle-class white women”. “We get
criticised as a party for not having
enough people of ethnic minori-
ties in visible situations, but I think
that’s such an oversimplification,”
she says emphatically. “I want us to
be a diverse movement... There are
way more BAME people in the partythan people think. We have a BAME
caucus. We have an LGBT+ network
as well. I want to build on that, cre-
ate those spaces, and allow them to
influence our party’s direction. That’s
one of my top priorities; to build a
more diverse range of individuals
and groups within our membership
so that we’re stronger and can draw
on the strengths and contributions
all of those different people have
to bear.”
Of course, being a broad church
presents challenges. And, in an era
when views seem more polarised
than ever, representing people whose
interests might be in direct conflict
is not easy. But that doesn’t seem
to concern Mandu, who assures me
it’s a challenge she’s ready to take
on. “I want us to represent people
who don’t have political sanctuary
anywhere. That means that we’re not
always going to agree with each other.
Like any kind of extended family,
there are going to be issues that we
do not see eye-to-eye on. I want there
to be mechanisms for those disagree-
ments to be explored for the nuances
they have, and in a respectful way,
but without this idealistic assump-
tion that everybody’s going to come
to some glorious, happy consensus
where the clouds open and the angels
are singing. I’m not so naive as to
expect that’ll happen. But the flip side
of that is we’re not going to brush
disagreement under the carpet. We’re
going to deal with it, we’re going to
explore it, we’re going to create cho-
reography and environments where
that can happen. I’m not going to do
that shit on Twitter.
“At the same time, I’m going to do
my best to make sure our movement
doesn’t forget its purpose and bring
people together around the things we
do agree on; our common purpose,
stuff we have in common. Because
when there’s bitter bickering and in-
fighting, for whatever reason, however
valid that reason is, the only winner
from that is patriarchy. Patriarchy is
clapping and cheerleading when we
are at loggerheads.”
Whatever your politics, whoever
your party, that seems like a message
we can all get behind.Find out more about the Women’s Equality
Party at womensequality.org.uk. Follow
Mandu on Twitter @ManduReid69COMMUNITY | MANDU REID