Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, has joined Dame Louise Ellman for a Live session hosted by the Board of Deputies, to talk about their motivations, challenges and achievements, in celebration of International Women's Day 2022.
A pair of female British politicians – one Muslim and one Jewish – joined together to discuss their experiences of discrimination in political life, in a revealing online event.
Dame Louise Ellman, a campaigner against antisemitism in Labour, and the Conservative MP Nusrat Ghani, who recently revealed concerns about Islamophobia within the Tory Party, spoke out about the hostility they faced from their own memberships.
Ms Ghani said: “I was my party’s first female, Muslim MP, and I had to realise that for some people that was an abomination and that they just had to spew out their nonsense all the time. And I think I was incredibly anxious about drawing more attention to it, so I did my best to just to keep my head down, ignore a lot of the comments, a lot of the abuse, but then you realise there’s nothing you can do to stop these people. And actually, the more successful you become, the angrier they get. And the greatest impact this had on my life is I have to think twice about my safety, my daughter’s safety and my family’s safety.”
The two MPs also spoke about the greatest influences on their careers. For Dame Louise it was legendary Labour MP Barbara Castle who gave her encouragement to stand for office.
Ms Ghani said her greatest influence was her own mother: “I must just put on record, my respect for my mum. My mum is not an educated woman. No one woman in my family was ever allowed to go to schools, all the women are illiterate. And one of the reasons she brought me to the UK was that she wanted us to have some opportunities in life and be educated. And even then mum still doesn’t understand my job. She always wanted something more and she always wanted us to be empowered. So somehow that must have impacted us and I have a job which, when the time is right, I can empower other women who don’t have a voice.”
You can watch the event here.
