Politics has more sisterhood than you think
Plus: 💟 Isla Fisher 💷 Equal pay day 👏 Millie Bobby Brown
For decades, Parliament has been dubbed “male, stale and pale,” a place where women’s voices were few and far between.
We met eight female MPs who are changing that narrative.
They are tackling serious issues – from violence against women and girls, to health inequalities, to access to finance for women – while also building friendships and support across party lines. Politics, they show, is about asking questions, representing your constituents, and making your voice heard – not just the pantomime of Prime Minister’s Questions on TV.
These women come from diverse backgrounds, prove that Parliament is no longer the preserve of the privately educated, and hope to inspire the next generation to catch the politics bug. Read their story below.
In this issue of Take The Lead, Isla Fisher opens up about how female friendships have carried her through a public divorce, holding her up and giving her strength. If you feel lost navigating today’s political landscape, you’re not alone – Lyanne Nicoll, CEO of 50:50 Parliament, shares practical tips on how to get involved in politics and why championing women’s voices is more important than ever.
Plus, we can’t get enough of Millie Bobby Brown’s savage clap back to the paparazzi at the Stranger Things season 5 red carpet - it’s a must see!
Enjoy, share it with your friends, and please let us know what you think.
The Female Lead Team
We’re talking about…
🏎️ For the first time - US car companies will be required to test vehicle safety using dummies representative of women. The THOR-05F, an advanced female crash test dummy, addresses decades of higher injury and fatality rates among women in crashes. With more than 150 sensors to measure how seatbelts, airbags, and vehicle structures affect female bodies, it’s a major step toward safer cars – though advocates stress it must actually be used, not left on the shelf, to save lives.
💷 Women stopped getting paid this week… kind of - In the UK, the gender pay gap means that working women are effectively unpaid for the last five weeks of the year. In 2025, the gap sits at 10.9%, and progress has stalled over the past five years. With more companies adopting AI in the workplace, the Fawcett Society warns the gap could widen further. Equal Pay Day is a reminder that closing it requires real action
🇫🇷 Combatting violence against women and children - French lawmakers introduced a powerful 78-article bill developed with dozens of feminist associations to protect Women and Children. The legislation would establish specialised judicial units, require mandatory training for officers, and implement annual interviews in schools to detect abuse early.
🔎 New inquiry into egg donation - The UK’s Women & Equalities Committee has opened a new parliamentary inquiry into egg and embryo donation and freezing, signalling a serious commitment to women’s reproductive rights and choice.
Inspire me…
“I have been held and supported by women” - Isla Fisher
Isla Fisher‘s love letter to the women who’ve lifted her up may just make your day. Watch the full interview with Isla Fisher and Rosamund Pike on our Youtube channel
“There’s a real sense of sisterhood”
By Caroline Millington
“Male, stale and pale” has long been a phrase associated with the hallowed corridors of power in Parliament. But on a sunny winter day, The Female Lead was invited to the House of Commons to meet eight female MPs who are keen to change the narrative and encourage more women to enter politics.
The House of Commons is as you imagine: formal, old fashioned and grand. It’s a bit like Hogwarts for grown ups, without the spells. But the MPs we meet today are nothing like the two-dimensional politicians usually seen on TV. And that’s where the real magic lies…
Read more in the full article here
Toolbox: How to get involved in politics
From Lyanne Nicoll, CEO at 50:50 Parliament
🤔 Why:
We need more women to start thinking about a career in politics. Women make up 51% of the UK population but are under-represented in politics at all levels. This matters because it means that decisions that affect all of our lives are made without the views, experiences and approaches of women, particularly women from marginalised communities. As well as issues such as childcare, reproductive rights, the gender pay gap and violence against women and girls - it means that women’s voices on issues such as climate change and AI are ignored.
🔧 How:
You don’t need to know anything before you start to take your first steps. The world of politics can be confusing or feel overwhelming but there are lots of resources and organisations out there, including the 50:50 Parliament website.
🔍 Get curious and identify your passions. Start your own learning journey about who has the power to make decisions, locally and nationally, and whether you feel that your views and experiences are being properly represented. In tandem, think of what YOU would change if you had the power, and why.
👭 Ask her to stand. We all know a woman who would make an amazing elected representative but women often need to be asked before they would consider themselves ‘the right’ material’. This is despite there being no formal qualification necessary to becoming an MP or Councillor.
🗳️ Start now. We are almost four years out from an election, it takes time to build your knowledge base, network and confidence. Running for elected office is often a marathon, not a sprint, so now is the time to start lacing your trainers, even if you are not sure how or where to start.
💪 The more we empower ourselves, as women, to increase our collective and individual participation in our democracy, the more we ensure that we cannot be ignored when it comes to policy-making and legislation. It is almost 100 years since all women won the right to vote and to stand for election in the UK. We must make our voices louder to ensure we are heard.
Discover more at www.5050parliament.co.uk and on social media @5050parliament.
Final thought
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I would love to see people championing job sharing MP roles. This is the easiest and fastest way to increase female participation. 1 vote, 2 people sharing the job.
Watching Kemi Badenoch rip into Rachel Reeves this lunchtime, I’m not sure that’s true. She was just as bad as any man.