One of the aims of the national Labour party is to make Parliament as representative of the national population as possible. Part of this is a commitment to making politics gender neutral. Currently women are still a minority in active politics, on both a local and national scale – out of six hundred and thirty six MPs only 126 of them are women. However, three quarters of them are Labour MPs. This commitment to gender equality is something which is shared by OULC, and as a result the club has a very active Women’s Caucus. Beyond the internal workings of OULC the Women’s Caucus seeks to work with the broader women’s movement in Oxford to redress the gender imbalance of student politics. We do this through separate events, of which some are open to both sexes and some for women only, and by ensuring we have a policy of gender equal initiations to speakers. Involvement from this early stage lays the foundations for future political engagement and thus the Women’s Caucus hopes to help alter what is currently a male dominated political landscape, both at University and in the wider world.

Beyond its role as an outreach organisation the Women’s Caucus of OULC acts as an autonomous body. In this capacity we hope to act as an unthreatening forum to generate political debate. We promote gender discussion within the club and consequently help to push the debate outwards from the united body. By organising as a single sex grouping the caucus is identifying the fact that women wishing to be politically involved often start from a disadvantaged level. We feel this is partly also a symptom of a culture in which women are less likely to self-promote, possibly due to the inherent masculinity of the qualities often ascribed to successful leaders. By organising in this manner those women who already feel confident enough to put themselves forward can help encourage those who do not. The caucus provides a base for women’s agitation and organisation while simultaneously hoping to externally educate in the name of gender equality.

Aside from all this seriousness we are also a social group. The caucus is a place where like minded left-leaning women can congregate in a unique environment. The actions of the Caucus are very group directed and so we hope to incorporate a range of different functions including that of an informal social society. We hold regular ‘Women’s Drinks’ as well as our main event of the term: the ‘Ladies in Red’ extravaganza.

If you are interested in getting more involved, sign up to the women’s mailing list by emailing: martha.mackenzis@sjc.ox.ac.uk

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