Zöe Franklin is the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Guildford where she has also stood in the previous two General Elections. She has also been a borough councillor locally. She gave this speech at our Celebrating Women MPs event in June 2023.
Good afternoon everyone, it is so wonderful to be here, and thank you to Women Count for inviting me to share about the women MPs that have inspired me.
Before I share in detail about my chosen inspirational MP I wanted to share a little about my first memories of politics. I came to politics fairly late, in my mid-20s, but as I was preparing to share today I remembered that in my teens when I really wasn’t interested in politics there was one woman MP that really stood out. That MP was Mo Mowlam.
Growing up there was always an underlying narrative that to be successful in anything as a woman you had to behave a certain way, dress a certain way and speak a certain way. Mo Mowlam showed me that it didn’t have to be that way.
My memory as a teen of observing Mo as she worked to get the Good Friday Agreement signed was that she was straight talking, prepared to step outside the box of how a female politician is ‘supposed’ to be and got results. She showed me that you could be unashamedly yourself and powerful with it. An inspiration that is as relevant today as it was then.
So, returning to my inspirational woman MP.
In my mid-20s I was working in the basement of a publishing firm in London and found myself going through a quarter-life crisis and deciding that I wanted to change the world! That led me to get involved with our local residents’ association, organising a big community event, helping out with delivering leaflets for our local Lib Dem team and a short-term contract at Lib Dem HQ.
It was in those early days of political involvement in Guildford, I met Sue Doughty who had been the Lib Dem MP a few years previously.
Sue Doughty was the MP in Guildford from 2001-5. She was the first female MP there had ever been for the constituency and the first Liberal MP, or in this case Liberal Democrat MP, for nearly 100 years. She was only the MP for four years but she made a significant impact on the communities in Guildford – even now I have people say to me as I’m out campaigning “Sue was a brilliant MP, she helped save the hospital or she helped me with this problem I was experiencing.” Sue really cared about local people and got things done.
After getting to know Sue a bit and her getting to know me, while I was on maternity leave Sue approached me and asked if I would stand in a by-election that was taking place to elect a new councillor for my community. Initially, I said no, but Sue wasn’t put off, she came back to me after a short while and asked me again, explaining that she really thought it would simply be an extension of what I was already doing in the community. That time I said yes and started my political journey began in earnest.
At that point, Sue could have simply said “Fantastic, now crack on” and introduced me to other activists and focused on her campaign to try and regain the Guildford constituency. However, she didn’t.
Sue invested her time and energy in helping me learn what community campaigning meant, she knocked on doors alongside me, introduced me to people in my community who I hadn’t met before and whom she thought could help, and stood by me as the votes were counted at the council offices on the night I became a councillor.
But it didn’t stop there. Sue spotted that I was passionate about helping people and told me she had a job coming up working for her as campaign organiser which I jumped at the chance to apply for. Once again, Sue invested her time in teaching me how to run a political office, manage casework, and take my campaigning to the next level. In time she was the first person to say to me “You’d make a great MP Zöe, would you be interested?”
Fast forward to today, Sue is still involved in our local team in Guildford and is always willing to be a sounding board for ideas or to offer advice when needed. She has stood beside me at the General Election counts in 2017 and 2019 and I sincerely hope that she will stand alongside me at the next one too, hopefully as I win, just like one of her other former staff members – Munira Wilson MP.
There are a number of other women MPs and former MPs since Sue who have inspired and supported and encouraged me on my journey in different ways – Jo Swinson, Layla Moran, Munira Wilson and Lynne Featherstone.
But without Sue, I would not be here today or be standing for Parliament for the third time at the next General Election. I am deeply grateful. Whatever the outcome I want to be more Sue – passionate and committed to making a better future for my constituency and its communities, but also someone who seeks out other women with passion, determination and a desire to bring change and encourages them to think – am I a future MP?
In fact, may we all be more Sue.