On 15th January 2025, the Women in Parliament All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) was delighted to welcome the Leader of the House, Lucy Powell MP, to share insights into the ongoing work of the Modernisation Committee. The event brought together Centenary Action members focused on parliamentary reform with cross-party women parliamentarians and was Chaired by Dawn Butler MP.
The Leader shared the unique nature of her role being ‘government’s representative to Parliament and Parliament’s representative to government’. Whilst acknowledging the strides already made in modernising parliament, including establishing a nursery and improving sitting hours, she stressed that there is still much more to do. The Leader shared some of the key reforms instituted under her leadership, such as ensuring that proxy voting is available for women MPs going through IVF and setting recess dates further in advance. She also emphasised that the success of the reform agenda rests on building as broad an alliance as possible, fostering cross party support and bringing as many people as possible along on the journey. Civil society organisations have an important role to play in building the alliance for reform through providing evidence and public advocacy.