The year 1997 was a very good one.
It marked the start of a Labour government again after 18 years of Tory rule, and it was the time I decided not to prevaricate any longer and rejoin the Labour Party to become active in local politics again.
Over the next few years, I took on various roles within the party. In 2004, I combined my public service role as a teacher with that of a local councillor by winning the seat of the Gaer ward at Newport City Council. I subsequently won a further three elections.
In 2016, I became the first female leader of Newport City Council and, in May 2017, I led the Newport Labour Group to victory, winning 31 of 50 seats at the council.
In June 2017, I became the first female leader of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), the body representing all councils in Wales. I also represented Wales as a member of the LGA Executive in London.
“My experience as a councillor has been invaluable preparation for Westminster”
I was appointed to the House of Lords in October 2019, as part of the dissolution honours list of outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May, and was recommended to her by the First Minister of Wales.
I am now a full-time working peer, sitting on the Labour benches in the House of Lords. In March 2020, I was appointed as an Opposition Whip, joining the local government team in the Lords, and, in September 2020, I was appointed Shadow Spokesperson for Women and Equalities. In March 2021, I was appointed as Shadow Spokesperson for Wales and the Education Whip.
My experience as a councillor has been invaluable preparation for Westminster, as I have first-hand experience of putting policies into practice at grassroots level.
I believe that local government is the bedrock of our democracy, and nothing underlines it more than the way in which councils have been such a valuable source of delivery during the pandemic.
I know that my colleagues in Wales have worked extremely closely with the Welsh Government and this example could, and should, have been more closely followed in England.
I’ve seen many changes in almost 20 years of frontline local politics.
It’s extremely gratifying to have been part of a movement for change in making our councils in Wales more representative of the communities they serve.
Last year, on the eve of International Women’s Day, the WLGA Council endorsed a series of significant recommendations from a cross-party working group, which included the use of voluntary quotas, local targets, and council declarations to become ‘Diverse Councils’.
This was as a result of the setting up of a cross-party working group on underrepresented groups, under my leadership of the WLGA, and I was pleased to chair it until November 2019, when its initial proposals were delivered to the WLGA Council.
I now co-chair a similar working party with my colleague Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, set up by the Co-operative Party to bring the idea of diverse councils to English councils.
As I leave local government this May, it is one of my proudest achievements, and it augurs well for more balanced council chambers in future years.
