Melanie Melvin — candidate for women’s officer

Personal statement by Melanie Melvin, standing for election as women’s officer of Brighton Kemptown Constituency Labour Party at its annual general meeting at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Dorset Gardens, Brighton BN2 1RL at 2.30pm on Saturday, February 4.

Melanie says:

“I fully support Labour’s 10 pledges and the leadership and policies of Jeremy Corbyn. I have been actively campaigning for the NHS and Labour, both locally and nationally, on the streets and on social media for two years.

“In the last few years, I have been campaigning hard for Labour locally. This includes sitting on committees, phone-banking, door-knocking, and speaking and leading very loud chants at various demos including the NHS day and Southern Rail demo. I am also very active on social media, with a large following. I am currently in the process of setting up ‘Lefty Women’ — a political discussion group for women in Brighton and Hove.

“As the recent women’s march showed, women can and must play a much bigger role in bringing the change Brighton, the UK, and the world so desperately need.

“I believe we, as women, have that power. But organisations like Labour must find better ways of harnessing it. As women’s officer, I pledge to find more creative and radical ways of doing that.

“I was brought up by a single mother and have fought for human rights since I was a child. I now have two teenage children of my own and live near Queen’s Park. I think things have got harder for single mothers and women in general since the 1980s. Equality has been rolled back. This must change!

“I was a performer and re-trained as a drama and movement therapist. I run my own training company, which I set up 18 years ago. I specialise in assertion skills and women in leadership. I would like to bring this work into the Labour Party in Kemptown to help promote and empower women and the feminine principle.

“That is why I am here today asking you to put your trust in me as your Women’s Officer.”