Hosted by Sky News presenter Isabel Webster, the pilot episode’s panel consists of three female MPs including Kemi Badenoch, Conservative MP, Saffron Walden, Hannah Bardell, SNP MP, Livingston and Jess Phillips, Labour MP, Birmingham Yardley.
Overlooking the two houses of parliament, the panel provides a space for these women to openly discuss their personal experience as a female MP in Westminster today, as well as covering key subjects currently at debate in parliament.
This is not Stylist’s first foray into politics. In January 2016, an entire issue was Made by MPs, and Ruth Davidson graced the cover in September of this year. But Editor-in-Chief Lisa Smosarski felt that women were still not being given a loud enough voice in mainstream political coverage and wanted to create a new TV show format that allowed female MPS to talk freely – and with humour and collaboration – about big political issues.
Stylist and Studio Sixty Billion have an ongoing working relationship, and it was Studio Sixty Billion who were commissioned to produce this, based on an idea by Women of the House co-creators Katie Perrior and Jo Tanner.
Lisa Smosarski, Editor-in-Chief at Stylist, added: “This year we are campaigning to make women more visible in all walks of life, but when you consider that just 32% of MPs are women you realise that there is still a long way to go. If we are not 50/50 in parliament, we are not being truly represented and not setting an example to the rest of society. At Stylist we want this to change.
This November marks 100 years since women could stand for parliament, and although we have a woman in the top seat as Prime Minister, we still aren’t represented properly across parties or in the House. Our mission is to encourage more women to engage with politics, consider a political career and to champion the women already making waves in Westminster – and what better way to do that than to create a space where female MPS can talk candidly about their lives in politics, share their opinions on key parliamentary topics and show us what it means to be a female MP in 2018… then broadcast that conversation to the world.”
Katie Perrior, British political advisor and co-creator for the show said: “After working for over 20 years in the male dominated world of Westminster politics, including No.10 Downing St, I felt that not only did we not hear enough from our female representatives, but they were often drowned out by others. Our female MPs are not there to make up the numbers; instead they show they have strong views on a range of issues from Brexit to taxes and foreign policy to social justice.
I’m thrilled to create something that is not only thought provoking but also entertaining and warm. As Jo Cox once said, “we have more in common than that which divides us.
“It’s time for more women to step up and be heard.”
The show will appear on stylist.co.uk and YouTube, with shorter edits appearing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
