International Women’s Day

Baroness Wilcox of Newport Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wilcox of Newport (Lab)]

Diolch i chi am yr araith ragorol honno—an excellent speech and a sign of things to come. Congratulations to all my noble friends. What a wonderful bunch we have now. I am so glad to be part of this group. And I am delighted to be able to add my own observations on the immense dedication of the noble Lord, Lord Jones, to public life in Wales—and he is now able to make contributions to the whole of the UK from a seat in your Lordships’ House.

Carwyn and I first met by chance when we sat next to each other in the audience of “Question Time”, which was being filmed in Cardiff in October 1998. He was a councillor in Bridgend at the time and we discussed politics as we waited for the programme to begin. Little did I think that, almost 20 years later, we would be sharing challenging discussions over the future of Welsh councils when I was the WLGA leader and he was First Minister. However, we always resolved those matters through such talks because of the openness and transparency local government found when dealing with the Welsh Government. This was in direct contrast to what my LGA colleagues in England were experiencing.

We also had similar starts in life. We both became politically active during the miners’ strike of 1984-85. In Carwyn’s autobiography, he says:

“What drove me into politics was the determination that whole communities of workers up and down the UK should never be treated that way again”.


He has put that sentiment into practice time and time again through his dedicated leadership of Wales in all of his roles, culminating in almost a decade as our First Minister.

I was sitting behind Lady Jones, or Lisa as I know her, and the children, Seren and Ruairi, when out of the blue Carwyn announced at the Welsh Labour Party conference of 2018 that he was stepping down as FM. There was an audible intake of breath from the delegates as it had been an exceptionally well-kept secret—not an easy thing to do in Wales. I could not commend more highly the noble Lord, Lord Jones of Penybont, into this House. He will make a valuable contribution in the years ahead. I am proud to call him a colleague and my friend. Croeso mawr, Carwyn.

In thinking about my contribution to this important International Women’s Day debate, as a lifelong educationalist, a former teacher and a member of the NEU, I believe strongly in the importance of women’s participation in science and technology—the STEM subjects—but I am absolutely passionate about this Government’s mission to extend STEM into STEAM with once again the inclusion of arts into the curriculum and a much greater focus than the absence of creative and artistic learning that our children and young people have had in the state sector in England. I know that this Labour Government’s mission is high standards for all and to break down barriers to opportunity, committing to ensure that art, music and drama are returned to their rightful place within the curriculum. In Wales, we have had the opportunity with a devolved education system not to be driven into the narrow focus of the English EBacc and Progress 8, which have effectively restricted creative arts subjects for the majority of young people.

In Wales, our new curriculum was published in May 2019. Expressive arts became one of the six areas of learning and included dance, drama, film and digital media, music and visual arts, linked by a common creative process and transferable skills. By contrast, in England, GCSE and A-level entries for arts courses have plummeted in the state school sector since the EBacc was introduced in 2011, yet they remain buoyant in the private sector as public schools can devise a curriculum that suits their individual school without fear of the performance tables measures and Ofsted inspections that are based on them.

It is therefore to be greatly welcomed that the Government’s current curriculum and assessment review will seek to deliver this broader curriculum. I urge my noble friend to look at how we have done this in Wales. The Budget put a welcome £2.3 billion uplift into school budgets next year, delivering on this Government’s commitment to put education back at the forefront of national life.

I turn to the focus of the debate: women’s participation and leadership. I had no idea that my noble friend Lady Rafferty was going to talk about Jennie Lee, but I am going to talk about her too. Last Tuesday, 25 February, marked 60 years since Jennie Lee, Britain’s first ever Minister for the Arts, published A Policy for the Arts—First Steps, a remarkable achievement of participation and leadership in our political life that, despite the setbacks, has endured to this day. She insisted that the arts should be central to everyday life and publicly supported that for the benefit of all. In her words:

“In any civilised community the arts … must occupy a central place. Their enjoyment should not be regarded as something remote from everyday life”.


Last week the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, delivered the inaugural Jennie Lee Lecture. In it, she said that Lee’s White Paper stated unequivocally the Wilson Government’s belief in the power of the arts to transform society and to transform lives. She also announced over £270 million of investment that will begin to fix the foundations of our arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage sector in communities across the country—the green shoots of recovery. However welcome this investment is, though, it is evident that women are still underrepresented and undervalued in the creative industry workforce. It is up to all of us, women and men alike, to challenge the status quo and push for change.

That is so reminiscent of the struggles that we faced in the political world when looking for equality of opportunity at elected level. It would be remiss of me not to take this moment to mark the incredible achievements of my noble friend Lady Gale, of Blaenrhondda, who faced enormous barriers when establishing the concept of all-women shortlists and a balanced cohort to the first Welsh Assembly. It was her strength and tenacity that pushed these changes through and made political representation in Wales change from inequality to equality. That has remained steadfast for the past 25 years.

Let us learn from this great example and, within the creative industries, demonstrate the need to amplify the voices and talents of women and recognise the incredible contributions they make. With a diversity of roles, we can create a brighter and more vibrant future for that industry—one that truly values and represents the incredible range of talent, experience and perspective that women bring to the table.

Creativity is all around us, both within ourselves and others. It influences and shapes our lives from beginning to end. The promotion of women within all spheres—scientific, technological, creative and political—makes for a better world when we see ourselves around the table. As someone once told me, if they do not give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.