Party Conference Season
Why do we go?
Conferences require a huge investment of funds and volunteer time but provide invaluable opportunities to connect with politicians and policymakers to raise the issues important to you, our members. These events have already brought direct benefits including securing speakers for our 2024 annual conference and we hope the same will be true for our upcoming November conference this year.
Early September: Reform UK
Philippa Nicholson and Anne Fennell at a Reform UK conference fringe event.
Anne Fennell and Philippa Nicholson attended the Reform UK party conference over two days. The event provided an opportunity to connect with key figures and other early years organisations engaged in shaping policy. We built on valuable connections with other influential voices and groups, meeting with a team from the Centre for Social Justice including their CEO, their Director of Policy and former MP Miriam Cates (now CSJ senior fellow). We discussed shared concerns with Baroness Claire Fox and engaged in policy discussion with Frank Young from Parentkind.
MAHM’s focus was on building relationships and identifying practical routes for policy impact. There is a genuine appetite to consider evidence-based contributions and they left Birmingham with a clearer sense of how we might influence forthcoming policy changes.
Mid September: Liberal Democrats
At the Liberal Democrat party conference, Anne attended various meetings including Lib Dem Women, where views were generally unsympathetic to mothers caring at home. However, Christine Jardine MP shared that, despite planning to return to work immediately after her child was born, she completely changed her mind once her baby arrived and wanted to be home—acknowledging the importance of genuine choice.
Anne also joined a Care UK event with Ed Davey and Tiggy Walker on care, which included a moving discussion. She asked Ed Davey about the economic pressures preventing many mothers from choosing to care, and he listened attentively, acknowledged the dilemma and gave an opening for continuing further discussion post-conference.
Anna King and Angela Fischer with Neil Leitch (Earl Year Alliance)
September/October: Labour Party
Anna and Ange took their famous plastic babies, Mandy and Leo, along with them to the Labour Party Conference. The conversation-starting plastic babies are the stars of even more photos this year, meeting again Stephen Kinnock MP and Early Years Alliance’s Neil Leitch. They met with many others including Maya Ellis MP, the Parentkind and Centre for Social Justice teams. Even an astonished David Lammy MP got a wave from the babies!
“A contentious issue.”
The fabulous four made an impact at a fringe event hosted by Bridget Philipson MP, where one delegate described their baby-and-mother-supporting narrative as a “contentious issue.” MAHM was invited to a session by the Fair Education Alliance; Josh MacAlister MP (Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing) was positive, saying that families need time and space to be with their children and to grow communities organically. Edward Davies (CSJ) put his head above the parapet by questioning where the evidence was to support free childcare from 9 months.
There was an encouraging discussion about the importance of parents and infants in a session with Dame Rachel de Souza (Children’s Commissioner) and Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell Boyce. Over the course of the conference, the team were heartened by a huge number of sensible people who were in agreement with their message and they are excited to build on these promising conversations in the weeks ahead.
MAHM campaigns for:
Childcare subsidy to follow the child with parents allowed to chose whether they use it to stay at home, give it to grandparents, childminder or external setting.
Taxation should fall fairly on those who stay at home and those who work.
Public examination on short and long term needs of children (and the effect on infants of long hours in external settings).
Recognition of value of unpaid care (estimated at £77 billion by Carers UK).
Are you a MAHM member yet?
There are many benefits to being a Mothers At Home Matter member! Your support is invaluable to help us shout louder about fairer taxation for families and acknowledge the choices 21st-century mothers want for their children.