Rupa Huq Hosts International Women's Day Event
Southall Black Sisters among speakers at Commons celebration
Rupa Huq MP (centre) with fellow MPs and attendees at the event
March 13, 2026
Committee Room 6 in the House of Commons was filled to capacity this week as Dr Rupa Huq MP welcomed a large group of Ealing Central and Acton residents to Parliament for an International Women’s Day celebration. The event brought together parliamentarians from both Houses, leading campaigners and local women for an afternoon of speeches, discussion and reflection on the progress and challenges facing women today.
International Women’s Day, first marked in 1911 before women in Britain even had the right to vote, provided the backdrop for a programme that blended political insight with personal testimony. The audience, described by organisers as “local women with some male allies”, heard from a series of speakers including MPs, the newly ennobled Baroness Neena Gill, and representatives of Southall Black Sisters, the organisation that has campaigned for women’s rights and against domestic abuse for more than four decades.
Lucy Powell MP, the former Leader of the House of Commons and now Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, delivered one of the keynote speeches. She highlighted the long arc of women’s rights in the UK, from the suffrage movement to modern-day expansions of childcare and employment protections, urging attendees to recognise both the victories won and the work still to be done.
Before the panel discussion began, attendees were taken on a tour of Parliament where they heard from MP Naz Shah, whose recently published memoir Honoured recounts her mother’s landmark domestic abuse case, supported by Southall Black Sisters.
They also heard from Sarah Sackman, Minister for Courts. Other speakers included Chi Onwurah MP, Chair of Parliament’s Science Select Committee, and Melanie Ward MP, formerly the director of Medical Aid for Palestinians.
Dr Huq used the occasion to reflect on the changing face of Parliament. She noted that women now make up 41% of MPs, a significant rise from the 29% recorded when she was first elected in 2015. Of the current 263 women MPs, 190 are Labour, compared with just 29 Conservatives. The setting itself underscored the contrast: the event took place beneath a vast Georgian-era painting depicting a House of Commons filled exclusively with white men in wigs and stockings. “It brought home the progress we have made,” she said, “but we need a 50-50 Parliament, or even one where women are the majority, to reflect society at large.”
The event concluded with a question-and-answer session chaired by Dr Huq and featuring Dawn Butler MP and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP. The discussion touched on the pressures of political life, including the strain of balancing motherhood with long parliamentary hours and the personal threats that many female MPs face. Speakers also raised concerns about rising misogyny globally and the new challenges posed by the digital age.
Rupa Huq with some of her constituents who attended the event
Reflecting on the day, Dr Huq said she was proud to bring constituents into Parliament for a conversation about empowerment and solidarity. “It was important to me to bring Ealing Central and Acton to Parliament, where we discussed the importance of empowering other women to smash through the glass ceiling instead of pulling the ladder up after you,” she said. “At a time when so many awful statistics are quoted, it’s important to treat women as names, not numbers. The night went well, with MPs literally queuing up to speak to the gathering in between eight votes, but everyone left buzzing.”
The event offered attendees a rare opportunity to see Parliament at work while engaging directly with those shaping policy.
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