Rachel's blog: Who Runs The World?

Who runs the world (hopefully, come November...) a girl!?

Love it or loathe it, I think it’s fair to say that any presidential election run in the United States tends to take over our airways and screens, particularly in recent years. This year is no different. But, thanks to a startling turn of events last week, I do think it’s more exciting than it ever has been to follow.

The reason being one of the candidates – a woman! A woman of Black and South Asian descent no less. Kamala Harris is no stranger to our news feeds having been Vice President since January 2021 but there’s a new spotlight on her thanks to Biden’s much overdue withdrawal from this Presidential race (finally! Thanks Joe (*eye roll emoji)) which, I think, brings into stark contrast the global gender gap and the real need for more strong, wise women to be at the helm of the global players. We are seeing the raising up of women across many other areas of life so it's great that it is now starting to show in politics and long may it continue.

This push is recognised and supported across the world and is evident in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which was adopted by world leaders back in 2015. Understanding that gender equality is fundamental to sustainability, peace and progress for us all should be obvious, but there’s a way to go to making that the reality.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (present day Sri-Lanka) was the first woman to be elected as prime minister of a country, back in 1960 and thankfully we’ve come a long way since then. A quick look at the UN Women website confirms that as of June this year, there are 27 countries with women serving as Heads of State and/or Government. That trend is evident in our own back garden, with 10 women now serving in the Cabinet of the new Labour Government; 3 of the key roles being women supporting Prime Minister Kier Starmer. And whatever your view of the current party in power, the greater gender mix as well as the diversity of experience within the Cabinet as to class, background and occupation has to be encouraging for us all. Take Angela Rayner as an example. She hails from Stockport, had a baby at 16 and worked in the care sector before switching to politics. Yes, perhaps she treated herself in that mint green suit on her first day at number 10 (!), but she must see things differently than a white male Etonian with expensive sports cars and a residence in London, and that surely can’t be a bad thing when it comes to policy.

Shifting back to Kamala, I don’t think it can be coincidental that £200m has been raised for her campaign since she became a candidate – if people put their money where their heart is, she has the backing of a significant group of wealthy people, and on the basis of gaining 170,000 new volunteers, the support of many more. And with the polls suggesting that any lead Trump may have enjoyed over Biden has been erased, it seems as though perhaps the nation might just stand with her – let’s hope so.

Apparently in an interview, Kamala shared: “My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.’”

Might that just be the legacy we all leave behind.

Tags:
• Inclusion