United Kingdom
I help others to tell their stories, as well as telling my own. I write passionately about equality, the built environment and genre TV. If I'm really lucky, I get to combine two or more of those areas in one article.
(she/her)
On 28 November 2019, Plymouth unveiled a contentious statue of Lady Nancy Astor, the first female MP to take her seat in the House of Commons. Her statue joins the growing list of visible women celebrated in public art. I spoke to three of the female sculptors involved to find out why redressing the balance matters.
The Civil Service is celebrating the centenary of (some) women over 30 and all men over 21 winning the right to vote. It was another year until women were able to practise as chartered surveyors. Read our blog on the first female surveyor - Irene Barclay
Line of Duty has created a plausible fictional city in which AC12 can hunt down bent coppers and corrupt politicians. And it's taken care over every detail from its geography to its power structures. The unnamed city has an elected mayor, as well a police & crime commissioner and a city council.
The inferno that destroyed the roof of Notre-Dame du Paris has stunned people across the world. In part, that's because cathedrals, and other symbolic religious buildings, are supposed to survive us. From the outside, these places are massive, solid, stone structures that imprint themselves on their cities and on the people that live there.
The government has released the first images of the temporary Commons chamber in Richmond House, the proposed home of MPs while the Palace of Westminster is refurbished. Yet the artist's impressions released today suggest that Parliament cannot let go of the toxic adversarial set-up that has put so many people off politics.
The woman, dressed in an evening gown, was heckling the Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech. She's hit by one man attending the speech, and her wrist is burnt by the cigar of another, before she is flung from the venue. Helen Ogston was a suffragette.
The Prime Minister has promised to devolve more powers over transport to elected metro mayors like Andy Burnham in Manchester - but smaller cities choking on cars desperately need them too. I live in Exeter in Devon. It's small as cities go - around 130,000 residents - but it's also a major business centre in the region.
Red is not a subtle colour: it's one that demands to be seen. And it's increasingly being worn by women who demand to be heard. Women in the west are embracing red's positive power. You'll have felt it yourself. You're reaching for the red dress or lipstick, and you'll have a momentary debate with yourself.