International Women’s Day, a global celebration of the social, cultural and political achievements of women, saw hundreds of thousands of females take to social media this Sunday to share their experiences and support.
The 8th of March has been celebrated by women worldwide for over a century since its origins in 1911, but this year here at LSJ news we wanted to celebrate the achievements of women a bit closer to home.
Lucinda Preston, co-vice chair of Lincoln Labour Party and City of Lincoln councillor for the Carholme Ward, is no stranger to successes.
An accomplished politician, full-time teacher and mother, Lucinda became a councillor in 2017.
She is extremely vocal and passionate on the topic of climate change, famously pushing for bans and limitations on single use plastics at the 2019 Christmas market.
For Lucinda, International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on not only her successes but also those of women in politics around the world.
“I am inspired by many well-known political figures such as the Prime Minister of New Zealand [Jacinda Ardern],” she said.
“I also want the world to be a more equal place when my son grows up.”
Being a mother is a very important role to Lucinda. She says the fact that she is a fairly new mum and she can still successfully support her community is one of the things she is most proud of.
Lucinda is keen to see more women in politics on a local and national level. She feels there are a number of barriers stopping females entering politics.
“Many women still take on the lion’s share of household duties so it is hard to juggle a political career on top of a job/children/housework,” she said.
“I also think there is more implicit pressure on women to spend time in the home.”
“We need to have the whole nation represented by politicians, not just part of it.”
One of Lucinda’s achievements as a female and as a councillor occurred when she joined the council in 2017. She found maternity leave for councillors hadn’t changed since 1972 and so brought a motion to full council to change this.
There is now parental leave in line with national guidelines including adoption leave and leave for prematurity.
“I hope this will help to further open access to women in politics in Lincoln,” she said.
“Generally, the more prominent women are in politics the more I think it encourages them.