From Gallery Walls to Council Halls: Women Who Lead (for International Women’s Day, 2026)
Recently I visited the National Portrait Gallery with my daughter, one of our favourite London haunts. Watching her immerse herself in the lives and stories on the walls made me think about how many women appear in those frames—and how many more have been written out of history because we so often see only “his story.”
While there I discovered Helen Cammock’s installation, Persistence, which challenges the usual celebration of well‑known sitters by shifting the frame to those often missed. Cammock asks urgent questions — who has value, who has worth, who should be in the frame?
Persistence brings together different stories, including suffragette Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), computer pioneer Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) and poet Charlotte Mew (1869–1928), underscoring how portraiture has long been a symbol of power and presence and the importance of actively recognising those historically overlooked.
As I wandered, I looked for women whose stories (and importance) I already knew and others I didn’t, and I noted portraits of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), Harriet Martineau (1802–1876), Mary Fildes (1789–1876), Marjorie “Mo” Mowlam (1949–2005), Dorothy Hodgkin (1910–1994), Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Eleanor Rathbone (1872–1946).
I entered politics and public service with a personal mission around mental and public health. Since then, I have served as deputy group chair and group chair of the largest Liberal Democrat group outside Parliament; this is the ruling group at Somerset Council, responsible for just over 500,000 people and a £1 billion budget. I’m proud that our leadership includes women in senior roles — deputy council leader Liz Leyshon and executive lead members Federica Smith‑Roberts, Sarah Wakefield and Heather Shearer — and that our group includes 18 female councillors, who lead and advocate for their communities.
Today I put us all in the frame and celebrate our collective contribution:
Cara Strom, Caroline Ellis, Claire Sully, Dawn Johnson, Emily Pearlstone, Federica Smith‑Roberts, Fran Smith, Heather Shearer, Jenny Kenton, Jeny Snell, Jo Roundel Green, Liz Leyshon, Nicola Clark, Pauline Ham, Ros Wyke, Sarah Wakefield, Tessa Munt, Val Keitch.
On International Women’s Day, let’s keep widening the frame so more women’s stories — and their achievements — are seen, heard and honoured.
