As we today mark International Women’s Day, I’d like to start by saying: can we find a new phrase for “women’s rights”?

Before I get howled down by critics, let me explain. I believe strongly in women’s rights and have been an equality campaigner all my life. I am fortunate that I have found the political party I joined over 30 years ago, the Conservative Party, a home where I have always been supported not as a “token woman” but as an equal. I am proud to be the third female leader of a flagship local authority in a borough which is home to Parliament which has its second female Conservative Prime Minister, while Her Majesty’s Official Opposition still awaits it first woman leader in its 100 year history.