Conservative Women's Organisation

A bit about us.....

Established in 2011, we are the Esher & Walton Conservative Women's Organisation a branch of The Esher & Walton Conservative Association and of CWO National. 

We work for the women members of the Conservative Party and to represent their views to the Party Leader, Chairman & MPs. We support CWO National in giving a voice to smaller campaigns and publicising national and international ones. We network with businesses, put forward policy and work with both women and men interested in standing for public office. 

We work closely with our Member of Parliament Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP and regularly hold events - political & fundraising within our constituency.

 

What the organisation offers:

  • Development Training Programmes for Women
  • CWO nationally run professional workshops designed to help individuals with their personal and political development and to actively encourage more women to stand for public office.
  • National Conferences and AGMs 
  • Annual National Conferences National & Regional with guest speakers from Westminster and the non-political arena.
  • CWO Forums - an opportunity for women to discuss particular issues face to face with Conservative MPs and Ministers. 
  • CWO Summits - held with MPs in the House of Commons and outside organisations are invited in to talk about certain issues.
  • C-Wise - Conservative Women in Small Enterprises is designed to give female entrepreneurs and women in start-ups, micro and small businesses an opportunity to engage with issues that impact their commercial lives. C-Wise members have direct contact with the front bench team with responsibility for Business and  the Treasury. There is also a chance to network and socialise.

Heritage

CWO is the oldest women’s political organisation in the world, founded in 1919 and called the Women’s National Advisory Committee.

1st Leader of the Suffragette Movement Emmeline Pankhurst was a member of the Conservative Party and the CWO.

1st Female MP - Lady Astor: Viscountess Nancy Astor became the first woman to be elected and took her seat in Parliament in 1919.

1st Female Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher: Styled as ‘The Iron Lady’ for her tough demeanour, Margaret Thatcher was the first woman to become British Prime Minister and is one of only two Prime Ministers of the 20th century to have served three consecutive terms. She was elected leader of the Conservative party in 1975 but it was not until 1979 that she became Prime Minister (and subsequently won the 1983 and 1987 General Elections)

1st Muslim Female in Cabinet - Baroness Sayeeda Warsi: By the early 1990s, The Conservative Women’s National Committee (CWNC) had more than a quarter of a million members and had became the largest women’s political organisation in the Western world.

At national level, the CWO Chairman is included the Party’s Strategy Team.