KINGSTON, Jamaica — Britain’s first black woman Member of Parliament, Diane Abbott, will address the People’s National Party Women’s Movement (PNPWM) conference on Sunday at the Chinese Benevolent Association in St Andrew.

Abbott, who arrived in the island on Friday morning, has maintained the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency in England since 1987. She will be speaking on gender parity in representational politics and will be using the British experience, where similarities exist.

“If we look at why women aren’t coming forward in politics, I think the issues in the UK and Jamaica are quite similar. We (Britain) are probably a bit further ahead now, but I think that there are things that here in Jamaica, can maybe learn from the experience of women in British politics,” Abbott said.

“It’s women supporting other women and making that a priority, bringing other women forward and also I think a lot of people are put off politics, I think a lot of younger women are put off politics and I think it’s important to tell people that they should get involved, they can have a voice and they can compete with the men in politics,” she continued.

Abbott said she would also address topics such as domestic violence and the Roe vs Wade abortion issue in the United States of America.

According to president of the PNPWM, Patricia Duncan-Sutherland, it is a fitting tribute that at her first conference as head of the organisation, Abbott, who is the first black woman MP in England, will be speaking.

“Dianne Abbott being the first black female MP in the UK, is going to talk to us a lot about how as women, what we have to do to break that bias, to break through that ceiling so that we can move towards gender parity in politics and representational politics in particular,” Duncan-Sutherland said.

“She has been a Member of Parliament since 1987 and so she has a wide breadth of experience. She has stood up on issues of abortion, women’s right to choose, issues of maternity leave and generally for those who are the most vulnerable in the UK society.”

Duncan-Sutherland said the PNPWM will make gender parity an advocacy issue this year, during which the ‘Elevate Her Power’ programme will be used to generate funds to support women candidates in the upcoming local government election. The first fundraiser will be at the AC Marriott Hotel Saturday night.

“The purpose of the fundraiser is to fund the activities of the People’s National Party and to support the ‘Elevate Her Power’ fund, which we have named in honour of Portia Simpson Miller, the first female Prime Minister of Jamaica,” Duncan-Sutherland said.

“Financing in politics is one of the major barriers for women candidates, because one, they tend to have fewer connections to those with funds and two it is more difficult for a woman to approach somebody for help.

“Intrinsic in our culture is that a woman must be independent and find a way to support herself and so when they get to this level of representation, it is more difficult for them to do the, quote and quote, begging that’s required in politics,” she continued.

Meanwhile, according to Abbott, she fully supports the resignation of British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who she believes delayed his exit from office for too long. She said she believes that Johnson needed to step aside from a political and individual standpoint.

“As a conservative politician, he was pursuing policies which didn’t help my people, the people that I represent and so on, but also as a person, he is a liar and he lied over and over again and people got fed up with it. That was the thing,” Abbott.