Mhairi Hunter: My Mum, Auntie Allison, helped make the SNP a driving force in Scottish politics
by As part of our #Vote100 Project, we spoke to Mhairi Hunter about women in politics and her inspiration – her mum Allison Hunter.
I was brought up in a political household, both of my parents were councillors, so it was quite normal to be active and involved in politics. What makes me continue to be involved in politics is the belief that people together can achieve a fairer society and improve the quality of life for people.
As a child I grew up in London, but we would come up to Scotland regularly on holidays – or by-elections as people sometimes call them. My parents were also very active in the anti-apartheid movement, and in CND as well, so we were used to political activity from a young age.
My mum, Allison Hunter, or Auntie Allison as many SNP people knew her, played a major role in helping to train the party in the campaigning techniques which we now see as standard. Going out and identifying our support, getting our support out to vote on the day and staying in touch with our supporters – building those important relationships. As National Organiser, she was also vital in establishing the culture in the party which is very much about teamwork, about people working together to try and achieve our aims.
Over the past 100 years we have come a long way in terms of equality for women but I think if we are going to be honest about it in terms of society and day to day life, do women have equality? No not really. There is still a lot to do.
From the perspective of being a Glasgow City councillor I’m proud that we went into last year’s council elections with a clear commitment to start to resolve the equal pay issue, and I’m even prouder that we have managed to persuade the rest of the councillors here that it is something we need to do. We’ve dropped the legal action and negotiations are ongoing and I think that we are going to see an end to this problem in Glasgow.
That the SNP is such a driving force in politics and able to deliver transformational change in Glasgow – and across Scotland – is in no small part down to the hard work of women like my Mum. I’m incredibly proud of that.
Councillor Mhairi Hunter is Convener for Health and Social Care Integration on Glasgow City Council.