The Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme

Oct 11, 2024

Want to take on leadership in the Labour Party, local government, your workplace or community? We’re looking for women members to join our Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme.

Applications for cohort seven are now open! You can find the application form at the bottom of this page. Please familiarise yourself with all of the information on this page before completing the application form. The deadline for applications to be submitted is 9am on Monday 4 November – please note, we will not accept any late applications.

About the Programme

The Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme is a personal and political development programme for passionate women members who are ready to lead.

In memory of our friend and colleague Jo Cox, Labour Women’s Network and the Labour Party launched the Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme in 2016. Jo was an extremely talented MP, Chair of Labour Women’s Network and a proud Labour feminist who championed women in leadership roles.

Now entering its seventh cohort, this programme has created a generation of women who can continue Jo’s fight in parliament, local government and in their communities. They are an army of feminist changemakers, whose mutual support and collective voice emboldens them in rattling cages and getting things done.

Jo battled to increase women’s representation in Parliament, and would doubtless be proud that the Parliamentary Labour Party is now gender balanced, and impatient for this to be the case across all levels of representation.

Jo lived and breathed inclusion, and we know that she would celebrate the diversity of the women we have trained so far on the Jo Cox Women in Leadership Scheme. From the most recent cohort, the youngest participant was under 20, and the oldest mid-sixties. 41% were women of colour, 21% identified as having a disability, and 17% identified as lesbian or bisexual. Among them were women who worked in the public sector, third sector, health and social care as well as students and carers.

Programme Schedule

The Programme takes place across three weekend gatherings over a number of months, including an overnight residential, with homework and other challenges in between. It is a commitment, but most of all, it is an investment in yourself.

All applicants need to be available to attend sessions on:

Saturday 25 January 2025 (morning) via Zoom
Saturday 8 February in person
Wednesday 26 February (evening) via Zoom
Saturday 22 March in person
Wednesday 23 April (evening) via Zoom
Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May in person

Applications

Applications for cohort seven of the Jo Cox Women in Leadership Scheme are now open and all women members of the Labour Party are invited to apply. This includes former applicants, who have been unsuccessful previously.

The deadline for applications to be submitted is 9am on Monday 4 November – and please note, we will not accept any late applications.

Our online form is compatible with commonly-used accessibility technology. If you have any access issues regarding the application process, please email [email protected]

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application in December.

Before you apply, please read the information and guidance below.

What does the leadership programme do?

The Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme aims to train hundreds of women to be future leaders in the labour movement.

This round of the programme (Cohort 7) will run from January to May 2025 and will:

Include a mix of online and in-person (including one residential) training events delivered by experts from Labour Women’s Network;
build a diverse and intersectional network of women from across the country who can support one another in their future endeavours;
develop participant skills in all aspects of politics, including as candidates at every level, as campaigners, organisers, spokespeople, leaders and political activists;
identify and train talented women from a variety of backgrounds in all regions and nations;
establish a pipeline of talent to diversify the people who stand for election and play leading roles in the Labour movement and wider public life.

What we are looking for?

We’re looking for women members who:

display a determination to make things happen, change lives, improve communities and achieve a Labour government;
show that they are able to build strong relationships and motivate others;
demonstrate some experience of running a campaign or project, either through the Party, their trade union/socialist society or their community;
can communicate well through a variety of mediums;
demonstrate creativity and the ability to come up with innovative solutions to problems;
can demonstrate an intention to pay forward to other women what they gain through this scheme;
want to work hard to help Labour win elections at every level.

As this is an advanced programme of high-quality training, candidates must already have some level of involvement with the Labour Party.

The programme has been carefully designed and therefore applicants must be able to attend all sessions on the following dates in order to participate:

Introductory Online Session via Zoom – Saturday 25 January 2025 10am to 12noon
Day One in person– Saturday 8 February (11am to 5:30pm)
Online Catch-up via Zoom – Wednesday 26 February 8pm to 10pm
Day Two in person– Saturday 22 March (11am to 5:30pm)
Online Catch-up via Zoom – Wednesday 23 April 8pm to 10pm
Residential – Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May (11am Sat to 5:30pm Sun)

There will also be supplementary tasks which must be completed in between these events, which can be done flexibly to fit around other commitments. Travel, subsistence and accommodation at the residential weekend will be covered and all events will be free to attend. There may be some additional costs which will need to be borne by participants, but these will be kept to a minimum.

How to apply

Applicants should submit the completed form below, including the monitoring form, by 9am on Monday 4 November 2024. Please note that there is no flexibility in the deadline, and it will not be extended for any individual.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their applications in December 2024.

We are expecting a high number of applicants for this course and are therefore unable to provide feedback to unsuccessful candidates.

We welcome applications from those who were previously unsuccessful. This programme is highly competitive, and the application form is the only selection process – there will be no interviews – so it is essential that applicants provide as much relevant information as possible clearly and concisely.

Guidance for Applicants

Please read the below carefully:

Applicants must complete all the sections on the form. Incomplete applications will not be accepted or considered.
Applications will not be accepted or considered without the required two references. The names of referees alone are not sufficient.
Applicants should note that, as part of its safeguarding process, the Labour Party will carry out due diligence checks on all successful applicants, and that you must therefore declare all your social media accounts, including any you no longer use, in the relevant section of the form.
You must send in the application before the deadline – late applications will not be considered.
Please note that your application will be read by relevant officers of both the Labour Party and Labour Women’s Network. Everyone seeing applications, however, will be bound by a duty of appropriate confidentiality.
Labour Women’s Network and the Labour Party are committed to training a diverse and representative group of women and take positive action steps to ensure that this aspiration is achieved.