After a year and a half of Labour government, we reflect on the women shaping Britain’s next political chapter.

For International Women’s Day this year, we are highlighting the women in Westminster who are driving forward the government’s agenda as well as the women reshaping the opposition landscape as the two-party system fragments into a more coalition-style of politics. From the heart of No.10 to the Commons chamber and beyond, these women are shaping policy, steering debate and redefining power in UK politics.

Lucy Rigby KC MP for Northampton North - Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Labour)

For a first-term MP elected in 2024, Lucy Rigby’s ascent to senior office has been strikingly rapid. She was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Ministry of Justice in November 2024, promoted to Solicitor General the following month, and then moved to the Treasury in September 2025 as Economic Secretary to the Treasury otherwise known as the City Minister.

Her portfolio spans financial services policy and regulation, sustainable finance, banking, pensions and insurance markets, fintech and crypto assets, and oversight of the economic crime framework. She also supports the Chancellor on the Women in Finance and Women in the Economy agenda, embedding inclusion within the government’s wider growth strategy.

As one of the Treasury’s core economic briefs, the role places Rigby at the centre of shaping UK financial services strategy and safeguarding its global competitiveness. The pace of her promotion signals both strong political aptitude and the deep trust placed in her by the Labour leadership, marking her out as one of the government’s most consequential delivery ministers.

Dame Antonia Romeo DCB - Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service

Antonia Romeo is influential in a different way. She is not an elected politician, but as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service she is the most powerful official in government. Appointed in February 2026, she leads the Civil Service and chairs its most senior leadership structures within the Cabinet Office, shaping priorities, performance culture and the system’s capacity to deliver the government’s agenda.

Recognised across Whitehall as a reformer, Romeo has long been described as a “delivery” operator. She has served as Permanent Secretary in major operational departments including the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, and has held international-facing roles such as Consul General in New York. She also established the Civil Service’s Gender Equality Leadership Group to drive cross-department initiatives supporting gender equality.

Her appointment was widely interpreted as a tacit acknowledgement that the Prime Minister wants a significant shake up and reform of how the Civil Service performs and delivers. This is a mammoth task, structural, cultural and political in equal measure and will make her one of the defining officials in Westminster for years to come.

Katie Lam MP for Weald of Kent - Opposition Assistant Whip (Conservative)

Katie Lam is one of the small cohort of new Conservative MPs elected in 2024. She has already made waves in Westminster through parliamentary and media interventions particularly on migration, asylum and grooming gangs. That traction and positioning have already led some to tout her as a potential future leader.

Before entering Parliament, Lam worked in Downing Street as Deputy Chief of Staff to Boris Johnson and later served as a Special Adviser to Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Alongside her political career sits a substantial private-sector track record: a long career at Goldman Sachs, rising to Vice President; a period in tech at Faculty AI; and governance and charity roles, as well as the less conventional detail of being an award-winning lyricist and scriptwriter.

She currently serves as an Opposition Assistant Whip but there has been speculation over whether she is a flight risk to Reform UK. Any such move would be a strong signal on where the direction of travel lies for the reorganisation of the British right. For now, Lam remains firmly within the Conservative fold and very much one to watch as the party charts its future direction.

Laila Cunningham - Westminster City Councillor; Reform UK London mayoral candidate

Laila Cunningham is representative of that political reconfiguration unfolding beyond Westminster’s traditional lanes. A Westminster City councillor for Lancaster Gate and a former Conservative who defected to Reform UK in June 2025, Cunningham already outstrips all members of the Cabinet bar the Prime Minister on her reach and engagement on social media, a reminder that influence is no longer confined to formal office.

Her professional background as a former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor underpins a strong law-and-order message, and she has secured consistent media coverage on her interventions around crime, policing and cultural cohesion in the capital.

In January 2026 she was announced as Reform’s candidate for Mayor of London at the next scheduled mayoral election in 2028. Early polling shows Reform at 19% and is currently unlikely to win this contest but the campaign provides a powerful platform to build her profile, showcase her political skills and prepare for a larger role in Reform as the right of British politics continues to reorganise.

Dr Ellie Chowns MP for North Herefordshire  - Green Party Westminster Leader

At the other end of the political spectrum, the Green Party enters 2026 with renewed momentum. Buoyed by its first-ever parliamentary by-election victory and polling that, at points, has placed it second behind Reform on 21%, the Greens are emerging as a more prominent force in Westminster, one that will inevitably attract greater media scrutiny and attention over the year ahead.

Leading that charge in Parliament is Dr Ellie Chowns. Elected MP for North Herefordshire in 2024 after taking the seat from the Conservatives, she went on to stand for the party’s national co-leadership in 2025. Although unsuccessful in that contest, she was subsequently elected by her fellow MPs as Green Party Westminster Leader in September 2025, and now holds an unusually broad brief as the party’s spokesperson across multiple policy areas.

An academic by background, with experience in international development and humanitarian contexts, and a former councillor and Member of the European Parliament, Chowns has already proved herself to be a very strong media performer, a critical asset for a party seeking to translate polling into sustained influence. She is therefore likely to play an increasingly important role in explaining the Greens offer to the British public particularly pressing on issues that Labour’s core vote is fracturing on.

Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock - Crossbench Peer & Government Lead Non‑Executive Director

Louise Casey is one of Westminster’s most recognisable “fixers”, brought in when government needs credibility, grip and decisive judgement on complex policy challenges. In January 2025 she was appointed by the Prime Minister as the government’s Lead Non-Executive Director, tasked with coordinating non-executives across departmental boards and strengthening cross-cutting delivery in support of the government’s work from growth and NHS recovery to border security and wider public service reform.

Casey’s influence rests on her track record of confronting politically sensitive issues head-on. She led the National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, which was published in 2025, a review that shaped both policy direction and the tone of national debate.

She is also synonymous with the landmark independent review into the culture and standards of the Metropolitan Police (the “Casey Review”) which cemented her reputation for unsparing, operationally grounded scrutiny and a refusal to soften conclusions for political convenience.

Whenever a reform is complex, contested, or controversial, Casey is the go to figure to lead the work. The authority and trust placed in her are such that, when the Downing Street Chief of Staff role became vacant in February 2026, it was widely rumoured she had been offered the position but chose not to take it.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence of Clarendon OBE - Labour Peer & Chair of the Race Equality Engagement Group

Baroness Doreen Lawrence’s influence in Westminster does not stem from ministerial office or party machinery, but from moral authority forged through decades of campaigning for justice. Appointed to the House of Lords in 2013 in recognition of her decades-long campaign for justice following the racist murder of her son, Stephen Lawrence, she remains one of Parliament’s most respected voices on race equality and institutional reform.

Her advocacy led to the landmark Macpherson Inquiry, which concluded that the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist, a finding that reshaped the national conversation on race and prompted significant reforms to policing and the criminal justice system.

Beyond Parliament, Lawrence founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, now rebranded as Blueprint for All, supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. She also established Stephen Lawrence Day, observed annually on 22 April since 2018, as both a commemoration and a moment for national reflection on racial justice and progress. She serves on the board of Liberty and is a patron of Stop Hate UK, reinforcing her standing at the intersection of community advocacy and public policy.

In March 2025, she was appointed Chair of the government’s Race Equality Engagement Group, a role designed to strengthen engagement between ministers and ethnic minority communities across departments, placing her close to the centre of equality policymaking. In a Parliament navigating contested debates on policing, migration, community cohesion and public trust, Lawrence remains a defining figure.

Vidhya Alakeson OBE - Acting Chief of Staff, No10

Following the resignation of Morgan McSweeney in February 2026, Alakeson was appointed (alongside Jill Cuthbertson) as acting Chief of Staff effectively making her a key gatekeeper for decisions, people and priorities at the top of government. In her previous role as Deputy Chief of Staff, she oversaw policy development and delivery across No.10, giving her a system-wide view of how policy ambition translates into implementation.

Whilst in opposition and in the run up to the election, Alakeson won praise for leading Keir Starmer’s outreach to the business community as Director of External Affairs, helping to build credibility with corporate leaders and investors. Her broader experience includes serving as Deputy Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation and working as a policy adviser at HM Treasury.

Those who have worked with her praise her diligence. While some observers note that, as a policy specialist, she brings a different style to the more overtly political approach associated with her predecessor, her role in coordinating delivery and maintaining alignment at the centre of government will be crucial in the year ahead.

Jess Brown-Fuller MP for Chichester - Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson

Jess Brown-Fuller was elected Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester in July 2024, and has served as the party’s Justice Spokesperson since October 2025, following an earlier brief covering hospitals and primary care. As a member of the Backbench Business Committee, she has helped determine what is debated on the floor of the House, an underappreciated but potent route to shaping the agenda.

She has also demonstrated how targeted amendments can translate scrutiny into tangible change. Brown-Fuller helped secure a successful parliamentary amendment requiring the Ministry of Defence to assess and report annually on whether military family homes meet the Decent Homes Standard, responding to long-standing complaints of mould, damp and infestations affecting service families.

It is a reminder that, in a Parliament where government backbench support can shift the dial, well-placed pressure can reshape outcomes. Widely discussed as a rising star within her party, Brown-Fuller represents a new generation of Liberal Democrat MPs who combine procedural fluency with policy focus, exerting influence beyond their numbers and positioning themselves as pivotal voices in a more fragmented Commons.