Sandi Toksvig: A political party for women's equality
Long revered in the UK for her wit and candor, Sandi Toksvig is now lending her familiar voice to a greater cause -- equality for women. Full bio
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is so much bigger than in Europe.
are where everybody has great ideas.
those great ideas come from?
that the average person --
window of opportunity each day
some sports on television,
why I just don't engage with it.
worth being that flexible
your heel at that angle?
to relate to that,
to be able to do it, OK?
any good at sport, OK?
when all my friends say,
as I was when I was 18."
not going to do it now.
with zero athletic ability.
no corruption, no skills.
with sport when I watch it on television.
is about men running
neatly packaged in Lycra.
female sport on television,
might be forgiven for thinking,
is the very lever you need
and onto a sports ground.
are breathtaking.
in the whole of history,
where women have equality with men.
in the whole of evolution.
to evolve quite so brilliantly.
I should do something about it.
I've got an elderly mom.
I could have 15 minutes to myself,
at changing the world.
what I call an "activation button."
pressed when you think,
an injustice of some kind,
were the least bit surprised.
that I looked like Clint Eastwood.
was pressed when I had my kids --
born to my then-partner.
I work on television in Britain.
I was already hosting my own shows
to grow up with a secret.
in British public life.
that I would never work again,
absolutely worth the risk.
section of the right-wing press,
the less stable elements of society,
that I had to take the kids into hiding,
many moments in the still of the night
I carried on working,
to be absolutely fantastic.
he had a friend over to play.
I could hear them chatting.
"What's it like having two mums?"
so I leant in to hear and my son said,
because if one of them's sick,
to cook for you."
for gay equality was pressed,
the person that I love.
that the law was changed,
who I love very much, indeed.
we did it on the stage
thousand people.
then I let it be known to the public:
please come and join us.
who wanted to come.
nuns, married people,
of humanity was there.
on that stage thinking, "How fantastic.
my activation days were over, OK?
International Women's Day.
all-female orchestra,
or overlooked women composers,
from Baltimore conducting,
from the past and pass them on.
the Mount Rushmore model.
have been entirely left out of it.
about the suffragettes --
women who fought so hard
in Britain to vote.
get the vote in 1928.
lecture I was giving;
where the job was done.
there was so much left to do.
in positions of power.
at the top 100 companies
How many women running them?
That's all right, I suppose.
are run by men called "John."
running FTSE 100 companies --
are doing a bang-up job.
of the gender pay gap.
do women earn the same as men.
at the top in the boardroom.
was passed in 1975.
many, many women
until the end of the year,
Forum estimates
get equal pay in ...
that's a terrible -- 2133.
grandchildren's lives
in my own business.
first woman on British television
for a brand new ambassador
and gender equality,
in positions of power is shockingly low.
true in the British Parliament.
elected to the Parliament that year
if they're not at the table --
helping to make the laws --
perspective is overlooked.
to see a woman in charge.
female Prime Minister;
she was challenged:
100 days that you're in office
lives for women in Britain.
cleaning up the mess the boys made.
issue of inequality.
like it matters. Does it?
at the STEM industries, OK?
engineering and mathematics.
single aspect of our daily lives.
well-documented glass ceiling
scientist who fails to progress?
Catherine Mayer in Britain,
a brand new political party.
are absolutely equal is at the ballot box.
it was to start a political party.
men have been doing it for years."
"The Women's Equality Party."
I just thought we'd be clear."
to be a secret, you know? I just --
It's much too feminist!"
I've heard somebody say,
if there's a "but" in the sentence,
the hilarious question,
made of flammable material.
has improved since then.
to do in a broadcast interview,
the emails started coming.
then thousands and thousands,
to women in their '90s,
"Please, can I help?
at party headquarters?"
we didn't have a party!
tight group of fabulous friends
pretty much 24-7 in our pajamas.
many of us had children,
and we shared the work.
on certain fundamental things.
the only political party in the world
to no longer need to exist.
with no particular political leaning.
from the right, from the middle,
was to work with a simple agenda:
in every aspect of our lives,
the other chores done.
how politics is conducted.
two major political parties.
is shameful and poisonous.
that kind of name-calling --
if just one politician said,
and get the job done."
into politics, OK?
more women into politics
to offer free childcare to our candidates,
and start campaigning.
of our party across the UK.
in London, Scotland and Wales
for our candidate for London Mayor.
saw how many votes we were attracting,
to tackle gender equality.
change since I was a child.
shoulder to shoulder with men.
and disappointment --
to found a political party.
this is my five percent, OK?
party for equality in a single country.
in the global political landscape.
about the model we have created
it would work in India.
anybody can cook it,
we're giving it away.
millions of women across the world
to the traditional battles of politics?
let's get the work done."
equality is better for everyone.
Let's change the world!
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sandi Toksvig - Broadcast personality, politician, authorLong revered in the UK for her wit and candor, Sandi Toksvig is now lending her familiar voice to a greater cause -- equality for women.
Why you should listen
Sandi Toksvig OBE is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and performer. She was born in Copenhagen, Denmark but grew up traveling the world with her family as they followed the work of her father, Claus Toksvig, Danish television's most famous foreign correspondent. Toksvig gave her own first television interview when she was six. After graduating with a first class degree from Cambridge University she began her acting career first at Nottingham Playhouse and then the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park.
Toksvig's first experience of live television was when she hosted and co-wrote the children's Saturday morning show "No 73," which she did for six years. Other TV followed including the improvisation show, "Whose Line is it Anyway?" and six years as team captain on "Call My Bluff." Toksvig is the new host of the BBC's entertainment show QI and is currently recording the eighth season hosting the game show "15-1" for Channel 4. She has also had recent acting cameos in "Call the Midwife" and "Up the Women." Toksvig is well known on BBC Radio 4 for her appearances on "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" as well as hosting "Excess Baggage" and the News Quiz.
Toksvig has also produced television. The current Playhouse Presents strand on Sky Arts was conceived by her and she produced and wrote much of the content for the first three years.
Toksvig has written over twenty books including fact and fiction for both children and adults. Her stage play, Bully Boy, was the opening production of London's newest theatre, the St James. The piece also had a successful run in Copenhagen. Her latest novel The End of the Sky, set on the Oregon Trail in 1847, will be published in 2017. It's a sequel to her last novel A Slice of the Moon about the Irish potato famine. Her new comedy play Silver Linings deals with society's attitudes to older women. It will open at the Rose Theatre in February 2017 before going on tour. Toksvig has written a column for Good Housekeeping magazine for twenty years.
In March 2015, along with journalist Catherine Mayer, Toksvig co-founded Britain's newest political party, The Women’s Equality Party (WEP), which in one year of existence now has over 70 branches across the UK. WEP stood candidates in the London, Welsh and Scottish elections of May 2016.
Toksvig has many honorary degrees. She is the President of the Women of the Year Lunch, Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth and in 2014 she was made an Officer of the British Empire by the Queen.
Sandi Toksvig | Speaker | TED.com