'I never expected to lead a political party'

The leader of the newly formed Equality Party said she "never expected" to lead a political party.

Kay Wesley is a town councillor in Congleton, Cheshire, and was appointed to the role at the party, which is the successor to the Women's Equality Party (WEP).

Members of WEP voted to close it at the end of last year, with one of its co-founders citing financial pressures and issues around the party's approach among the reasons.

Wesley told BBC Politics North West the Equality Party would focus more on a "grass roots" approach and would not stand for Parliament "in the short term".

She was the first Women's Equality Party councillor when she was elected to Congleton Town Council in 2019, and subsequently re-elected four years later.

She has also vied to become a borough councillor on Cheshire East - where she was 19 votes off winning a seat - and she also stood to become an MP in the 2024 election, finishing in last place, with 1% of the vote share.

Asked about her role as party leader, she said: "It was something I never expected, then again I never expected to be a councillor and I never expected to join a political party."

The WEP was founded in 2015 by broadcaster Sandi Toksvig and journalist Catherine Mayer and members voted to close it down at the end of last year.

Ms Mayer said the party decided to close partly due to financial pressures but also because the party's approach "was not working in a polarised world".

But not every member was happy with the decision.

Wesley was one of them.

A member of the organisation's steering committee, she joined forces with other members to form the Equality Party.

She said it had a different approach to the Women's Equality Party.

"The WEP had a specific theory of change which was around getting other parties to steal our policies," she said.

"Having big national politics and the other parties would steal them and implement them - and some of that worked in the early days.

"In recent years, the national parties don't want to talk to us. Politics has become very polarised and the national parties have become entrenched in the way they're working."

But the new Equality Party is focused on a "grass roots approach", she said.

"We're going to see how it goes, see how many people want to get involved in their local parish, town and community councils, see what impact they have and let it grow at its own pace.

"We're not going to in the short-term be going for the London Assembly or Parliament, simply because of scale and cost."

However, Wesley said the Equality Party would remain a "feminist party".

"We believe equality for women benefits everyone," she said.

There are two reasons for not using the word "women" Wesley added.

She said she felt the term had been "weaponised a bit", while it was a stumbling block for some people, even if they believed in equality.

"Sometimes they open the door and you don't get past 'Women's' and they shut the door and say it's not for me then," she said.

"In order to start the conversation, let's just say 'do you believe in equality?' That's an easier question."

Read more Cheshire news from the BBC. BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.