antoniabance.org.uk

About Antonia

We decided against putting up a boring biography, and instead decided to ask Antonia a few questions about herself. If you have got a question for Antonia that you would like answered, please email her on antonia@antoniabance.org.uk

How long have you lived in Oxford?

I moved to Oxford in autumn 1998, when I came to university here. Since graduating in 2001, I’ve always lived or worked in Oxford. I currently live just off the Botley Road with my partner, Jo, who works for the National Union of Students.

I grew up in Croydon, South London, where my family still lives.

How old are you?

I’m 25. One of my motivations for putting myself forward is to show that young people can and should play an active role in politics. We all want a House of Commons that’s less pale, male and stale, with more women, more ethnic minority members and more young people - in short, a House of Commons that reflects our communities.

What do you do for a living?

I’m Campaigns Officer for YWCA, the leading young women’s charity. I’ve recently been involved in running a high-profile campaign about teenage mums called RESPECT young mums (if you’re interested and want to find out more, look at www.ywca.org.uk/youngmums). Over the two and half years I’ve worked there, I’ve campaigned on domestic violence, sex education and sexual health, prostitution, young women and alcohol and young women growing up in rural areas. I’m also a union rep for the T&G.

Before I worked at YWCA, I was Vice President (Women) at Oxford University Student Union. I represented women students to the university and campaigned on issues that affected them. As a student officer I was really involved in the campaign for a fair funding system for students, particularly against tuition fees and for a living maintenance grant.

Why did you join the Labour Party?

Before I joined the Labour Party, I was an active campaigner for lesbian and gay rights, for free university education, for better treatment of asylum seekers and against violence against women. I joined the Labour Party because in each of these campaigns, I found that many of the people who were most active and who inspired me most were Labour Party supporters and members.

What do you do in your spare time?

I enjoy reading (particularly biographies, and both fiction and non-fiction books about history and politics), watching DVDs of the West Wing and Six Feet Under, going out with friends and spending quality time with my girlfriend.

As most PPCs will tell you, getting selected means you can wave goodbye to your social life, and I spend a great deal of my time out and about in the constituency. I'm not complaining - it's a great way to meet new people and I have developed a thorough understanding of the bus routes in the area!

Maybe I should have taken note of Tom Watson's warning: "Getting involved in politics may cause premature ageing and a sudden loss of friends."

If you could travel back to any period in history, when would it be and why?

I'd go back about one hundred years or so to the beginning of the twentieth century so that I could get involved in the campaign for women's votes.

Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Women's Suffrage in 1897, and in 1903 the Women's Social and Political Union was founded by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia.

It was the hard work, passion and sheer determination of hundreds of women and supportive men that won the vote for some women in 1918, and finally for all women in 1928

What luxury would you take with you to a desert island?

I'd take Lindt chocolate truffles, the complete set of West Wing DVDs and the ingredients for a mean Cosmopolitan!