The Liberal Democrats recently celebrated their thirtieth anniversary and media reports have tended to focus on the achievements of its male members.

In political parties women often do a lot of the unglamorous but necessary heavy lifting but more often than not it’s their male peers that get the glory.

While the Party has been led exclusively by men since it’s creation in 1988 all the signs are that it’s the party’s female members that will increasingly shape its future.

Women have occupied senior roles in the party over the years since its foundation. Jo Swinson is the party’s current Deputy Leader. Baroness Shirley Williams was Lib Dem Leader in the Lords between 2001 and 2004, Baroness Ros Scott was Party Present 2009- 2010. Current Party President Baroness Sal Brinton has held the influential post since 2015.

In the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition of 2010–2015 although not offered the opportunity to serve in Cabinet female Lib Dem MPs spearheaded key liberal reforms: at the Home Office Lynne Featherstone forced David Cameron to introduce Equal Marriage despite opposition amongst his own Conservative ranks.

At the Department for Business, Jo Swinson introduced groundbreaking legislation enabling men and women to share parental leave. Behind closed doors women wielded significant influence too. Female special adviser Vanessa Pine was instrumental, working alongside Swinson and Vince Cable, in the introduction of gender pay reporting. Polly MacKenzie (now Director of Demos) played a key role in the implementation of Lib Dem policies from her position as Director of Policy to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the Cabinet Office.

Although 2015 saw a total wipeout of Lib Dem female representation in the Commons 2017 saw a small but significant revival with three new female MPs returned: Wera Hobhouse, Christine Jardine, Layla Moran and one, Jo Swinson, regaining her seat. All four have played key roles in rebuilding the party both in Parliament and in their constituencies.

Since the 2017 election a changing of the guard has been underway. It is clear that the next leadership election, when it comes, will feature not just one but probably two female candidates in Swinson and ‘rising star’ Moran who is making a name for herself nationally speaking in 61 debates and tabling 360 questions just months into her tenure as Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon and the party’s Education Spokesperson.

But there is strength in depth. In one of the party’s target seats. Nick Clegg’s old seat of Sheffield Hallam, Laura Gordon,a campaigner with a strong track record in the third sector has been selected. Elsewhere — from Cheadle to St Albans the party’s fightback is being led by women such as Lisa Smart and Daisy Cooper. In Tower Hamlets, Lib Dem mayoral and council candidate Elaine Bagshaw has grown the local party via grassroots campaigning to over 600 strong — one of the largest in the country. And in Hackney, Pauline Pearce who made her name standing up for her community against the rioters in 2011, was selected to be the party’s mayoral candidate in this year’s elections.

And it’s not just the candidates — women in the Lib Dems are playing leading roles in policy and communication too. To take two examples: Caron Lindsay edits Liberal Democrat Voice, the leading website for grassroots activists. And activist Joyce Onstad from Ealing part of the party’s dynamic new intake was recently elected Vice Chair of the party’s influential Federal Board.

Women of all ages are getting more involved than ever before and age is not a barrier. Jessica Insall, 15, recently saw her policy idea advocating gender neutral uniforms adopted by the party in Scotland, tabled as a motion in Parliament by Layla Moran and backed by the party’s MPs.

While some histories of the Liberal Democrats may downplay or worse, omit the real achievements of it’s female members, let’s not fall into the same trap.

As Alice Walker said, the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.

Let’s celebrate the contributions of women as well as men in the Liberal Democrats over the past thirty years, and look forward to a more equal future.