Credit: Shot by Farheenxo
3 min read
Speaking at Stylist Live 2023, Dawn Butler shares her experiences of being on the front line of politics and the lessons in resilience she’s taking from it.
Serving as the Labour MP for Brent Central since 2015, Dawn Butler has become a prominent figure in the world of politics, with her most recent cabinet position seeing her take on the role of shadow secretary of state for women and equalities. And in July 2021, she was the first MP to speak out in parliament and call then-prime minister Boris Johnson a liar – resulting in Butler being ordered to leave the House of Commons.
Taking to the stage on day two of Stylist Live, Butler talked about her new book, A Purposeful Life, and told the crowd about the lessons in resilience she’s picked up over the years from the front line of politics.
Speaking about the inspiration behind writing her book now, Butler said: “I had a lot of time on my hands as I was diagnosed with breast cancer, so I wasn’t working at the time. I couldn’t walk after my operation but my brain was buzzing. And I just thought to myself: I could have died. So, why am I waiting to share my truth when I could just do it right now?”
Opening up about her experience as a woman in politics, Butler spoke about the injustices embedded within our institutions. “I thought we were all in this fight together but then you realise that the voices of Black women aren’t considered as valuable, and that middle-class women won the right to vote 10 years before working-class women were given the same rights.”
She added: “It’s not a fair system – people in power are protective of their portion of the pie, but why can’t we just make the whole pie bigger?”
On resilience, Butler shared an analogy with the crowd, explaining how important it is to practise as you would when training a muscle. “I bought myself some resistance bands recently for strength and that’s how I tend to think about resilience too. That’s how we build our internal strength – through practice. And when you need extra help, you go to others – it’s so important that we understand our own limitations. We’re not always going to be strong. And to me, that’s resilience.”
Credit: Shot by Farheenxo
Discussing her experience with breast cancer and how it’s changed her as a person, Butler said: “I think I give less of a s**t about things now, which is probably quite dangerous as a politician! But when you think you’re going to die and come face-to-face with your own mortality, it changes you, and I’ve become less afraid to speak my truth.”
On finding her purpose, Butler said: “Our purpose in life can be anything, right? If your purpose in life is just to be a really good friend to somebody, somebody’s safe space, that is a valuable purpose. Because it means that you’re empowering your friend to go and do anything. That is enough. That is enough of a purpose.”
She added that a good starting point when it comes to purpose and resilience is simply writing it down “for yourself so you can see what you want to do and where you want to go. But also know that you are enough.”
Images: shot by Farheenxo
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