A collective portrait, created by women
Around 130 women photographers came together to create a collective portrait of women in public life at the moment women first made up more than 40% of MPs in the UK Parliament.
Here we celebrate photographers based across Yorkshire, the North East and the North West, alongside a small number with particularly strong northern connections.
Photographers and MPs were matched nationally rather than geographically. That freedom allowed each portrait to be shaped by the sitter’s story, chosen location and sense of identity.
Yorkshire
Photographers from Yorkshire
Photo © Jenny Owen
Sheffield
Jenny Owen
MPs photographed
- Marie Tidball MP — Penistone & Stocksbridge
- Sarah Champion MP — Rotherham
- Samantha Niblett MP — South Derbyshire
Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Felicity Crawshaw
MP photographed
- Olivia Blake MP — Sheffield Hallam
Photo © Felicity Crawshaw
Photo © Jacqui Shepherd
Lancashire–Yorkshire border
Jacqui Shepherd
Based approximately 25 miles from Bradford.
- Lizzi Collinge MP — Morecambe & Lunesdale
- Michelle Scrogham MP — Barrow & Furness
- Sarah Smith MP — Hyndburn
“Two proud northerners and one very proud to represent a northern constituency.”
@jacqui_shep
Help us make the book
Support the Kickstarter campaign
Help us turn The 40% Project into the photobook 40%: Inspiring Women Photographed by Women. Pledge today and secure your copy.
Support the Kickstarter
North East
Photographers from the North East
Tyne and Wear
Louise Knaresborough
- Sharon Hodgson MP
- Emma Lewell MP
- Kate Osborne MP
Photo © Louise Knaresborough
Photo © Alexandra Prescott
Gateshead
Tracey Ainsley
MP photographed: Bridget Phillipson MP
Tracey is an amateur photographer who photographed Bridget Phillipson during her Deputy Leader campaign after Sam Rushworth MP helped arrange media access. Surrounded by press photographers and television crews, Bridget took the time to pose for her.
@wpcthunderbird
Photo © Tracey Ainsley
Help us make the book
Support the Kickstarter campaign
Help us turn The 40% Project into the photobook 40%: Inspiring Women Photographed by Women. Pledge today and secure your copy.
Support the Kickstarter
North West
Photographers from the North West
Photo © Rachel Brewster
Liverpool
Rachel Brewster
MP photographed: Kim Johnson MP — Liverpool Riverside
Rachel photographed Liverpool’s first Black woman MP on Ilford HP5 Plus film and processed the negatives by hand. She established Liverpool Darkroom in 2014, one of the UK’s first female-owned modern darkrooms.
Manchester
Alice Armstrong
- Alison Gardner MP — Stoke-on-Trent South
- Rebecca Long-Bailey MP — Salford
- Hannah Spencer MP — Worsley & Eccles
- Lucy Powell MP — Manchester Central
Photo © Alice Armstrong
Photo © Allie Crewe
Didsbury, Greater Manchester
Allie Crewe
- Aphra Brandreth MP — Chester South & Eddisbury
- Maya Ellis MP — Ribble Valley
- Kirith Entwistle MP — Bolton North East
- Angela Rayner MP — Ashton-under-Lyne
- Sarah Russell MP — Congleton
- Ashley Dalton MP — West Lancashire
Whalley Range, South Manchester
Rebecca Lattin
MP photographed: Elsie Blundell MP — Heywood & Middleton North
@rebeccalattinphoto
Photo © Rebecca Lattin
Photo © Natasha Bennett
Marple, Greater Manchester
Natasha Bennett
MP photographed: Lisa Smart MP — Hazel Grove
@tish_tash100Wirral
Michelle Webster
- Samantha Dixon MP — City of Chester
- Maria Eagle MP — Liverpool Garston
- Marie Rimmer MP — St Helens South & Whiston
Photo © Michelle Webster
Help us make the book
Support the Kickstarter campaign
Help us turn The 40% Project into the photobook 40%: Inspiring Women Photographed by Women. Pledge today and secure your copy.
Support the Kickstarter
“The project gave each MP the opportunity to choose a location that felt meaningful and helped communicate something of her individual story.”
Project lead
Sue Wright
Photo © Sue Wright
Bradford South
Judith Cummins MP
Judith chose to be photographed proudly in the Speaker’s Chair in the House of Commons. Having attended a secondary modern school in Bradford, she wanted the portrait to reflect her journey, her Bradford roots and the achievement of becoming Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.
@suewrightuppingtonLeeds West & Pudsey
Rachel Reeves MP
Rachel was photographed in Leeds Corn Exchange, where she was married. The setting reflects both her personal connection to Leeds and the city she represents.
Photo © Sue Wright
Photo © Sue Wright
Runcorn & Helsby
Sarah Pochin MP
Sarah was photographed at the Palace of Westminster, creating a portrait reflecting her new parliamentary role and her connection to the constituency she represents in Cheshire.
Wider network
Strong Northern Connections
Originally from Sheffield; now based in Edinburgh
Anneleen Lindsay
Anneleen photographed Abtisam Mohamed MP for Sheffield Central, the constituency where Anneleen grew up and where her parents still live.
@anneleenphoto
Photo © Anneleen Lindsay
Photo © Kristy Gosling
Grew up in Sheffield
Kristy Gosling
Kristy grew up in Sheffield. Her sister, Jodie Gosling MP, grew up in Blackpool and was one of the MPs Kristy photographed for the project.
- Irene Campbell MP — North Ayrshire and Arran
- Jodie Gosling MP — Nuneaton
About the project
40%: Inspiring Women Photographed by Women
The 40% Project is entirely volunteer-led. The photographers, MPs and organising team have all given their time freely.
The work is now being developed into a photobook with publisher Image & Reality, supported through a Kickstarter campaign.
Chair, Royal Photographic Society Women in Photography Group
Project Lead, The 40% Project
Instagram: @rpswomeninphotography