‘We can’t let politicians get away with inaction’: Hartlepool by-election candidate demands action on tackling violence against women and girls

Exclusive: Gemma Evans says she will step down if Labour agrees to policy demands

Gemma Evans is running for the Women’s Equality Party in the Hartlepool by-election (Supplied)

A Women’s Equality Party (WEP) candidate will run in the upcoming Hartlepool by-election “to demand action” from other parties to tackle violence against women and girls.

Gemma Evans, a campaigner and abuse survivor, will run for MP in the potentially vulnerable “red wall” seat, but will step down if Labour agrees to campaign for the same policy demands.

A by-election was triggered after Mike Hill stood down as the Labour MP for the northeast town last week due to ongoing sexual harassment allegations.

Announcing her entry into the Hartlepool race, Ms Evans said: “We have seen the huge outpouring of grief and anger over the last few weeks, after the tragic murder of Sarah Everard.

“We all know that her murder was not the first, and unless we take action it won’t be the last.”

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The campaigner said she will stand aside and support Labour’s campaign if the party’s leader agrees to “key policy demands” and to “make a real committment to ending violence against women and girls”.

“But we can’t let politicians get away with inaction any more. Women can’t afford to wait,” she said.

The WEP has called for Sir Keir to publicly apologise to women “failed” by Labour’s investigation process and to ensure MPs facing allegations of harassment or abuse cannot stand in elections.

The party also called for Labour’s leader to campaign for independent advisers and free legal advice for women who have experienced sexual violence or abuse, as well as the introduction of specialist units in every police force to “rebuild trust and support survivors to get justice”. 

Ms Evans called male violence “an epidemic that damages hundreds of thousands of lives” each year, and accused the main political parties of not taking it “seriously”.

Labour announced that a frontline NHS doctor will run for the Hartlepool seat in a by-election likely to be held on 6 May, after Mr Hill, who had been the MP since 2017, suddenly stepped down last week.

He is facing an employment tribunal case over sexual harassment allegations against a former member of staff, which he denies.

Mr Hill was suspended from Labour during an investigation in 2019, when the allegations first emerged, but was reinstated to the party the following month.

He has claimed £2,000 as part of costs linked to the case.

Ms Evans said the WEP has been campaigning for other parties to do more to tackle violence, harassment and abuse over the past few years.

“We have seen how they have rehabilitated MPs who have behaved inappropriately, failed to investigate allegations of abuse or harassment properly and held back from introducing any real consequences for those who are found guilty,” she said.

“These failures would be bad enough at any time, but when male violence remains so high across the country it is completely shameful. If abuse is not tackled within Westminster, how can we expect Westminster to tackle abuse elsewhere?”

Labour has held its Hartlepool seat since the 1950s.

Mr Hill was re-elected in 2019 with a hugely reduced majority of 3,595, in an election which saw the Brexit Party win 10,000 votes in the northern town.

Labour has been approached for comment.