WP Radio - Questions and Answers:

1. What is Women's Parliamentary Radio?

Women's Parliamentary Radio is a web site which will be broadcasting interviews with women MPs of all parties. All the interviews will be pre-recorded and put on the website as reports which can be "streamed” and listened to immediately or downloaded as podcasts so that they can be listened to later.

It will be covering topical current affairs issues which are of interest to women and their families. Where the issues that concern women are also championed by men, male MPs will be interviewed too.

2. Who is supporting it?

Leading Women MPs from all parties are supporting this new web based broadcasting of parliamentary issues for women. Labour names include Harriet Harman, Maria Eagle, Barbara Follet, Fiona Mactaggart, Betty Williams, Chris MacCafferty. For the Conservatives, Theresa May, Caroline Spelman, and Anne Milton have given their support. For the Liberal Democrats Sandra Gidley, Jo Swinson, Susan Kramer and Lorely Burt are supporters.

3. How will it reach an audience?

Women's Parliamentary Radio will be accessible to everybody who can access the web. It can be found at www.wpradio.co.uk We will be teaming up with other women's organisations and linking to their web sites to ensure that the maximum number of people possible know how to listen to WPradio.co.uk

4. Will Women's Parliamentary Radio be editorially independent?

Yes, it will. Senior, experienced journalists from all sections of the media, print and broadcast will be conducting the interviews and reporting on the issues objectively. It will set out to inform, educate and entertain to the highest editorial standards. Comment on issues will be allowed but like other news organisations that comment will be clearly headlined as such.

5. Who is financing it?

Women's Parliamentary Radio will be independently financed from contributions that women themselves and other sponsors make to it. Those contributions will be published in full in the annual report.

6. When was it launched?

Women's Parliamentary Radio was launched in Spring 2007.

7. What type of issues will you be focusing on?

Women's Parliamentary Radio will be reporting in depth on the issues that are of concern to women and their families. We aim to be the "Women's Hour” of Westminster. Women MPs have worked both within their parties and together to progress issues such as domestic violence, work home life balance, paternity leave, new health policies, and tougher sentencing for sex crimes as well as reform of the House and its hours of work.

8. How will it be managed?

Women's Parliamentary Radio will be governed by a small committee of MPs from all parties, as well as established journalists and senior women drawn from industry and the not-for-profit sector.

9. Will it be an international broadcaster?

Audiences will be able to receive Women's Parliamentary Radio throughout the world so long as the web page is accessible. The material will be of broadcast quality and transmitted to highly professional standards equal to that of the best and most established radio broadcasters. Interviews will be conducted with women representatives from other parliaments allowing women MPs here to communicate with and exchange views with women who have been elected to represent women elsewhere in the World.

10. How will you guarantee the project meets its objectives and remains independent?

Women's Parliamentary Radio maybe in its infancy but it has already been established that women MPs across Party can work together successfully. They often work together in committees and all-party groups. This project has grown out of the successful publication of the book "Women in Parliament: The New Suffragettes”, by Boni Sones, Margaret Moran MP and Professor Joni Lovenduski, where women talked frankly about their lives in parliament and their achievements to date. An audio archive of the 83 interviews is being established at the British Library where permission has been given.

11. Will Women's Parliamentary Radio be boring?

No. Women's Parliamentary Radio will set out to inform, educate and entertain to the highest standards. We believe that there is an audience of women who would respond to better coverage of parliament and the issues that affect their daily lives. By letting women MPs broadcast directly to other women we believe that Women's Parliamentary Radio can play an important role in social cohesion and engaging people in the political process.

12. Will you be interviewing the party leaders?

Men will be interviewed on Women's Parliamentary Radio and male journalists will be conducting the interviews too. However, the issues we will discuss will be those that will be of particular interest and of special importance to women and their families. We want to help women connect to Westminster to realise the work that is being done to progress the issues that they care most about.