Women Winning Office: An Activist’s Guide to Getting Elected

by Peggy Nash, Toronto: Between the Lines, 2022

Review by Nidhi Tandon

‘Women Winning Office’ is written primarily for women looking to enter the world of elected politics in Canada. Ultimately, however, it presents a much broader chronicle that holds appeal for those playing with the idea, for first-timers, for seasoned activists, and for those (women and men) seeking reassurance and reflection in this complex, shifting, and often unforgiving electoral landscape.

Peggy Nash’s book is in part a historical political record, in part a sincere sharing of her personal experience and journey, and ultimately a grounded guide selected and perfected for women. In fact, its messages and encouragements are relevant for practically anyone seeking political or public office through a democratic election system. Nash identifies herself as ‘white’ and ‘working class’ (p. 164), and peels back the covers on her personal and political journey in a disarming and confiding way, offering a mix of tactical, precise, emotional, and peer advice. While her suggestions are informed by her own experiences, she also blends in quotes, comments, and voices collected from former and current leaders whom she has consulted and who have held positions at all levels of the Canadian governing systems, provincially and federally.

The book has seven parts, with an initial introductory section that provides a context on women in political leadership and that urges the reader to be bold and claim that rightful place of leading political and social change on behalf of the many. Nash’s writing conveys a Changes: “‘yes! you can do this!Changes: ”’ tone, starting with a clear call to action in the beginning stages of preparing the political campaign; Nash urges ‘Make a clear decision about when the time is right for you. Don’t sit back waiting to be asked’ (p. 58), suggesting that ‘non-traditional candidates’ need to step up to claim their power potential. She also encourages political representatives to engage directly with their constituencies by embedding themselves in the community through their human stories, telling the multiple stories of ‘self’, of ‘us’, and of the ‘here and now’, enabling voters to connect with their political representative through descriptions of how representatives have invested in building for change. What the representative stands for, what motivates them, and how their story links with or mirrors those of the community, makes for political integrity and trust building among the diverse public that the representative intends to reach. Nash provides an unreserved piece of advice at the end of the book to move past the ‘elitist, exclusionary and homogeneous governments’ (p. 245), this also speaks loudly to political integrity, trust building, and ‘being the change you want’. While the above insight may seem obvious to readers, the fact that this is one of her parting observations speaks exactly to the fact that one can easily lose courage or forget what they were pursuing in the first place once they find themselves climbing the ladders to political power.

Parts Three to Six provide a step-by-step guide to working the campaign, public communications, and outreach; working with the campaign team and preparing for the election win or loss. ‘Getting Your Story Out’ in Part Four is invaluable to all change-makers; the final three parts (pp. 156–75) tackle the uglier and endemic aspects of standing for public and political leadership – this ugliness manifests as psychological harassment, online abuse, intimidation, and silencing tactics; candidates must manage risks and sometimes deal with outright physical threats and attacks. Nash points to the lack of tracking mechanisms to gauge aggression, hostility, and backlash against women politicians, which translates into a normalising of these kinds of behaviours with no consequences for often invisible perpetrators. The onus lies with politicians to learn to brace themselves in dealing with ugly social norms. Reporting incidences to authorities and the police as well as keeping track of and exposing these often-misogynist behaviours is necessary for a better and nuanced understanding of the range of violence that women political representatives must often expect and prepare for.

Arguably the book is most useful for women seeking to win votes on a political vision. It is both intimate and directly personal and has a longer shelf-life as a reference or guide, even if it is written primarily from a Canadian context. The overall election context and machinery in Canada today is relatively modernised and transparent and, to a large extent, quite progressive in its gender balance. Between 1997 and 2023, the proportion of women members of parliament rose from 20.6 to 30.6 per cent, while the number of women and men cabinet members from 2016 to 2023 were almost equal (Statistics Canada Citation2024). Readers seeking office in more hostile environments will need to consider what they can take from this narrative, given that ‘The level of democracy enjoyed by the average world citizen in 2022 is back to 1986 levels. This means that 72 percent of the world’s population, 5.7 billion people, live under authoritarian rule’ (Lindberg Citation2023). That said, this book is also useful for supporting team members; and for male voters as well who might be curious to understand the specific challenges that women running for office might face. In conclusion, what the reader can expect is a comprehensive coverage of how to win an elected seat – presenting a compelling and very human portrait of what to expect, how to prepare, when to deliver and how to manage challenges. And ultimately what it takes to ‘lead like a woman’.

Anyone interested in representing the interests of their immediate community and/or of voting citizens will gain enormous insights from this book. That Nash has recently accepted an Executive Director position with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) shows how her political journey is gearing up to a whole new level.

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© 2025 Nidhi Tandon