Mandu Reid

Mandu Kate Reid (born 1981) is a Malawi-born British politician and activist who was the leader of Women's Equality Party (WEP) from April 2019 until its dissolution in November 2024.

Early life and education Reid's mother is Black Malawi and her father is White British. Her parents met while her father was teaching English in Malawi, where Reid was born. The family moved to the United Kingdom in 1982, but subsequently lived in Somalia and Eswatini (better known as Swaziland), before returning to the UK, where Reid attended sixth form.

Reid is a graduate of the London School of Economics.

Career

After graduating from LSE, Reid worked at in project and programme management for HM Treasury, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Greater London Authority.

Reid founded The Cup Effect in 2015, a period poverty charity which campaigns donates menstrual cups to women and girls struggling with period poverty in the UK and East Africa.

Political career Reid joined the Labour Party in 2010, but later moved to the Women's Equality Party (WEP) in 2018. and was confirmed as party leader in January 2020. She has been described as "the first black, bisexual leader of a political party in the UK". In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, and murder of George Floyd in the U.S., Reid wrote to prime minister Boris Johnson to express support for the movement. Under Reid's leadership, the Women's Equality Party released a statement which highlighted racial injustice in the UK. She came tenth and lost her deposit.

Reid has written opinion articles for The Independent and The Huffington Post.