8 March was the 115th International Women’s Day so, a few days later, on the 14th, here are 14 Wonderful Women.
And, close to UK Mother’s Day, one particular mother.
Laura London, MAGICIAN, who, just a week after her 18th birthday, became the youngest female member of The Magic Circle. London is now the first elected female Chair of the society and a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, the highest honour.
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Jessie Buckley, ACTOR, who said recently on Desert Island Discs, that the first time she performed on stage, ‘It was like drinking water … the more I did it, the more I realised, this is essential to me.’ Buckley won a Bafta for her performance as Agnes in Hamnet.
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Image:https://www.maggieofarrell.com/
Maggie O’Farrell, WRITER, who wrote the novel Hamnet, among many others, all wonderful.
Here’s O’Farrell, talking about working with Chloe Zhao on Hamnet, the film.
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Errollyn Wallen, COMPOSER, Master of the King’s Music
and one of the world’s top twenty most-performed living classical composers.
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Maggie Aderin, SPACE SCIENTIST and CEO of Science Innovation Ltd., where she encourages underrepresented groups
to go into STEM. Aderin also co-hosts the world’s longest-running science programme The Sky at Night.
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Vivien Wong, BUSINESSWOMAN & CO-FOUNDER of Little Moons (little balls of soft mochi dough wrapped round ice cream). Little Moons was inspired by sweet Japanese treats and Wong’s parents’ hard work at their Asian bakery in north London.
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Serena Wise, CREATIVE DIRECTOR & FOUNDER of Mount Sapo, whose organic natural oil and balm work as well for faces as they do for bodies or knees or feet. Wise created her skincare when she realised she wanted to spend less time in her head and refocus on her body.
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Hannah Spencer, GREEN MP for Gorton and Denton since February 2026, PLUMBER and trainee PLASTERER. Spencer said, in a Guardian interview, ‘When I get there [Parliament] I’ll make space for everyone doing jobs like mine. We will finally get a seat at the table.’
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Nova Reid, AUTHOR, SPEAKER, PRODUCER and TRUTH SEEKER, who cares deeply about healing and repair. She is a renowned agent of change, winning multiple accolades for her work in racial justice spanning more than a decade.
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Lucy Bronze, FOOTBALLER who has won five Champions League titles, three with Lyon and two with Barcelona; four Women’s Super League titles with Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea; and both the Euro 2022 and the Euro 2025 with England.
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Kate Macintosh, ARCHITECT. Campaigner and radical champion of public housing who has strongly influenced its direction, Macintosh won the 2024 AJ100 award for an individual who made an outstanding contribution to architecture.
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Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, CHIEF MIDWIFE (England’s first). One of the most influential people in health 2020–2024 and one of the NHS’s 75 most significant nurses and midwives in 2023. Here she is talking about the importance of midwifery.
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And a last word for my MOTHER (1929-2011) close to Mother’s Day in the UK. A full-time mum in the days when mums who could afford not to work often didn’t. But by the time we’d all flown, the world of work felt alien to her so a potential later-life career as a photographer or an interior decorator never happened. These days, her career dreams would likely have blossomed. But she was rightly proud of her work as a mother. Happy Mother’s Day Mum.