Dr Angela O'Hagan wins Jo Cox Award for Public Service and Active Citizenship

Dr Angela O'Hagan and the late Jo Cox MP
Dr Angela O'Hagan and the late Jo Cox MP

One of the UK's leading voices on gender-budgeting has been awarded the prestigious Jo Cox Award for Public Service and Active Citizenship.

Dr Angela O'Hagan, deputy director of the WISE Centre for Economic Justice at Glasgow Caledonian University, received the accolade at the Political Studies Association (PSA) Annual Awards at Westminster last night.

The award recognises academics who have made a positive change to society by reflecting the campaigning spirit and humanitarian values espoused by the late MP, who was murdered in June 2016.

Dr O'Hagan was nominated by the members of the PSA for her work to advance gender budgeting over the last 20 years.

Judges praised her tireless efforts in informing the public on how gender shapes decisions on budgets and people’s lives and described her as "a wonderful academic and campaigner".

Dr O'Hagan said: "This is an amazing honour. The fact the award is in Jo's name, and I was nominated by my peers, makes it incredibly special.

"Jo and I overlapped briefly at Oxfam. Although I didn't know her well, everything you hear about her through the media is true - she was a warm, funny, energetic and hugely engaging person.

"Feminist economists don't tend to get a lot of attention, so it means a lot that the judges see the value of this work and recognise it as legitimate and important."

The PSA Annual Awards recognise politicians, broadcasters, journalists and academics who are deemed to be shaping UK politics.

The judging panel included George Parker, Political Editor of the Financial Times, Kate McCann, of Sky News, and Professor Angelia Wilson, of the University of Manchester and Chair of PSA.

A founding member of the Scottish Women’s Budget Group, Dr O'Hagan is on the management committee of the UK Women's’ Budget Group and is the joint co-ordinator of the European Gender Budgeting Network.

She is also chair of the Scottish Government's Equality Budget Advisory Group (EBAG), which ensures gender equality and human rights are considered when decisions are made on government budgets.

In 2018, Dr O'Hagan co-edited a volume on Gender Budgeting in Europe: Developments and Challenges, that assessed the progress made in gender budgeting across Europe in the last two decades.