A GROUP of 15 Welsh Labour women AMs are urging the public to ‘Back the Plaque’ in a campaign to give "remarkable Welsh women recognition they deserve".

The newly-formed Assembly Labour Women’s Group (ALWG), chaired by Newport West AM Jayne Bryant, will today launch the Purple Plaque campaign - on International Women’s Day.

They want to install plaques at the former homes or places of work of the women such as former Swansea East AM Val Feld.

The women’s rights campaigner, who was also the former director of Shelter Cymru and the Equal Opportunities Commission Wales, died in 2001.

Newport West AM Ms Bryant, said: “We as a group of Labour Women AMs have chosen International Women’s Day to launch the Purple Plaque campaign in recognition of prominent, successful and historic women who are recognised less often than men of a similar standing.

“The colour purple has been chosen to reflect the sacrifices of the suffragette movement. I would love to see plaques that recognise women’s achievements are always suffragette purple.

“It is fitting that we’ve chosen one of the leading architects of devolution in Wales, Val Feld, to be the first to receive this honour. True testimony to Val’s legacy as a campaigner for gender equality and promoter of women's participation in Welsh politics can be seen in the current gender balance of Labour AMs. She inspired a generation.”

Julie Morgan, who helped form the group, said: "You could be forgiven for thinking the women of Wales haven’t had much impact on our cultural, political and scientific life. This is really not the case and we think it’s about time to blow the trumpet for some of our unsung heroes.”

The purple plaque for Val Feld is just a first step for the ALWG group – there are plans to expand the Purple Plaque campaign and open it up to get suggestions from the public of women who made a significant contribution to Welsh life. They could be from the cultural world, political world, science, medicine or the voluntary sector.