As Harold Wilson once famously said, "a week is a long time in politics". So Gordon Brown must feel he’s stuck in a nightmarish Groundhog Day with one disaster after another.
Last week saw minister after minister leaving the cabinet, as support crumbles away in the midst of the expense fiasco. Among those who resigned are 4 women ministers – Jacqui Smith (first woman to have taken up the post of Home Secretary), Hazel Blears, Caroline Flint and Beverley Hughes.
And they haven’t gone quietly. Caroline Flint accused the PM of treating her like ‘female window dressing’ in her extraordinary exit. This attack on alleged sexism has received mixed reactions with some believing she has undermined the long battle of equality in politics with her petulance. Others have supported her claims of casual chauvinism and sexism within the government.
Jacqui Smith raised the point that not enough women are in top cabinet jobs, which is certainly the case now. Since Friday’s reshuffle, only Yvette Cooper is in charge of a large spending department. And with less than 20% of MPs in Britain being women, has this reshuffle damaged women’s prospects within politics? But bearing in mind that the government is in a unique state of transition and instability, could women use the circumstances to their advantage?
Well, the reshuffle certainly hasn’t damaged Peter Mandelson’s prospects as he was effectively propelled to deputy prime minister status. Or some even argue he is the real PM now saying he’s been integral in influencing the reshuffle and supporting Brown who’s apparently ‘paralysed with indecision’. Whilst Blairites like Purnell turned against Brown, Mandelson has stayed loyal...so is it jobs for the boys?
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It may be 'Jobs for the Boys' as far as the Cabinet is concerned, but let's be honest, have we always been totally convinced that the women chosen for high office have had the full support of their male counterparts, or those offering them the chance at the 'greasy pole' of politics?? There's a wonderful saying that originates from the West Indies... "The higher up the tree the monkey climbs, the more you see his bum!" (Well, 'bum' wasn't actually the original word, but for reasons of good taste, we'll leave it at that!) Three years ago I took part in some research called "The Glass Cliff" (not ceilings you'll notice) which was to test out the theory that women are promoted into potentially dangerous positions because they are seen as 'dispensable' .... if they fail, "they're a woman doing a job that they couldn't manage" and if they succeeded, well that was seen as "nothing special". There was also some evidence to suggest that women also sought out those dangerous positions because they felt they had to prove themselves over their male counterparts ... interesting ... I never did get to read the results because there was no safety net!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for The Speaker position up for grabs in The House, I see that Ann Widdecombe has decided to stand... a terrifying, yet slightly attractive idea. Not since the brilliant reign of Betty Boothroyd has anyone really taken notice of The Speaker. Ann Widdeconmbe reminds me of my old Head Mistress - terrifying!! And, perhaps that's what's needed to keep the misbehaving 'children' that we've elected in line?
...actually, I've just decided that I'd vote for Margaret Mountford to be Speaker of the House of Commons! I think she would be absolutely brilliant! I can just see one skillfully raised eyebrow stopping some self-promoting, 'other-blaming' wannabe in their tracks - Oh, sorry, that's the Apprentice!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if we could persuade her to delay her PhD to take charge???
And Flint's fellow women MPs have turned on her : Oona King, the former Labour MP, said: "She shocked a lot of women in the party by often posing in a fashion that implies she's more interested in the way she looks than the policies she presents." So if you want to look good, and have pride in yourself and your appearance, you can't possibly be serious in your work? So we should trust all those pale, male and stale MPs who look like sacks of spuds?
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