Women in government and politics

Speakers

• Jo Swinson MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment relations, consumer and postal affairs and MP for East Dunbartonshire
• Stella Creasy MP, Shadow Minister for Competition and Consumer Affairs and MP for Walthamstow
• Elizabeth Truss MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare and MP for South West Norfolk.
• Chair: Rosamund Urwin, Evening Standard columnist.

This event, supported by EY, was the first in the Women Leaders series of talks about women leaders in government, politics, and the Civil Service.  The focus of the series is positive: it will look at how women leaders are leading and driving change, and consider how women have reached high-level positions, what steps they have taken along the way to achieve their success and how government can be more effective by learning from their experiences.   

Chair Rosamund Urwin, columnist for the Evening Standard, asked how each of the women came to stand as an MP, the challenges they faced, and whether those challenges were the same as those faced by their male colleagues.

Jo Swinson hadn’t originally wanted to be a politician, but got involved with politics at university.  Her involvement with the Liberal Democrats snowballed until in her final year of university someone suggested that she stand for Parliament. Campaigning and talking to local people were things she was passionate about – when her home MP stood down, she stood for the seat and was elected in 2005. 

In general, her male colleagues took a slightly different path into the Commons, she said. Whereas she waited to be asked to stand for Parliament, they put themselves forward. These differences between male and female colleagues have continued – she noted that male MPs prepare for PMQs differently, and approach the issue of promotion in a more direct way. She had to be persuaded to make clear her desire to be promoted to a minister–  her male colleagues were happy to put themselves forward. Childcare issues further reduce the number of female candidates, she said. Many women who stand for Parliament in their 20s don’t do so in their 30s as they have children, and it’s hard to fight an election when you’re a mum.

She emphasized the importance of getting more women into leadership roles across politics, Parliament and the Civil Service.  Increasing the number of women in leadership roles would deliver better decisions and better implementation, because diversity on teams is a good thing and leads to better outcomes, she said.

Stella Creasy explained that she had been involved in campaigns from a young age, her ‘lightbulb’ moment came when she realised the connection between the issues she cared about and political campaigns that had the power to enact change. When she decided to stand for Parliament she was afraid of making her case to the selection committee, but her parents taught her that she and her brother were equal and they believed in the capacity of women to lead.

She said it has been fascinating to work in Parliament but it is as much as part of the ‘80/20’ mindset of the rest of society. When men are part of an audience which is 20% women, they believe the ratio is 50/50. There is an assumption that because there are some women in public roles, we have reached gender equality, but a lot more needs to be done, she said. We shouldn’t be concerned with the number of women in the room, but the quality of the impact they are having.  Both women and men need to work together to deliver equality and be ready to call out examples of sexism, she said.

Liz Truss explained that she has always resented being pigeon-holed into roles that ‘girls’ or ‘women’ can do ever since, as a child flying to Canada with her three brothers, they were given pilot outfits and she was given an air-hostess costume. This pigeon-holing is a waste of talent, she said. Not only women, but also men from ethnic minorities and other backgrounds are unable to fulfil their potential because of the barriers put in their path. She spoke out against the ‘drip drip’ of negativity – the perception that women cannot succeed in a certain role, or that people felt they needed to comment on how difficult it must be to be an MP with small children. She expressed concern that those negative attitudes dissuade women from embarking in careers in politics, science and other sectors.  At the same time, she said, there is a need to get more women into politics in order to change the male-orientated culture. But she recognised that while the hours in the Commons had changed to be more family friendly, mothers were still the most likely to be in charge of childcare and that presented a whole new challenge. Her advice to women was to take risks and not say no to a challenge.

Questions from the floor covered a number of topics, including:

• The need for structural as well as cultural changes to encourage more women to enter politics
• The role of social media as a tool to promote women leaders, but also as a source of negativity and how to combat that
• Why the first, and to-date only female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, is not seen as a mentor to women in politics.

To read more about this event, read our blog.  Details about future events in this series will be updated on the events page