Imagine the scene. David Cameron welcomes his newest appointee Jo Johnson (bit like his brother Boris, but less Boris-y) to the Cabinet Office. Young Jo is nervous, and Dave wants to reassure him. "You’ll be fine here Jo," he says, "it’s just like Eton, all we need to do is get rid of the skirts." They laugh, their eyes lock and they fall into a deep passionate…
Even if this didn’t exactly happen, there is definitely something fishy going on in the upper echelons of power. Where are all the women going?
I’m sure there used to be some women MPs, I remember reading all the articles which ignored their policies and talked about their shoes. Now the only time a female politician, make the news is when she’s being sacked.
This week, the local Conservative party in Thirsk and Malton deselected Anne McIntosh MP (aka ‘silly girl’, as they refer to her) as candidate for her parliamentary seat. The same week Michael Gove sacked the Chair of Ofsted Baroness Sally Morgan. Earlier this month Dame Liz Forgan, sacked from the Arts Council, left her post. Both she and Dame Suzi Leather from the Charity Commission (who served her full allowed term), were replaced by male Conservative party supporters.
Putting aside for one moment, what an amazing name Suzi Leather is, what has the government got against women? Seats and chairs are being taken away from women and we won’t stand for it anymore.
In none of these cases have the women been accused of misconduct or incompetence- they’ve just had to step aside. Given how hard it is to find women in top jobs, I’m almost impressed that the government has managed to find so many to sack. Although not all their replacements have been confirmed yet, I’m willing to bet that they will all be of the penis-owning persuasion.
It’s not just the Tories either. Female Conservative MPs may be leaving in droves, but the Liberal Democrats aren’t doing much better. If they don’t get more women in their party soon, there won’t be anyone left to sexually harass!
Of course all parties claim not to have a problem with women – I daresay some of their best sex workers are women – but actions speak louder than words, and they’ve got a shocking record. Since the coalition came to power cuts in childcare, child allowance and public sector jobs mean women are twice as likely to be affected by the cuts as men. It seems women are fine except the ones who work (get your coats, ladies) and the ones who don’t (look love, your baby = your problem). Labour aren’t exactly doing anything for women either, but at least they’re not sacking us and taking all our money.
Apparently Cameron is planning to make 2014 the year of women. All things considered, it might be best if they just left us alone.
Jenny Laville, you can follow Jenny on Twitter @jennylaville or read more of her writing at www.jennylaville.wordpress.com
Pictured: Anne McIntosh
