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Tory women as Cameron’s arm candy – did the suffragettes die for this? Tory women as Cameron’s arm candy – did the suffragettes die for this?
(about 5 hours later)
The London Film Festival opens tonight with the premiere of Suffragette, the movie of the movement, so to speak. According to the reviews the story is told with a strong sense of the present: 100 years on, the film’s director Sarah Gavron would like her audience to remember that equality remains a work in progress. The London film festival opens tonight with the premiere of Suffragette, the movie of the movement, so to speak. According to the reviews the story is told with a strong sense of the present: 100 years on, the film’s director, Sarah Gavron, would like her audience to remember that equality remains a work in progress.
Related: Female MPs complain of being Cameron's conference 'arm candy'Related: Female MPs complain of being Cameron's conference 'arm candy'
With exquisite timing, in Manchester some female Tory MPs have complained that they are being used as arm candy for the prime minister. Normally, a casual snap of yourself chatting matily with the PM is the kind of coup that politicians kill for. But it loses its appeal when there’s a rota drawn up, entirely on the basis of your gender, to escort the leader on the short but closely monitored route from hotel to conference hall.With exquisite timing, in Manchester some female Tory MPs have complained that they are being used as arm candy for the prime minister. Normally, a casual snap of yourself chatting matily with the PM is the kind of coup that politicians kill for. But it loses its appeal when there’s a rota drawn up, entirely on the basis of your gender, to escort the leader on the short but closely monitored route from hotel to conference hall.
One of the messages that Tory central office probably hoped people would just casually absorb from the already notorious arm candy rota is that women are becoming more visible in the party: 68 of their 303 MPs are female, which is probably not where the suffragettes thought the proportions would be back when they were being force fed and beaten up in order to win the vote, but still, it’s much better than it was. One of the messages that Tory central office probably hoped people would just casually absorb from the already notorious arm candy rota is that women are becoming more visible in the party: 68 of their 303 MPs are female, which is probably not where the suffragettes thought the proportions would be back when they were being force-fed and beaten up in order to win the vote, but still, it’s much better than it was.
The whole business of politics remains outrageously male. By the time the arm candy tale emerged it was already obvious that, a decade after Cameron introduced the A-list and started to steamroller good women candidates into winnable seats, the Tories’ women problem is still chronic. At fringe events this week, the majority of the people on the platforms have been male. So, just by observation, are a majority of this year’s activists. The short haircuts and the sharp suits are back.The whole business of politics remains outrageously male. By the time the arm candy tale emerged it was already obvious that, a decade after Cameron introduced the A-list and started to steamroller good women candidates into winnable seats, the Tories’ women problem is still chronic. At fringe events this week, the majority of the people on the platforms have been male. So, just by observation, are a majority of this year’s activists. The short haircuts and the sharp suits are back.
It is wearisome to observe, again, how slow progress to anything like gender equality has been. But the past few weeks have been a vivid reminder of just how slow. The Tory effort to make things look better than they are by dint of lining up women to walk a few yards with Cameron for the benefit of the cameras goes some way to explain why. Illusion is so much easier to organise than reality.It is wearisome to observe, again, how slow progress to anything like gender equality has been. But the past few weeks have been a vivid reminder of just how slow. The Tory effort to make things look better than they are by dint of lining up women to walk a few yards with Cameron for the benefit of the cameras goes some way to explain why. Illusion is so much easier to organise than reality.
All the same, illusion at least shows somebody is thinking about it. Labour has a longer and better record of delivering equality, but as the fiasco of the construction of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet showed, there are still too many people who don’t get it. Redesignating which briefs qualify as the great offices of state is not a bad idea, but better done before all those that are traditionally considered the most important are filled with men.All the same, illusion at least shows somebody is thinking about it. Labour has a longer and better record of delivering equality, but as the fiasco of the construction of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet showed, there are still too many people who don’t get it. Redesignating which briefs qualify as the great offices of state is not a bad idea, but better done before all those that are traditionally considered the most important are filled with men.
Related: Sumption encapsulates the law’s sexism: only quotas can challenge male privilege | Charlotte ProudmanRelated: Sumption encapsulates the law’s sexism: only quotas can challenge male privilege | Charlotte Proudman
Nor is it only politics. Earlier this month, Jonathan Sumption, one of the most senior of British judges, a man with a glittering career behind him as an astonishingly high-earning barrister, mused to an interviewer on the question of the scarcity of women in the senior courts. He felt it just had to be tolerated. Otherwise men who, like him, had the traditional qualification of a glittering legal career would feel cheated. Promoting women who might have different qualifications ahead of them would threaten the delicate organism of the courts. Women, he concluded regretfully, would just have to be patient.Nor is it only politics. Earlier this month, Jonathan Sumption, one of the most senior of British judges, a man with a glittering career behind him as an astonishingly high-earning barrister, mused to an interviewer on the question of the scarcity of women in the senior courts. He felt it just had to be tolerated. Otherwise men who, like him, had the traditional qualification of a glittering legal career would feel cheated. Promoting women who might have different qualifications ahead of them would threaten the delicate organism of the courts. Women, he concluded regretfully, would just have to be patient.
After the introduction of universal suffrage, people thought change would just happen. When, about 50 years later, it became clear that very little had changed at all, feminists thought that removing the obvious barriers would do it: equality was about working hours, childcare, career breaks.After the introduction of universal suffrage, people thought change would just happen. When, about 50 years later, it became clear that very little had changed at all, feminists thought that removing the obvious barriers would do it: equality was about working hours, childcare, career breaks.
Like the vote, they are all part of the story. But what it really takes is a cultural change. Labour made progress in upping its number of female MPs when it introduced all-women shortlists, and that began to change the way parliament works. Of course, imposing change is difficult and often unpopular. But we know what the alternative is: another generation of women as arm candy.Like the vote, they are all part of the story. But what it really takes is a cultural change. Labour made progress in upping its number of female MPs when it introduced all-women shortlists, and that began to change the way parliament works. Of course, imposing change is difficult and often unpopular. But we know what the alternative is: another generation of women as arm candy.