The Conservative Party is the only party in its history to have had, not one, but two women prime ministers. Our current prime minister is a force to be reckoned with — throughout her career pioneering women at home. As home secretary, Theresa May championed better protections in areas most had previously avoided, such as cracking down on FGM, and supporting the survivors of this illegal practice. She also introduced the law against coercive control, to ensure that emotional abuse can be punished in the same way as physical abuse.
In 2014, she was heavily involved in the establishment of the first ever Girl Summit, and is in part responsible for me being in the House of Commons today, as she founded Women2Win, an organisation that encourages and supports women into politics. As a former director of Women2Win, I have seen first-hand the amazing work it does to help women gain the experience and confidence to stand as a candidate, politics is a contact sport, and sometimes you need a bit of help to step onto the pitch.
Today in parliament we are seeing increasing numbers of women MPs with a wide variety of backgrounds and skills. With an increasing pool of highly-talented women it is not surprising that we are seeing more begin to move up the ranks. Penny Mordaunt, for example, started her career as a magician’s assistant, and is now the secretary of state for international development, now that is some trick . . . or is it?
When you look further into her background, you see a highly-accomplished woman who has worked in hospitals and orphanages in Romania. She spent several years as the director of Europe’s largest patient organisation, Diabetes UK, where she not only expanded the services offered, but also set up key services in countries around the world. Most impressively, while simultaneously increasing the charity’s income. Her background in other government positions only emphasise her readiness for her new role having served as the first female minister for the armed forces, and most recently as minister of state for disabled people, health and work. All these areas provide vital sources of knowledge and experience for her new position.
Filling Penny Mordaunt’s previous position as minister of state in the department of work and pensions is Sarah Newton, first elected in 2010. She has a finance background having worked for Citibank and American Express, before she became director at Age Concern England. These work experiences are an asset for the role she has stepped into, both the ability to manage a complex set of financial inputs, but also having the empathy and experience of dealing with vulnerable people.
Another woman MP has also recently stepped up to serve, the first from the 2015 intake, Victoria Atkins. I am sure it’s not just me that likes the idea of a criminal barrister in charge of key areas of crime and punishment at the Home Office. Victoria’s responsibilities are well suited to her skill set, and having already aided ministers at the Home Office it is clear she can hit the ground running.
Some may say that the increase in women being promoted to the top jobs is filling some sort of diversity obligation, but I disagree. These women all have varied and accomplished backgrounds, and are well respected by their male and female colleagues. The Conservative Party does not have a quota system, but will always strive to make sure that talent and experience is put first and foremost!
And the good news is there are plenty more, with many highly experienced MPs from a variety of backgrounds, including from my intake of 2017. I am excited to see what the future brings for all the men and women in my intake as there is a lot of talent and diversity, both of which will be crucial to our party’s future success.
Diversity is not only important to ensure we do not live in an echo chamber and have diverse representation. It shows our youngsters their success in life is not limited by race, sexuality, income or gender. They will look and see that they have all they need to become the leaders of tomorrow.
Read online: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/we-dont-have-a-quota-system-the-tory…
