Are problems with female leadership unique to Britain’s Left?

Ensuing the crowning of Liz Truss as victor of the summer palaver that was the contentious Conservative Party leadership election, many in Britain and abroad had the opportunity last month to watch the new prime minister jousting in her first Prime Ministers Questions. Confronted by a tirade of questions expressing concerns about inflation,, rising energy costs and economic recession, Liz Truss chose to deflect by focusing her attention onthe Labour opposition’s inability to elect a leader that “is not male or from north London.” 

Setting aside the observation that statements such as these are symptomatic of the conservative cabinet’s disease, preventing its elected members from answering the questions posed to our  government, Liz Truss’ comment does raise questions about equality in a political party which generally claims to stand for progressive ideals. The fact is that all three of Britain's female prime ministers have been leaders of the Conservative Party. On the other hand, Labour has only ever had three female leaders during periods of opposition, all of which were in an “acting” capacity, thus temporary by design. Yet, the Conservative Party looks towards its elected female leaders with great reverence, especially Margaret Thatcher, who has become idolized by the Thatcherites, swooning over the glory days of the “Iron Lady.” 

How is it that the party of progress lags behind the party of right-wing beliefs and politicians stolen from a museum display when it comes to electing women? This phenomenon is difficult to dissect but seems to be guided by deep-rooted and outdated misogynistic political beliefs. 

The leading theory suggests that this phenomenon is not solely a problem in the UK. In fact, across G7 countries, “widespread distrust in women at the top” has been a core barrier, according to the Reykjavik Index, which outlines that in almost all western countries, men are perceived as more capable leaders than women. This ultimately suggests that, in a democratic system which still suffers from institutional sexist ideas, men are more likely to be elected into positions of power because there is a greater belief in their competence to perform as a leader. I think Boris Johnson and Donald Trump exemplify this truism. The study also hints towards a rising tide of misogyny in recent years against female leaders. They have always faced more vicious scrutiny, yet the outpour of criticism in reaction to a video of the Finish Prime Minister partying demonstrates that double standards remain a core-rotting pillar in politics. 

Increasingly concerning is that the same Reykjavik Index, outlining the general bias towards men, also found that 18 to 34-year-olds have a “less progressive attitude to gender and leadership.” Could this signal a warning that we may be diverging from decades of progress on gender equality? I would argue that attitudes perpetuated on social media sites, such as Tik Tok, are both a manifestation of this statistic and a source of its existence. The hyper-macho content and misogynistic comedy featured on the app combine to convince impressionable youth that men are the apex of society and that women are an evolutionary tool for man’s benefit.

This is to say that these issues are not exclusive to the Labour party, they are global. In fact, Labour can claim to have had significant impacts on the fight for equality by introducing the Equal Pay Act of 1970 and the Equality Act of 2010. Perhaps more significantly, Labour also introduced all-women shortlists to select half the candidates running in the 1997 United Kingdom general election. The affirmative action taken by Sir Tony Blair saw a record 101 female members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons. However, more needs to be done so that rather than mitigating inequality our political parties can be actively promoting it. As for Liz Truss’ comments, perhaps she can be credited with raising important questions about equality in politics, but it should not distract from the dismal omnishambles her prime ministerial career has been so far.