Women entering parliament for the first time following the election should be prepared for “misogyny and abuse” as they join the country’s “biggest boys’ club”, female MPs have warned.
A record number of women were elected on 4 July, with 264 female members of parliament set to take up their seats under a Labour government. This represents 40.6 per cent of all MPs and is a significant improvement on the 34.2 per cent in 2019.
But experienced female MPs say they still face “sexism, patriarchal and archaic power structures”. The Pestminster scandal in 2017 saw a series of claims of sexual harassment in Westminster and the dying days of the last Tory government were dogged by further allegations.
Labour’s Dawn Butler, who has been re-elected having been an MP in west London since 2015, said new female MPs should be prepared to “endure a lot of misogyny and abuse”, adding: “You get critiqued on how you sound, how you look and what you wear.”
While entering parliament is an exciting time, new female MPs “should expect to be bamboozled with a whole load of rules – some of which are archaic or make no practical sense whatsoever”.
Esta historia es de la edición July 08, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July 08, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Carse justifies England faith as the archetypal bold pick
If you won a boxing match after your opponent continually punched themselves in the face, how much credit can you take?
Tenacious Diallo the key to Amorim pressing machine
Old Trafford has not seen anything like this before.
Gold King Cole packs the Bridge with merry old souls
In the 83rd minute, the ball rolled to the feet of Cole Palmer in a bubble of space outside Aston Villa's box, and the crowd snapped to attention.
Vibrant Anfield marks the changing of the Guardiola
There was a lull in the noise, a break in the Anfield atmosphere, when a defiant chant emerged from a corner near Stefan Ortega’s goal.
What is so daunting about Spain's new data checks?
Q You have written about the new “red tape” for visitors to Spain. So, as well as your usual passport details you will give a contact number, address and email. Not exactly the Spanish Inquisition, is it?
Sectarian clashes claim at least 130 lives in Pakistan
At least 130 people were killed in deadly sectarian clashes in Pakistan's northwestern Kurram district in spite of a tentative ceasefire, days after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying Shia Muslims, local officials said.
Coalition government likely in Ireland as count proceeds
Fianna Fail say decisions on power-sharing for another day’
How Syria's forgotten war is back on the world's agenda
Many believed the country was lost in an unsolvable conflict, until everything changed in a matter of days, writes Bel Trew
Assad regime scrambles to halt Syrian rebels’ advance
Civilians reportedly killed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes
Mother of poisoning victim says she knew she would die
Lawyer Simone White succumbed to the effects of methanol while backpacking in Laos with two of her childhood friends
