International Women’s Day

Bernard Jenkin Excerpts

Thursday 11th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sir Bernard Jenkin (Harwich and North Essex) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller) for organising the debate. It is a privilege to take part in it. I am the representative man who is here to take the punishment and the blame, and I do that—I do not shirk from that responsibility—because, despite everything that has been achieved for women’s rights, this debate proves that this is not a job that has been done; it is still very much a job to do. I think of things that have changed in my lifetime, such as the right for a woman to claim she has been raped by her husband, and, in retrospect, it is astonishing that they were allowed to persist in the modern age.

The main point I want to make is about the male blindness that still persists, which can so easily distort decisions. We need a political settlement in which it is impossible for decisions to be made that fail to recognise that, while men and women are equal, we have very different life experiences, which means that we need more women in the room when decisions are being formed. Look at how disadvantaged women have been in this covid crisis. How much do we think the Government have been able to recognise that?

If we want more women Ministers, I say to my colleagues on the Government Benches that we need more women MPs. I was tasked by David Cameron, when he first became leader, to increase the number of women candidates who could win Conservative seats. Up until 2010, only 9% of those on the Conservative Benches were women. When my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) was first elected to this House, she was one of only 13 women Conservative Members. At that same time, the Labour party had 101. Today, we still only have 25%. I am very proud of that rapid improvement, but it is not enough. Can I just point out to my male colleagues that half the population are women?

I applaud the Prime Minister’s November statement that we should have a 50:50 Parliament, but how are we going to get there? Who stands in the way? It is the Conservative party, because we are not making this happen. Is the only way by legislation? I hope not, but we men have to understand why so few women come forward, why so many women MPs feel hounded and belittled by our political and social media culture, and why most women tend to have shorter political careers than men. I urge my male colleagues to join the Prime Minister in this ambition. This is not just a women’s issue. We men have to help to make this happen if we believe in it, or else the men are still the problem.