Politics: Is Theresa May a Feminist?

Being a woman does not automatically make Theresa May a feminist. The UK should have learned that lesson with Margaret Thatcher, the woman who “broke the glass ceiling and pulled the ladder up after her”. So is May doing more than Maggie when it comes to promoting women’s rights in and outside her party?

Where are the Women?

While Thatcher appointed an entirely male Cabinet, May made history when she became PM by appointing Amber Rudd as Home Secretary – the first time two of the four highest government jobs have been simultaneously held by women.

May also appointed Liz Truss as the first female Lord Chancellor and promoted Angela Leadsom and Justine Greening in her Cabinet.

The Conservative Party undoubtedly needs to boost its female representation. The 2017 election saw the percentage of female MPs grow for the other major parties, with Labour now boasting a record 45% female MPs. The proportion of women in the SNP party room grew to 34% and for the Liberal Democrats it rose from 11% to 33%. Meanwhile the Tories stood still at a measly 21% – just 67 of the 317 Conservative MPs are women.

Though May’s Cabinet isn’t exactly heaving with women, it’s far more diverse than Thatcher’s, who only promoted one woman in 11 years, when there were only eight female Tory MPs.

Home Secretary Success

While May has long had a reputation within the Conservative Party for helping to support other women Tories the real test of her commitment to equality is her performance on women’s issues during her seven years as a senior Minister.

In 2010 she became Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality – the first Tory to hold the position created by Harriet Harman in 2007.

Harman famously called May “no sister” and a “drag anchor” to the women’s rights movement. “When we were pushing for more Labour women MPs, she chased me round TV and radio studios decrying us, joining the men in her party and some in ours who called it ‘political correctness gone mad’.

And while she’s been in government, she’s voted every time for the cuts to the vital programmes that we brought in when we were in government, like Sure Start centres, and for tax credits for childcare. Theresa May is a woman – but she’s no sister.”

Despite this, May’s first speech as Minister for Women and Equality held promise. “Equality is not an aside for me; it is not an after-thought or a secondary consideration.” She called equality “close to her heart” – a clear battle-cry if ever there was one – and May did make progress.

As Home Secretary she introduced laws making emotional abuse as punishable as physical and conducted an extensive review of police handling of abuse victims, uncovering “shameful” treatment. The domestic violence charity Refuge applauded her “strong leadership” and commitment to solving the problem.

May co-founded Women2Win, the Tory group aiming to get more female candidates for winnable seats, and she’s supported gender-centric laws such as shared parental leave. In 2014 May tackled female genital mutilation and forced marriage at the UK’s first Girl Summit, setting aside £1.4m for FGM prevention and prosecution.

According to those attending the summit, May spoke so passionately that “the audience was brought to tears”. By speaking openly about FGM rather than in whispers behind closed doors May took a massive step – determinedly gripping onto a women’s issue few others dared to touch.

Votes and Violence

But May’s feminism only goes so far. She stepped down as Minister for Women after just two years, a move that hardly reinforced her supposed passion for the subject.

Her voting record for equality is far from flawless. Yes she voted in favour of same sex marriage in 2013 but only after years of voting against gay rights.

She repeatedly opposed lowering the age of consent for homosexual acts, same-sex adoption and the repeal of Section 28, which prohibited local authorities from “promoting” gay “pretended family relationships”.

Then there’s Yarl’s Wood – May’s real black mark against women. Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre (above) became infamous after a 2015 Channel 4 documentary investigated the treatment of prisoners during May’s time as Home Secretary. Extensive self-harm, indefinite detainment of pregnant women and abuse by staff – including rape and racism – were uncovered but May’s response was to delegate the issue and not attend the House of Commons discussion. Yvette Cooper, then Shadow Home Secretary, called it “state-sanctioned abuse of women on the Home Secretary’s watch”.

The Cut-Throat Conservative

Tax credit cuts by the firm Concentrix have also damaged the PM’s standing. Tax credits have repeatedly been wrongly cut due to misinformation and simple stupidity.

Staff at Concentrix have received suicidal phone calls after credits were stopped, many from single mothers who couldn’t afford to feed their children.

Austerity will be the undoing of May’s feminist credentials. She’s taken up the money-hoarding mantle with alacrity, targeting the most vulnerable people in society.

Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, is determined that May should answer for her actions. “The Government in which she has worked presided over a brutal austerity plan that has hit women hardest,” she says. Now May runs it, and austerity continues to disproportionately hit women. If equality is “not an aside” for May, we should be able to see it. Her passion and drive to improve women’s lives should be written consistently across her parliamentary record – but now it seems more of an IOU than a clear-cut track record.

by Jo Davey

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