‘We must act to stop more women leaving Westminster’

As more female MPS step down, Labour’s Harriet Harman says it’s time to take action

WE’VE WON THE argument for getting women into Parliament. But having got them there, we seem to have a problem keeping them. The start of this election campaign has been overshadowed by women, who should be at the start of promising careers in Parliament, announcing that they are standing down.

Twenty one women have said they are leaving, with the Tories’ Nicky Morgan and Lib Dem Heidi Allen among those citing intimidation and abuse. ‘Nobody in any job should have to put up with threats, aggressive emails, being shouted at in the street, sworn at on social media, nor have to install panic alarms at home,’ Allen wrote.

Being in Parliament is a huge honour, but it’s tough. Being in the public eye, always on call, publicly criticised for the smallest mistakes all goes with the territory. But there are other factors that have led even tough women, who’ve fought their way into the Palace of Westminster, to say ‘enough’.

Most MPS hate the abuse and fingerjabbing that all too often the Commons descends into, but women MPS are less likely to indulge in it and even more likely to find it objectionable. It’s ridiculous that, having been elected, you can’t be heard unless you bellow. Also, you have to leave your children behind in your constituency when you work in Westminster during the week. Men find that hard too – last week, independent MP John Woodcock revealed he too was stepping down, saying something has to give now he’s expecting a baby with his partner in London and has two children with his ex-wife, who lives in Edinburgh.

Most men, however, have the reassurance that at least the kids are with their mother. For women MPS, leaving their children is not just about missing them, it’s about aching worry. That’s even worse for lone mothers. It turbo-charges the guilt that every working mother feels: am I working too hard and ruining my kids? Or am I not working enough and letting down the people I represent? For women MPS asking themselves that question, there is no right answer.

Then there’s the misogynist backlash. Most men in this country are on-board with the idea that women are in public life and talking on the media. But for a small, angry minority, the sight of a woman making decisions that affect them is intolerable and they hit back. Before social media, this mostly used to mean a few letters in green ink. Of course, it could be more serious. When I was first an MP, a man threatened to kill me. I tried to ignore it but had to do something when he lurked at night outside my home where my three children were sleeping. He was quickly arrested and told never to contact me again.

But now it’s an online torrent of violent threats, directed not just to the MP, but also her family and staff. Imagine being in Westminster knowing that your teenage children, hundreds of miles away, are seeing violent threats online targeting you and them.

To combat this, we need to see structural change in Westminster, such as toning down the shouting and abuse in Parliament. How can we stop abuse outside if we’re doing it ourselves? We also need to improve policing outside the Commons. We all saw it on TV: Anna Soubry, the Change UK leader, harassed and threatened as she tried to walk into Parliament while police just stood and watched. If she’d been a member of the public being menaced by a throng of angry, gesticulating men, police would have stepped in. But they didn’t because she’s an MP. That must change.

We also need to make Facebook and Twitter clamp down on anonymous threats and make sure those who commit crimes against women – just because they’re MPS – are prosecuted. But above all, we need to remind everyone that female MPS are representing half the population. It’s not just good to see women there – they are a democratic imperative.