‘I HAD FOUR WEEKS’ MATERNITY LEAVE – THEN WAS BACK IN THE THICK OF IT’
Siobhan Baillie, Conservative MP for Stroud
I felt hugely excited to be elected last December. I didn’t go to university and was a free-school-meals kid, and all of a sudden I was walking into Parliament. I still get pinch-me moments. During the election, I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, so I hadn’t told anyone yet; I’d often throw up privately between door-knocking.
When I announced I was pregnant in February, some people were outraged. Someone said I’d been ‘really irresponsible with my timing’. As a 39-year-old woman, I couldn’t be that picky. And we didn’t know the election was coming either. If people don’t think MPS should have babies, they don’t think women of family age should be in Parliament. It’s pure misogyny.
By the beginning of March, I was working virtually as the pandemic took hold and the risks to pregnant women were still unknown. I was getting around 1,000 emails a day from panicked constituents, as GPS were closing and people worried about food and medicine running out.
In May, I worked past my due date, desperately trying to respond and support people. I kept saying, ‘I’ll just take one more call,’ until my husband put his foot down. It was scary not being able to have him at my appointments, but luckily he was allowed in for the birth. He was made to leave two hours later, but he’d stand outside my hospital window in Stroud and talk to me.
I had four weeks’ maternity leave then I was back to it, with my daughter strapped to my chest for meetings and visits. It was such a busy time and people were worried, so I wanted them to know I was around and supporting them. Turns out, even a four-week maternity break after a tricky birth is too long, according to the online hate brigade, who were outraged I’d dared to have a baby and take time off as an MP.
I soon learned – the hard way – that little is OK if you’re a female MP. I was sent emails and messages on social media full of abusive language. This abuse isn’t unusual and many of my colleagues and others in public-facing roles have suffered worse. Some people now question whether to take on these jobs at all, as they don’t want to deal with the nastiness. Many colleagues of mine don’t dare express their views online.
One in four women have received abuse online. It causes emotional fallout and stifles debate. We can’t let the bullies win. That’s why I and a number of cross-party colleagues have launched the new Stop the Hate campaign to try to influence the upcoming Online Harms Bill. I want to completely change the way the online world works.
This year, I’ve seen how amazing the community is and what we can achieve locally and nationally. It was local people who came out and helped each other. The country has shown it can pull together and innovate. So the abuse is just a small part; there are a lot of truly kind, talented people out there and I think there’s a lot of hope for the new year.