Gentlemen, you must apologise

To CELEBRATE the 100th anniversary of the first British women being given the vote, the Left- wing New Statesman magazine put photos of four prominent female politicians on its cover: Labour’s Diane Abbott, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson (the Tories’ leader in Scotland) and Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson.

Hang on, wasn’t someone missing? What about Theresa May, for goodness sake?

Embittered Lefties sneer that she doesn’t merit being treated as a heroine as she is not known as a champion of feminist causes.

Nonsense! Apart from being the country’s second woman Prime Minister, early in her career Mrs May fought magnificently for women’s rights.

In 2001, she resigned from the Carlton Club — the spiritual home of the Conservative party — over its then policy of allowing women only to be ‘ lady associate members’, not allowing them to use the gentleman’s bar or vote for club officials.

In 2005, with the redoubtable Baroness (Anne) Jenkins, Mrs May set up the organisation Women2Win, which campaigned to get more Conservative women elected to Parliament.

The PM’s biographer, Rosa Prince, has said that every Tory woman elected as an MP since owes a great debt to Mrs May.

She added: ‘Their triumphs and glories over the coming decades, as well as those who follow them, will stand as one of May’s great legacies.’

Significantly, Cabinet ministers Amber Rudd and Andrea Leadsom have said that Mrs May was their mentor when they first tried to become MPs.

Those Left-wingers, such as the editor of the New Statesman, owe Mrs May an apology.

I wonder, though, if they will be sufficiently gentlemanly to give one.