more women in the cabinet would help all of us
mp luciana berger
their babies along. In part they want to show you can be an MP and a mother; but it’s also to do with the fact that MPS don’t get standard maternity leave. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) – the body regulating MPS’ pay – does not automatically provide paid cover for MPS on parental leave. This means for Berger, who had a baby boy in March, and Smith, who had a daughter in April this year, it’s a juggle. Smith says it is possible to make the job work when you’re off caring for a baby, though.
‘There isn’t a simple set of arrangements,’ she says. ‘But if you break the job down into different parts, for example, duties in Westminster and duties in my constituency, then you can put arrangements in place that make sure your constituents are cared for and that the job is covered.’
Smith has staff running her constituency office, a colleague minister covering her ministerial duties and she’s covering her Westminster duties by proxy voting. She encourages young people to get involved in politics. ‘Parliament can be a fusty, dusty and musty place, but only by new, young people getting involved will that change: this is a call to action,’ she says.
Meanwhile, Creasy is fighting for better maternity rights for MPS – if she succeeds, she hopes it will encourage more young parents of both sexes into the fold. At six months pregnant, Creasy says Parliament’s rules mean she’s being forced to choose between being an MP and a mum. ‘I don’t want people to have an excuse not to elect women, or indeed men, of child-bearing age,’ Creasy says. ‘When Tulip went to IPSA during one of her pregnancies, they said, “This doesn’t happen very often,” as if, therefore, it wasn’t something they needed to deal with. Maybe that’s the problem in itself.’
She says younger women need to feel able to join Parliament ‘otherwise we miss out on the vital contribution they make’. IPSA has now agreed to fund a locum for Creasy, but she won’t stop fighting until they put a policy in place for all parents.
‘In no other place of work would your colleagues or a member of staff – who already work flat out – be expected to take on another person’s work as well,’ she adds.
Many of us are in search of a healthier, more balanced life and a career in politics doesn’t spring to mind when we think about how to achieve that goal. But Conservative MP Helen Whately’s Flexible Working Bill could help MPS (and the rest of us, for that matter) edge closer to achieving it. In July, Whately introduced the bill, which she said would help close the gender pay gap, assist parents to share childcare, and help businesses retain their staff, who now often want more flexibility around work. If it translates into law, flexible working would be a default position for all employers.
She is very clear that it shouldn’t be assumed that only women will benefit – arguing many men also want to be able to spend more time with their families, too. But she adds, ‘It will mean women who want to work flexibly can continue doing the job they were doing before they had children or before they had a sick relative who they need to care for. They won’t have to step down in their career or give up work altogether.’
For all the practical barriers, there are also psychological ones holding women back in Westminster. Not, as has often been said, with women not wanting to put themselves forward – but rather that there is still an assumption among voters that a man will be a more authoritative candidate, or a woman will be too busy with childcare. That, some believe, can stop even the most determined women winning seats – which is why in 1997 Labour felt the need to use all-female shortlists, meaning only women were allowed to stand in particular constituencies. Some say this is the reason that Labour has more female MPS than all the other parties put together.
‘The thing that pisses me off is that there are plenty of women with brilliant ideas who could be fantastic politicians,’ says Creasy. ‘They don’t need encouragement, they need the environment we’re asking them to go into to change.’
Many of the MPS Grazia speaks to have actively encouraged other women to stand.