it is possible to be an Mp with a baby

mp chloe smith

‘Women really seem to respond to that,’ adds Whately. ‘I often hear from women that they think they’d like to one day, but they want to do a bit more in their careers, or they want their children to be a bit older. It applies to fathers as well but, most often, women worry that they can’t combine being an MP with children. My view is that you really can.’

But even if the culture at Westminster is slowly changing, nearly all the MPS who sit down with Grazia talk of a new emerging toxicity they have to contend with – the online world, where female politicians fall victim to threats of violence and horrific abuse, dressed up as political discourse.

When Siddiq visits schools, she says she’s always asked by young girls whether there’s a lot of abuse in politics. ‘I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. Am I going to be honest and say, “Yes, it’s horrific, you get death threats,” or am I going to say it’s all hunky-dory and then they’ll get a nasty shock? I don’t want to put them off.’

In terms of what can be done, she thinks social media platforms should take more responsibility in monitoring the abuse and enforcing existing legislation. ‘Facebook is quick to take down a photo of a woman breastfeeding, but when I was getting severe threats about my family it took ages for them to respond.’

Smith is working on reducing intimidation in politics by making changes to electoral law to protect the way elections are held. She’s adding a more severe penalty for abusive behaviour that can put people off standing and voting. ‘Our elections are for everyone so there has got to be an environment and atmosphere that people think is positive enough to be involved in, to have the confidence to make a change in the country we want to live in,’ she says.

It’s a shame that female MPS are still unusual enough to be considered, in some contexts, a novelty. Creasy looks forward to the day when a woman in politics is so normal that she won’t get last-minute phone calls from people pulling together a panel, who’ve realised they need a woman on it to make it look progressive.

Many of the MPS agree that it’s not just about getting more women in the room, but about increasing diversity in terms of ethnicity, disability and social backgrounds, too. ‘Countries that have more diverse leadership tend to have stronger economies, better companies and more resilience, and they can cope with the world in which we live,’ Creasy notes.

So what does it take to be a politician? ‘You have to be somebody who will listen, engage and stand for something,’ says Creasy. ‘The main thing is to take the first steps and not think you have to be the perfect MP straight away,’ says Whately. ‘Most of the politicians you see on TV have been doing it for years.’

She also wants to reassure people that Parliament’s ‘blokey’, rowdy reputation looks worse than it is in reality. ‘Mostly, Parliamentary debates are serious and people are making thoughtful speeches about things that they care about,’ she says.

‘Every single person reading this can put themselves forward for election if they want to,’ adds Berger. ‘Whatever background, wherever they’ve come from, as long as they’re over 18. I’m still learning; you can’t be expected to know it all. It’s not a perfect system but, if you want to make a difference, come and join us and address the imbalance.’