While Truss’s new cabinet is being dubbed the most diverse cabinet in history, one thing has remained static—the number of women. Thus far, 7 women have been appointed to Cabinet positions, bringing the grand total, including Truss, up to 8 women. This means that the Tory party has now caught up with the record for the highest number of women in Cabinet set by the last Labour government 16 years ago. It must also be said that, despite Labour having fewer MPs than the current Tory party 16 years ago, PLP had more women MPs. Currently, women make up less than a quarter of Tory MPs.
In addition to their abysmal statistics on women’s equality in the Tory party, women have been dropped from the Ministry of Equalities, which was previously known as the Ministry for Women and Equalities, and a man has been appointed as its Minister. This is rather ironic, considering the fact that the Tory leadership hopefuls spent weeks claiming they would not ‘erase women’ if elected leader. It needn’t be said that women in this country still face systemic misogyny and sexism, from a widening gender pay gap, a gender health gap, and increasing violence against women and girls (for which, despite incidents of VAWG increasing, prosecutions are going down), to the continuing under-representation of women in politics. Dropping women from the Equalities brief signals that, just as with the Conservatives’ first female Prime Minister, issues facing women in this country will likely not be tackled or even acknowledged by this Prime Minister and her government.
Meanwhile, our new Secretary of State for Health and Deputy Prime Minister, Therese Coffey, is most known for her anti-abortion views. While she claims that she will not impose her own views of abortion on abortion access while Health Secretary, deeds speak louder than words. Her record includes voting against retaining at-home abortion access and against extending abortion access to Northern Ireland. She also defended Jeremy Hunt in 2012 when he said he believed that abortion access should be reduced to 12 weeks, and submitted a (thankfully failed) motion in 2010 to include mental health checks on those seeking abortions. At the moment, 2 women are facing trials for having an abortion in the UK, and women in Scotland and Northern Ireland are still being forced to travel hundreds of miles to England to access abortion care. Couple this with Truss’ own track record, with commitments to protect women’s bodily autonomy across the globe deleted from the Foreign Office’s statement on gender equality, a woman’s right to choose is increasingly under threat in the UK.
However, it is not her track record and dubious promises that have come under the most fire. Instead, Coffey has been subject to misogynistic criticism of her appearance and smoking and drinking habits. The first female Secretary of State for Health was Barbara Castle in 1974-76, and was known for being a chain-smoker and drinking a gin and lemon every morning. This did not prevent her from being one of our most successful Health Secretaries on record, increasing nurses’ wages in spite of wage controls, reducing the number of pay beds in NHS hospitals, and all importantly, forcing through legislation that ensured abortions and contraception were available for free on the NHS. As far as I am aware, Castle’s appearance, gin, and cigarettes had no impact on her competency or qualification for her role, just as Coffey’s own appearance, drinking and smoking habits have no impact on her incompetency and lack of qualification for the role.
What is clear from the first few weeks of Liz Truss’ government is that, while she may be the third woman to become Prime Minister, she is not a Prime Minister for women. Our hard-fought rights can be stripped away with a mere scribble of a politician’s pen. It took decades of attempts to legalise abortion in the UK, and we now have a Health Secretary who the British Pregnancy Advisory Service warns will put her own beliefs ahead of “expert clinical guidance”. From the first Trade Union Congress resolution to demand equal pay for equal work, it took 82 years for the Equal Pay Act to be introduced. Yet 52 years later the gender pay gap is widening, in part due to the political choices of this Conservative government. Jo Richardson risked her political career to create the Ministry for Women and Equalities, a role she held in the Shadow Cabinet throughout the 1980s. She died before she got to see the Ministry established in government, and now 25 years on women have been dropped from the portfolio altogether. When the next general election comes around, it is us, not the politicians, whose pen scribbles count. And, in the face of this far-right populist government, our scribble is more important than ever.