Angela Rayner’s glottal stops are infuriating

Also, this is the discriminatory element...
It takes extra effort to speak and eradicate all features of your natural accent.
However if that is the accent you grew up with that is the easiest accent for you to use.
It's interesting how we project ideas around 'laziness' and 'effort' in this way, to the benefit of those with privileged backgrounds.
It would take just as much effort to adopt a Scouse, or Georgie accent as it is for those with a northern accent to adopt one closer to RP.
But that doesn't have the social capital so they aren't expected to try.
The conflation of class and intelligence is so entrenched in the UK.

Who sets the standard? I don't need to sound like an Eton educated public school boy or the Queen. My own speech is fine.

As is Angela's.

The pp is confusing 'speaks with a particular accent' and being intelligent and well educated.
Edit as I accidentally replied to a reply!

It's just an accent. I'm from the north west and find southern accents, e.g. the use of a long 'a' sound odd, so barth not bath etc sounds weird to me

It's not lazy or odd, just not what you're used to hearing in your local accent.

Historically, there have always been a range of accents throughout Britain, but when Caxton invented the printing press in the Oxford/Cambridge/London triangle, text was printed based on that dialect and usage, so it became seen as 'correct' because it was in print.

There is nothing more neutral, or more effort intensive about this accent compared to other parts of the country.

You sound like you have quite a fragile sense of superiority to be honest.

@Williamclimbseverest absolutely we should never write people off from whatever backgrounds or how they speak, both ways

I find pretti Patel harder to listen too and kier himself

Probably because she isn't from Lancashire

And to get support from a considerable breadth of the membership of a party as faction-ridden as Labour is quite some achievement. She must certainly have a considerable amount of political nous to do that.

It's colloquialism. Also a northerner. Lots of areas have these colloquialisms. I always say 'should of' instead of 'should have' when speaking as that's how people talk in my area. I would never write 'should of' in an email as I know it is grammatically incorrect.
A working class women has got to deputy prime minister and all other women can do is try to drag her back down again. I'm sarcastically slow clapping you all. 👏you massive bunch of misogynistic bastards!

I don't see how it doesn't? The fact that she's made it to deputy prime is proof she can hold her own in the three ring circus.

That's how I feel about her. No question, she has risen very high but I think she's wheeled out as just window dressing because she's suitably working class and Northern.

I honestly don't think that her real life experience counts for much when it comes to the political three ring circus.

Ding ding ding, someone hit the irony button again! Person who is ignorant of linguists accuses person who uses a dialectical feature of ignorance. Tiresome.

My theory for what it’s worth is that she knows the appeal to voters of being wc and woman next door type. I’m glad she’s comfortable with who she is but it doesn’t hurt to use correct speech patterns.

Have you considered that in a different way they are at a disadvantage speaking to her? She's had more real life experience than them. More personal growth. We all have different experiences and going to Harvard isn't the be all and end all

I actually thinks she manages just fine.

No, because they are idiots. But, yes I think she would be intellectually out of her depth when conversing with politicians who attended Yale, Harvard and Oxbridge etc.

Yes, I meant it could put her at a disadvantage when conversing with well educated and intelligent graduates from places like Harvard, Yale & Oxbridge.

I like Rayner's accent. But then I like hearing a wider range of accents among politicians generally.

The one I find most irritating is Reeves' flat south London vowels, which are horribly like the awful Croydon accent I grew up surrounded by. Wes Streeting has a similar thing going on, although it's a bit more east than south London, plus he always sounds as though he's about to lose his temper.

Neither of them are as bad as Rees Mogg's affected, pompous drawl though. Thankfully, we hear nothing from him these days, now he's had the boot from the people of N E Somerset.

A male politician wouldn’t get this kind of criticism. He would be down to earth and a man of the people. Her accent (or whatever you want to call it) is constantly criticised, it’s boring. As another poster said, Parliament should reflect wider society.

I am sorry not a fan politically or a labour voter but this is ridiculous she is obviously intelligent to become deputy prime minister after being 16 and pregnant. I think a lot of people are actually secretly jealous because they were raised to think all teen mum's are failures and the worst thing to possibly be, they know they wouldn't of been able to handle it let alone go on to become deputy prime minister.

OMG yes, she must feel really at a disadvantage when trying to hold her own against the intelligent and educated Lee Anderson and the other Reform clowns.

But she has an education she did go to school and college do you mean she isnt university educated well read maybe moving in the "right circles" ?

She’s got enough cultural capital to enjoy Glyndebourne. And got slated for that because apparently she doesn’t belong there.

https://ellieenglish.uk/glottal-stops-in-real-english/
Don’t think OP is being snobby. Nothing to do with accents either. Glottal stops are extremely irritating and make the speaker sound ignorant. The listener finds them grating and they stop the smooth the flow of words.