Louise Mensch resigns...

Ever the self publicist she ties to bury the news of her failure to be effective the first work day after super Saturday and supersonic Sunday. Give it a few weeks and she'll be working for a Murdoch company out of New York where the botox is no doubt cheaper.

At least maybe the people of Corby will get a proper representative in parliament who is a local who knows about local issues not a self absorbed Notting Hill coffee shop tattle who only got her job to fill a quota.

Sorry mam there are two discussions going on at once here.

One about women, work and family life.

One about party politics because as you say she has triggered a by-election in a fairly marginal constituency. I hope they are calling a planning meeting in Labour HQ as we speak.

Just because something is "hard" doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. She's setting a bad example. But I don't like her anyway, she's an idiot, so good riddance.

crochet et al, I hope you think these comical women are equally amusing when their policies close your Sure Start centre, sack your teaching assistants, cut your pension etc etc
More women in poltics doesn't mean 'more women friendly policies'

why the hell we even discussing boris.
if he does stand will be at next election.

I wasent being mean just saying its lot more complex then we know.

Her new husband resides in usa for his job and his kids.
she and her ex reside in uk nd share custody of their kids.

I just feel this is really crappy time to quit and trigger bi -election she knew the commitment could she have not stuck it out the extra 2years.
if there had been some scandel I would understand.
but just cant see jow her reason she can cope is the right one.

I like her its real shame.

im mostly tory and think its real loss to the party.

radiohelen are you actually LM?

Olympy x post

Well headfairy Boris would want a safer seat than Corby I should think. I'm only idly daydreaming. I will stick my neck out and say I reckon Labour will take it at the by-election if Andy Sawford (who is the Labour PPC, I think, from a quick Google) is personable and has been out trudging the streets hard enough already.

It's quite a marginal seat for Boris. He would want a safer seat than that.

Surely Boris would need a London seat? Or are they trying to widen his appeal? His popularity is pretty much assured in London at the moment it seems.

@Sardinequeen At least I didn't accuse people who disagree with me of reading the Daily Mail. Which is somewhat offensive TBH.

I work in the city and have done for my entire career (23 years now, although at some points the city has actually been Manhattan rather than the Square Mile). I do not work in IT.

Xenia my husband moved countries for the sake of my career (and had to restart his own from scratch at the same time)

I just don't see LM being the little woman running after her man... that's why I think there's more to this than meets the eye.

I agree with Hassled's assessment of her... "I have a grudging respect for her - and I say this as a Labour member. A sort of love to hate sort of thing - I admired her, while disagreeing with pretty much everything she said." (apart from the bit about being a Labour member. I'm just a Labour voter.

"Even if she obtain court consent as she probably will as the courts are sexist unless there is a househusband, it is morally wrong. Either she abandons the children for her new OAP husband in NY or else she wrests them from the bosom of their father and all they know and love in the UK ahnd their culture."

Do you have inside information here? Do you know where the father even lives, i.e. what country?

I am idly considering that Mumsnet should stand a candidate against Boris in the forthcoming Corby by-election

That would be very modern. After all if diplomats now do digital diplomacy why can't we have digital constituencies eh?

I agree with BornStroppy - only on pregnancy number 1 but I do know the commute and would resign in a second if I could afford to!
Anyway whatever we may think of Mrs Mensch I hope she's doing it for her own good reasons (family etc) and would like to give her the benefit of the doubt until I hear otherwise. Anyone who uses this as an excuse to be judgemental and/or to lecture the rest of us on how to live our lives should probably just look after their own stuff and let others get on with it.

I think its a real shame. We need more women in politics not less, and she certainly brought the house into the 21st century. I hope that she remains on twitter as she is fun imho

Like I said, her ex is an American. They met in New York and lived their initially. I wouldn't assume that she he is dragging his kids away from him without his agreement.

The morla issue is should mothers or fathers move chidlren away. There is another mumsnet thread at the moment about a parent whose ex spouse has moved the children to NZ and they are trying to get them back. This problem tends to occur if you marry a foreigner and is a risk all women and men need to consider if they marry someone who has all their connections and family abroad.

Perhaps the children should say in the UK where they are stable and established and fly to the US for holidays at the mother's expense as she is choose to gad off there.

metabilis what industry do you work in?

I honestly cannot imagine a man telling me that women should not be in decent jobs at work. That would be a matter for hR, quite frankly.

And yes I have been in roles in a very "traditional" environment where I discovered I was being paid less than men who were in the same role as me, that I was not allowed to challenge it as we were not supposed to know others salaries and I may get fired, I experienced discrimination due to pregnancy and they tried to do me out of statutory mat money.

Your tone on this thread is quite aggressive TBH.

Honestly in all the workplaces I have been in even the most sexist twonk would think twice before telling a women who was also a parent and in a position of resonsibility that women who are parents cannot cut it in positions of responsibility! The people I have worked with have been sexist in many ways but for that to be standard is not something I have experienced.

Really what industry are you in? I've been financial services in the city, currently in an IT role and previous experience in public sector as well.

if a man said that to me I'd tell him to piss off, and so would all teh people at the surrounding desks! Everyone would be

Have to go out now but interested to hear more of your experiences.

i still think the answer is for more flexibility for all rather than this willy-waggling presentee bollocks that is all too prevalent (again, IME).

I absolutely agree with Xenia.

To perpetuate a mumsnet classic I think she should 'leave the bastard'

And this thread is why women don't want to go into politics. No-one wants to feel like their every move is picked over and turned into something awful.
Whatever her party politics, she has made a decision to quit her seat. The reasons behind it are hers and hers alone. They certainly do not need us to comb through it with our assumptions and guesswork to come up with a conspiracy theory and fantasise about what job she will get next.
I'm amazed at how much vitriol there is because she is independently wealthy. She earned it. So what if you don't like her books, she did the graft and got the reward. Celebrate her for it rather than sniping. She also did the graft to get elected. This stuff doesn't just happen overnight. She had to work at it.
The ONLY discussion we should be having is how this will highlight the issue of women in the workplace and how we can make the working environment more family friendly, all else is whimsy.

good old daily telegraph had to google under her maiden name.

I?m divorced and share the care of my three children, aged seven, six and three with my ex-husband [Anthony LoCicero, a property developer]. He looks after them at the start of the week when I?m in London and I take over on Thursday and Friday when I?m working in the constituency. I reserve Saturdays and half of my Sundays exclusively for them. I don?t do anything political and I don?t take it kindly if anyone tries to talk politics to me when my children are around. The kids have no idea about politics ? and long may that last. During the election campaign last year my daughter picked up a blue rosette and asked, ?is it for a pony show??.

it seems her ex is very active in kids lives.
that he nears near corby.

doesnt say if they have any hired help I imagine they did.

she praises her ex as a good father.

her new husband has 3kids from previous marriage and they have 3kids and reside in usa.

her new husban works and lives in usa.

her ex i assume lives in uk but owns usa property,

I do imagine it was a juggling act of kids in oen uk place and job in london and relationship on another continent.

but doi feel she could have stuck it out. but she may have lost her seat, shes made a few enemies.
media seem to love her or loathe her she gets attention.
shes nota typicial tory she likes to come across as quite down to earth working class but infact has a very well to do background.

I do think she likes the usa and who can blame her
but i do belive she knew at election what she was getting into.

so yes still think theres more to it.

She can only move the children if their father agrees. He can obtain a prohibited steps order.

Even if she obtain court consent as she probably will as the courts are sexist unless there is a househusband, it is morally wrong. Either she abandons the children for her new OAP husband in NY or else she wrests them from the bosom of their father and all they know and love in the UK ahnd their culture.

What we really need is Mr Mensch giving it all up and moving to London to be with his wife. That's the good non sexist feminist example we need. Not this kind of little woman follows man stuff. If my husband could move cities for my career I don't see why Mr Mensch the second cannot do so particularly as he's old enough to get his pension.

Well, LM won't be the first woman politician to feel obliged to stand down because too much with small kids if husband also has high-powered job (although other examples I am thinking of haven't been so newsworthy).

But I am with the cynics on this one, I'm afraid.

The life of a constituency MP is not very glamorous - the bread and butter of it is, of course, sorting out people's problems with housing and crime, not forgetting the waste disposal and the sewage. Maybe you have an office above a shop. You spend Friday-Sunday holding court in shabby rooms at the local library or sports centre (where if you are unlucky someone comes at you with a samurai sword), followed by visits to local shopkeepers, school fetes and so on - and then you do it all over again the next week. And then there is the scrutiny - I don't mean the Daily Mail particularly in this case, I mean the local opposition keeping on at you via the media about your every slip. You really have to feel the love for the people's democracy to be able to keep it all up for very long.

It was this that caught my eye

1st part resignation letter

As you know, I have been struggling for some time to find the best outcome for my family life, and have decided, in order to keep us together, to move to New York. With the greatest regret, I am thus resigning as a Member of Parliament.

It is only through your personal intervention, delivered quietly and without fanfare, that I have been able to manage my duties for this long. Your allowing me to work in Corby and East Northamptonshire each Thursday and Friday has enabled me to do weekly surgeries while Parliament has been in session, and to visit many more people and places around our local area, whilst still spending time with my children. Unfortunately, it has not proved to be enough. I am very sorry that despite my best efforts, I have been unable to make the balancing act work for our family. You have been unfailingly generous and supportive.

so they had made allowances for her?
always thourght their schedules was at discretion of mp.
shes only a backbencher shes not in cabinet
she did more media than other mps.she was a tory poster girl.

when gordon brown lost election i dident see him in parliament.
I think i read it was their choice. which i felt wrong as members of sinn fein were mps but never took tehir seats yet got paid what exactly did they do for their constituents.

its why i feel theres more to it.

found old telegraph article obviously shes divorced now and re married

Not for Bagshawe, who duly bagged Anthony LoCicero, a dashing property developer of Italian origin, two years her senior. They have four properties they rent out in the US, and Bagshawe plans to have a total of 15 by the time she retires, which won't be any time soon.
With three children, ranging in age from one to five, the couple live in a four-bedroom Georgian cottage in the Northamptonshire village of Lowick and juggle work and childcare without so much as an au pair to take up the slack.

I guessing her ex maybe spends some time in states so shes not taking the kids away from their father.
does she own any property over there from divorce settlement.
does her ex reside in uk and have active role with 3kids.
that I do not know?