Penny Mordaunt - sexism and university elitism

[mids2019]

Penny Mordaunt - sexism and university elitism that

Penny Mordaunt seems to being criticised in elements of the press for not having the intellectual capacity to become PM presumably because she does not have the Oxbridge degree that Rishi and Liz have. I am not conservative but I do not like insinuations that a degree from Reading somehow makes you less than capable of running the country.

Additioanlly.the press keep referring to Penny's figure (the swimsuit thing) which I think is irrelevant and distracting when it comes to election for the most important public office in the country. Again Sushi and Liz aren't treated in the same manner and it may be a political spin to portray Penny as lightweight.

For a new generation of girls that may aspire to public office in the future I think the press portrayal of Penny is shameful and betrays attitudes I thought we had left behind in the last century.

Portrays

What a shame for the future generation of girls that Penny cannot define what they are nor protect their safety and dignity

I haven’t seen her criticised for those things tbh. More for saying stuff like TWAW and trying to remove the word mother from maternity legislation and now lying about it

You're expecting the press - and the insiders who brief them - to behave responsibly. That's never going to happen. Nobody in government or the media wants you to vote on the basis of people's capability.

I think there is a university elitism.
I also think that Penny Mordaunt does not have the intellectual capacity to be PM. Her lack of oversight and attention to detail in her campaign video speaks volumes and her inability to critically think over woman is another good example.
However I remain unconvinced about the intellectual capacity of Liz Truss and I dont think Johnson made wise decisions.
Sunak also seems to be hard of thinking over whether he should declare his wife's financial interests too.

From what I saw last night PM lacks the intellectual capacity to be PM as she seems incapable of coherent communication of her proposed policies or handling herself in a robust debate.

I didn't know what university she went to and I could care less what she looks like in a swimsuit.

There are many many jobs which require a certain level of intelligence and beyond that, things like attitude, skills, typical behaviours, values and experience matter far more. PM is definitely one of those. Mr Johnson may or may not be vastly intelligent but it was those other areas that let him, and us, down. A good PM needs to have good comprehension skills, including in subjects they may have limited background knowledge of, be able to follow and articulate an argument, understand and care about people and their country, work hard, be able to lead and motivate others, and always be prepared to ask the right questions. They also need to be honest, have integrity and be stable within themselves to cope with the huge pressure the role brings. Probably a load of other stuff too but I'd say that lot is a pretty sound basis and most of that has nothing to do with intelligence or previous academic success (whilst previous academic success might be good evidence of some of these things it is by no means the only way of evidencing them). So I'd say a PM needs to have a certain level of comprehension and critical thinking skills, but that is still not sufficient to succeed in the role.

I don't believe any of the current candidates come close to meeting that list of qualities and our current lying bag of lies PM is certainly wide of the mark.

Penny Mordaunt is charming enough around the Parliamentary estate and she's ambitious, but she's just not very bright. Of course there's elitism in politics - hence her adopting and developing the plummy accent. But she's not being unfairly suppressed because of elitism. In fact she's been wildly over-promoted, in all senses.

She's been a very good social climber, using the Conservative Party to 'get ahead' in her career, including her connection with Boris Johnson in her London years during his first term as Mayor. It's what a lot of political activists & campaigners & MPs do. They network.

The swimsuit thing - she was already an MP went into that TV game show entirely voluntarily in 2014, and she was repeatedly warned it would eventually backfire. She said it was to raise money towards a lido, but it wouldn't have been under threat if her government hadn't been slashing away at local authority funding. She herself gave at least one very open interview where she talked about what she looked like in a swimsuit.

She's an opportunist, is how I read it.

Exactly.

The swimsuit thing shows a lack of forward thinking on her part.

It's all very well doing these things - Strictly come dancing etc - once your political career is over, but as an MP doing an activity which involves you being seen in a swimsuit, feels a bit foolish.

mixed feelings about the swimsuit thing- it’s not like she was papped on the beach, she chose to go on a TV show that mainly featured her in a swimsuit, in order to raise her profile. Dubious judgment.

I presume Mordaunt's campaign team must know she's being deceitful about her support for self-ID, and that she's now been 'all but called a liar' (to quote Sarah Vine) by Kemi Badenoch on national television?

Good publicity around what very nearly happened, though. (Memories of Crispin Blunt being apoplectic with Liz Truss in the House of Commons.)

This.

I think the OP may be trying to re-hash some dreadful article in this morning's Daily Telegraph by Allison Pearson about how people should 'get behind Penny' and not be meanie snobs.

I am not being disingenuous about the nature of politics or this particular vicious Tory infighting.

I think it is valid to criticise a politician's performance when interviewed or delivering a statement but I worry we are moving a little towards stereotyping in this case

It's an interesting discussion to what extent intelligence is necessary in senior leadership compared to softer skills. Was Boris Johnson particularly intelligent for instance? I think as a voting public we are entirely within our rights to form an opinion on our leaders but I don't think university attendance should be used as a proxy for political ability.

Agree with the trans issue. All our leaders should unambiguously support women',s rights. Being a Labour voter I am disappointed Keir Starmer wasn't fully willing to define a woman.

Boris Johnson hosted 'have I got news for you ' and the public seemed to find it funny
Maybe PM thought ' what harm can it do being on splash ! ? '..
Probably not a good idea really , but what's done is done and she won't get the top job anyway
We will probably end up with Liz Truss who looks like an 80s throwback and whose policies only protect big business and make sure she gets a private jet everywhere to broker trade deals whilst lecturing us about climate change.

@the80sweregreat as far as I am aware PM is very much one of the front runners as it looks like it's between Rishi,Liz and Penny.

I think her slippery stance on self Id is the biggest challenge for her campaign. Even those who are apathetic about the gender debates must wonder how the public will stomach the gas-lighting about-turn despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary when trust is in government is completely obliterated.

Thankfully for all of us , Boris was able to to "Have I got news for you" fully dressed.

Surely PM supporters should be complaining about genderism not sexism.

This .

Also it's not about which uni she went to but having seen the programme last night she isn't bright enough , strong on rhetoric but no detail . She would not play well on the world stage imo

Plenty of pictures of David Cameron and BJ in shorts.....no real comment in the press

A female MP dons a swimsuit and there are a multitude of allusions to sexuality in the press

Is this a good thing?

I’m not a Conservative voter. I don’t care who wins. I don’t care about their politics.

’Mordaunt was 15 when her mother died of breast cancer and, following her twin brother in leaving school, she became her younger brother Edward's primary caregiver. The following year her father was also diagnosed with cancer, from which he recovered.’

She got jobs to pay her way while she studied and went on to be the first in her family to go to University studying Philosophy at the University of Reading and getting a 2:1. She was also President of the student union.

That ^ to me is much more impressive than someone who was funnelled through successive private schools to Oxbridge. I say that as someone who followed that route.

Yes this would be a deal breaker for me too.

She was my director for a year or so when she worked for a national charity. She was absolutely useless.

Nothing to do with sexism or snobbery because she does not have a specific degree.

All to do with her complete lack of competence and the fact that should we say she matches Boris when it comes to having a tenuous relationship with the truth...