[quote DysonSphere]@LucindaT73
Matt and Gina?
Historically, the wives stay with their husbands. As far back as I can remember, none left other than Robin Cook's wife and she went off and found a toy boy on holiday.
Norma stayed with John.
Prescott's wife stayed
Paddy's wife stayed
Jeremy Thorpe all those years back, his wife stayed.
Clinton's wife stayed
and so the list goes on....
Yes, Matt and Gina, although the list you gave of wives who continue to support their husbands after the scandal emerges is rather dismal. In this case there's public CCTV footage of her errant husbands' embraces and memes have been made and shared aplenty. It's terrible, cruel humiliation.
Surely no woman could stick a bandaid on that although as you say Hilary did.....although I would say that in the Lewinsky situation Hilary always had an eye on her own future political career and the choice to 'forgive' was most likely a lot about benefitting herself.
Perhaps a lot of political wives hang in there because of a feeling that they have often helped 'mould' or groom their husbands: supported their ambitions, taken a back seat, done the dutiful public appearances, moved the family into the right areas and the children into the right schools, dealt with most of the family humdrum stuff alone, stayed up listening to their problems and given advice.
To let another woman walk in and benefit from all that work must be galling.[/quote]
Jeremy Thorpe a bit different: he was tried for taking out a contract on somebody.
I don't know if this is still the case but time was (I'm talking about the 60s, 70s) the wives of men hoping to become Conservative candidates were assessed for their suitability alongside their husbands. The party didn't want a politician's wife who wouldn't stick by her man, apparently. So "being suitable" was the same as "being compliant and loyal, come what may."
And, perhaps needless to say, they really struggled to cope with the idea that a woman could be the actual candidate!
Didn't know about Mrs Cook No 1 and the toyboy. I do remember that RC was about to go on holiday with her and promptly called the holiday off (AND ended the marriage) when warned, when actually at the airport, that one of the tabloids was about to reveal his affair.