To find it hilarious Labour claim to be the progressive party when they’ve only ever elected white men for leader

[BooToYouHalloween]

We now have the fourth elected (by the party) female Conservative leader. She is also the first black female leader and second person of colour.

Whereas the Labour Party have never voted in a woman or person of colour to be leader in their history. (Acting leader doesn’t count.) And yet people think they’re the more progressive party. I genuinely find it funny.

Ableist vitriol and claims maternity rights have gone too far is talking sense- only if you’re anti women and the disabled.

The more I read this, the more your ignorance pisses me off.

Even David Cameron called the social experiment of mixing severely disabled children into mainstream was wrong.

Accept that Labour was a MASSIVE part of this crisis.

I find it interesting (not hilarious-but hilarious is usually only used by people who don't find whatever it is at all funny) that when people mentioned that the Budget speech was given for the first time by a woman, the Mumsnet consensus was that sex didn't matter and shouldn't even be mentioned....

I do agree that Labour has had many missed opportunities for having a woman leader, however.

Its a right wing view, same as Donald who will be USAs leader soon. Lefite views are till available.

Ableist vitriol includes shutting down 117 state special schools despite outperforming mainstream ones.

Kemi is only there as the dog-whistler, moral panic and culture wars stirrer. & as a 'Look how progressive we are!' fall-guy (well woman in her case) stooge. She's no friend to Black people, or to women. So she's eminently suitable for the Tory top post where she can focus on appealing to the ego's of White men of the bigoted ilk.

Even if the Tories ever again have a chance to get back into power - which I hope they never do - there's absolutely no way the Tories and much of Britain would stand for a Black woman PM. Any sign of Tory success in the campaign run-up they'd get rid of her before she even had a chance to warm a seat at No.10. Or maybe just afterwards, at a stretch.

The Tories didn't do a thing to even demonstrate that they actually care about womens' rights, and valid concerns surrounding the definition of a woman. & They had years to do so. I can't see why they're deemed any better than Labour in this respect.

Nope because special schools have their huge disadvantages. Funding is what is needed.

I mean, the people who praise Rachel don't think Kemi's sex or race should matter, so really who should care about Rachel?

I agree with Spudley on the SEN Education point.

We need more special schools not 'inclusion'. The fact that there are so many autistic kids out of school (mine were 2 of them) is a direct result of them being forced into unsuitable mainstream provisions, there is barely any provision for autistic academically capable kids.

Things obviously weren't great under Tory austerity so will be interesting to see if Labour will do anything to actually appropriately educate kids like mine. They still seem determined to plonk all kids into comprehensives, except the rich who can stil afford private schools with the VAT hike. So many autistic kids have parents who scrip to pay for small private schools who are going to be affected by the VAT hike.

Go on. My daughter is a SEN school. What are these disadvantages?

Be specific.

Blair wasn't giving that funding. And 1 billion of SEN funding just given, without specification, won't be reaching our children either.

No amount of funding will make the sensory hell that are mainstream state schools (especially secondary) a suitable education for autistic kids.

Whats all this shit about kids got to do with the fact Labour only put white men as leaders.

The tory party leaders are people the party think the country will vote for .
If the country has turn against ie mrs Thatcher they will get rid .

So you think there’s never been a woman or person of colour who had the skills needed to lead the Labour Party?

Exactly. A bunch of clueless, thin skinned and petty idealists who’ve never had proper jobs, set up businesses and do not have the courage or conviction to stand up and say what a woman is. A most basic question.

The Labour Party have a problem with women / diversity which sadly many of their supporters are blinded to. Easier to blame the Tories for everything innit, that’s all they know after so long in opposition.

Keeah had to bring skin colour into it when he congratulated Kemi lmfao. I bet he’s dreading the despatch box having someone as articulate and capable holding government to account for why they are reneging on manifesto promises and letting the public down.

Farmers, pensioners, workers, women, girls…prisoners oh wait they’re alright.

I have children with SEN including autism and special schools are by no means the answer in most cases.Inclusion, proper funding, staffing and reasonable adjustments are- most of which lovely progressive Kemi is strongly and illegally against.

Keni is outraged that autistic children get help with transport to school. At least we will all know loud and clear what the Tory party stands for - if we were in any doubt before.

Agree.

I'm pretty sure whoever the Tories elect now won't be the next prime minister. They need to work out their issues and find out what they stand for other than screwing people over, racism and anti-immigration, and making money for their rich mates. Then a leader needs to emerge with broader electoral appeal.

I would however have been good if they could have elected someone who made a good leader of the opposition. Kemi strikes me as someone who will snipe from the sidelines and just manages to sound wholly unreasonable about everything.

Just because you are non-white and female doesn't stop you from being an odious bigot in the Tory party it seems. Look at Priti Patel.

So being black and/or female automatically makes you a decent person does it? I'd be the last person to extol the virtues of Keir Starmer, but Kemi is still a Tory, and I am more interested in what people think or do as politicians, not their sex or their skin colour. I'd happily vote for the Purple People Eater if they had the vision to eradicate poverty, improve public services, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, support the vulnerable in society, etc., etc.

It's rather shallow to think that being "progressive" means voting for someone based on their skin colour or their sex. And extremely patronising towards black women. Not being a Tory, I wouldn't know, but I assume that Conservatives voted for her because of her political stance and ideas, and not as a "token".

Because children, maternity rights and the disabled matter

In most cases is a pretty big claim. Care to back that up?

My child is progressing very well at her private special school. She wouldn't cost the country so much if we had more state special places though and she wouldn't have coped in mainstream.

Lovely. But irrelevant to the thread unless you think white men are the best leaders to resolve those issues.

Priti Patel, Truss and Kemi- yeah they really do women proud. All picked for their vile views. 👏

She's there because the party members had a choice of two people with abhorrent views, and they chose the candidate who was honest in her defence of them.

Not really - Justine Greening would have made a good leader. I see she has sunk without a trace. Being a woman doesn’t wipe clean vile views and make a party progressive.

Ah be one of the private school gang- say no more.