Where are all the women in the cabinet?

[fruitstick]

I'll try again with a completed thread title this time!

Given that this was supposed to be the Mumsnet election, is there any hope that there might be one, just one woman in the cabinet?

Although Samantha Cameron looked lovely in her maternity wear and heels, I was hoping for slightly more representation than that.

Despite Labour's faults, at least they had women in important and influential positions, not just window dressing.

what exactly does equal political representation mean

quota
allocated number male and female

what if women were represented by posh privately educated women like harman?is that preferable to posh privately educated men like cameron and clegg. or just same thing but change gender

in what way is harman representative of women? i abhor this notion that by basis of gender one is magically imbued as more empathic.inference that women need women politicians is galling. we all need good politicians regardless of gender

so pragmatically how would equal political representation work?is it equal to manipulate representation and parachute in on basis of gender

dont homogenise women and assume all women can be represented adequately on basis on candidate gender

"they largely exclude themselves. Its long hours, lots of travel, no homelife," This is not an example of women excluding themselves it is an example of how women are excluded.

Good to see the new ConDem pact has Theresa May looking after the home though. That was thoughtful of them.

scottishmummy, where is the assumption here that only women care about their fellow women not being excluded from politics?

I bet a lot of men care about it too. Plenty men I know do.

As edam says if you exclude 50% of the population you discount a lot of talent and potential. That matters.

The 'gender tribalism' thing is patronising nonsense and it depresses me to see a women say it tbh.

pmsl "rule by penis" better than rule by fanny i think

kerching for cliché of week- oh well if its 'ard enough.firm and probing and able to get to bottom of things i think i can cope

Me thinks ScottishMummy has penis envy

ha ninjacat!

SM you're the only person here talking about the idea that women are more empathic.

Nobody is claiming that - of course it's a nonsense idea.

Equal representation for me = 50%, or close to it, should be the target for the house of commons. Yes by all means manipulate shortlists to get there. All women shortlisting is far from perfect but the imbalance is so marked that I can live with those limitations.

Caitlin Moran tweeted on this today - worth repeating

"Women in cabinets: Spain 53% Germany 37% France 33% Neth 33% Italy 27% Greece 26% Belg 23% Ptgl 13%"

Makes you think, doesn't it?

"True equality means gender is totally irrelevant to any job."

Of course. but we do not have true equality - far from it. Let's not pretend we do.

there is no such thing as positive discrimination/manipulation -deluded to think otherwise.positive discrimination is an oxymoron

harman is posh private school educated why is she better to represent women than posh privately educated cameron and clegg

this assumption that more women representation is somehow inherently better is seriously misplaced.and patronising

tweeted,and makes you think.incongruent statements to say least.

No inclusive discrimination would be an oxymoron. Positive discrimination does exist and has been in force for some time in most sectors of our workforce.

if we go for 50% representation better start sacking female medics/solicitors/nurses/teachers as in these professions more female qualifying grads than male. better start telling the women to shift it for 50% male representation in predominately female jobs

There have been more women qualifying as solicitors since I qualified nearly 20 years ago. That fact has had next to no impact on the number of senior partners who are female. I can't remember the figure but is something less than 10%.

positive discrimination is illegal. advertising and outreach to under represented groups has occurred but one cannot appoint on positive discrimination

so for example public sector may recruit via gay press,to under represented individuals but still have to adhere to policies and equal practices.no special dispensation or quotas

none

"I think that's unfair to say Hilary Clinton is only where she is because of her husband."

Completely agree. I heard a good story about her runnning into an old High School boyfriend of hers who was working in a garage who said to her, "Imagine if we'd ended up getting married - you'd be a mechanic's wife". She just looked at him and replied, 'No, if we'd ended up getting married you'd be the President".

dittany your metaphor was risible.rule by penis?actually i'll pass however i did make most of your silly gaff.and yes sounded cliché central

sorry I meant positive action.

See, we don't have this problem where I live. In the Playmoland cabinet there are 4 women (which is 25% of the cabinet).

But then ds Norman just chose the best people for the job, regardless of gender.

Some people might come along and tell me (and ds) to grow up a bit, instead of "playing" at Playmobil elections. But actually it has been a fun way of learning about the electoral process and thinking about political issues for him.

Actually Dittany I think a lot of politics is more ruler by penis

It's sad that women are arguing on this thread. I am any mans equal but I am not male. There are sections of society that need their own voice be they black, gay, female etc

I'm going to bow out to my bed now but not without a big thank you to Glenys Kinnock and Harriet Harman