This morning I did a turn on Nick Ferrari’s breakfast show on LBC. He wanted to talk about why I wanted to be a politicians and why so few women got to the top of the greasy pole….and so few survived.

When I thought about it, I realized that there would be many more at the top if the number of women entering politics increased at the bottom. The City and big corporations have all been able to entice more women into their ranks and then successfully plug the leaky pipeline…..that is all that has to happen in politics.

What women need is practical help coping with their responsibilities. We are the sandwich generation and often have to cope with young children and aging parents. What about making childcare tax deductable? Shirley Conran once said that the biggest boost to the feminist movement was the washing machine…..how right she was.

And what about making politics appealing - at least to the point where women can understand its relevance to our lives.

I am not in favour of positive discrimination because I don’t think it is necessary if enough women participate. It really is a numbers game.

Tags: LBC, Nick Ferrairi, Shirly Conran

Wednesday, 3 June 2009 at 17:24

One Response to “It’s a numbers game”

• really floating voter

  Have long argued for tax-deductible childcare. Not only would it put women on an equal professional footing with men (who tax deduct everything that is connected to them doing a better job). But also it would enable childminders - the real stars of the childcare system - to earn a better wage, allow them to improve facilities, afford extra training, and ultimately lead to better childcare. You’d be creating a fairer, and crucially better, society in one stroke. But as most politicians are still male or high earners they will never understand the crippling power of low wages or the childcare affordability gap. and on we go…

  06/04/2009 at 05:58