The forthcoming general election will mark the no-doubt emotional departures of some of Westminster’s biggest characters – from father of the house Ken Clarke, to Churchill’s grandson Nicholas Soames, from maverick wanderer Rory Stewart to moderating presence Oliver Letwin. But even with all those farewells, this sea change will be singular for the depressingly large number of high-profile women who have decided the cost of a life of public service is personally too high.
Cabinet member and loyal Boris Johnson supporter Nicky Morgan surprised us this week with her announcement that she would be standing down as an MP. What was perhaps less surprising but more depressing were some of the reasons she gave, citing the abuse she had received and its impact on not just her but her loved ones.
She explained, “The clear impact on my family and other sacrifices involved in, and the abuse for, doing the job of a modern MP can only be justified if, ultimately, parliament does what it is supposed to do — represent those we serve in all areas of policy, respect votes cast by the electorate and make decisions in the overall national interest.”
Clearly, she feels even a Cabinet position does not meet this bar, and she is not alone. Fellow Conservative Mims Davies, who has built an impressive majority in her five years as an MP, is also quitting, calling her “the employment minister who is making herself unemployed”. She cited, “the horrid state of the discourse, the threats, the lack of time with friends and family.”
And veteran MP Dame Caroline Spelman is leaving the scene too, after 22 years as MP for Meriden, citing the “intensity of abuse arising out of Brexit”. She wrote in the Times, “Sexually charged rhetoric has been prevalent in the online abuse of female MPs, with threats to rape us and referring to us by our genitalia.”
Add to these Justine Greening, Kate Hoey, Helen Jones, Louise Ellman, Seema Kennedy, Claire Perry and Gloria De Piero, who expressed concern for the “lack of tolerance for different viewpoints” within her own opposition party. And Heidi Allen, former Tory turned Lib Dem, who’s also quit, apparently worn down by the “nastiness and intimidation that has become commonplace”. She laments, “This is not public scrutiny. It is dehumanization for doing a job.”
It’s right across the political spectrum, and it shows no sign of abating. Dame Caroline explained, “Female candidates are deterred by the treatment of female politicians in the media and on social media. It is therefore not surprising that so many good female colleagues have decided to stand down at this election… I spoke out about it in the hope my successors will tackle the wild west of internet abuse which is so corrosive to social cohesion.”
Although male politicians get their share, it is women who suffer the brunt. A Metropolitan Police report published in May revealed that, while threats to MPs had spiked by 90% over the past year, female and ethnic-minority MPs were particular targets. Former Tory MP Anna Soubry had received one such serious threat that the sender is currently on remand in jail pending trial.
Why is this happening and what on earth can anyone do? Diane Abbot, veteran Labour MP and the recipient of huge swathes of racist and sexist abuse, puts it down to the platforms created by social media, but also the anonymity they provide. It’s only cowards who behave like this.
Lord Jonathan Evans, chairman of the Committee of Standards in Public Life, told Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday that the Crown Prosecution Service had issued guidance to MPs on what is and isn’t legal. This follows a report by his Committee published two years ago that issued a raft of recommendations aimed at social media companies as well as political leaders. On Friday, he reminded us, “There is no immediate, single solution.”
Two things he made clear, however – there needs to be a unified voice across political parties that this is unacceptable, and that political leaders have a responsibility to show leadership, particularly around election time.
Last month, MPs at Westminster begged the Prime Minister to speak out against these death threats, this bottomless abuse, and restrain his own language. Johnson’s response was to dismiss such talk as “humbug”, even as many politicians, remembering their dead colleague Jo Cox, murdered in her constituency, left the Chamber with tears in their eyes.
Such sadness comes amid fears that this election could become one of the most toxic in British history – that the departure of so many moderate MPs from both sides means the ground is left vacant for more extremist views, for more populist bear-baiting that promotes personalities over politics. It is clear that Johnson’s campaign to stay in Downing Street involves funneling the anger of Leave voters across the political spectrum and pitching all those who oppose him as national traitors and white flag wavers. It is his only possible route to victory, and the language can only become more vile.
The real sadness comes with the prospect of what our political houses will look like after the car-crash of the election. Stoking up such division now means that, whatever happens, the polarity can only become hardwired afterwards, extremists will be ever more rewarded, and policies argued out without the moderating influence of all those departing figures. As Scottish journalist Alex Massie reminds us, “A debased politics debases us all.”
And this misogyny towards our most public figures should raise a similar warning. Dame Caroline put it well, telling us, “As a nation we need to look deep into our soul to try to discover why this misogyny still prevails. Men and women should be treated equally at work, but it is sometimes only when men discover the discrimination suffered by females close to them that they become active in tackling conscious and unconscious bias against women.”
Diane Abbott reflected this week that her way of coping with so much poison was “not about weathering it, it’s about putting one foot in front of the other”. How tragic that, while she has found the strength to carry on, so many other women have been forced to put their feet in the direction opposite to Westminster, just when it needs them most.
