Andy Burnham has pledged to eradicate the practice of undermining female ministers if he becomes the Prime Minister. During a gathering of the women’s Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), Burnham stated his intention to dismiss any team members engaging in sexist attacks, emphasizing the necessity for a cultural shift.
His remarks come in response to complaints from senior Labour women regarding what they perceive as a consistent stream of negative briefings to the media targeting female ministers. Burnham also criticized comments made by an anonymous party member to The Spectator, who suggested Burnham could be “Labour’s first woman prime minister” due to his focus on traditionally female-centric issues like health, education, family finances, and public safety.
The statement sparked outrage among MPs, underscoring the ongoing tension within Labour over the lack of a female leader, in contrast to the Conservative Party, which has had four female leaders, including three Prime Ministers.
Burnham affirmed his commitment to fostering a respectful culture, declaring that team members engaging in negative briefings would face immediate expulsion. He also clarified that he has never claimed or will ever claim to be the first female Labour Prime Minister.
In a similar vein, Keir Starmer has consistently condemned negative briefings and appointed several women to prominent roles in government, with Rachel Reeves as the first female Chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Foreign Secretary, and Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary. Despite these appointments, complaints persist about attacks on senior women in the party.
The pressure is mounting on Burnham to ensure gender diversity in his potential Cabinet, with Labour’s female MPs urging him to appoint at least half of his team as women and select a female deputy Prime Minister. They argue that past leaderships excluding women’s voices have weakened the government’s decision-making and policy development processes.
Moreover, the group of MPs highlighted concerns about structural misogyny, bullying behavior within No. 10, the normalization of sexual harassment, and inadequate engagement with the party and PLP. They emphasized the need to address these issues to create a more inclusive and effective government.