I understand that Helen Grant and Anna Soubry will soon be made members of the government, as David Cameron tries to make up for sacking three of the five female Cabinet members. Liz Truss, head of the Free Enterprise Group of Tory MPs, is also tipped for promotion. Grant is a former lawyer, a convert to the right. Soubry is a former broadcaster known to us Highlanders as a newsreader in Grampian TV’s North Tonight before retraining as a barrister.
It’s difficult to understate how concerned David Cameron is about his standing with female voters. If he dropped Cheryl Gillan, Caroline Spelman and Sayeeda Warsi from the Cabinet he was always going to get some stick. It was also likely that he would offset this even more women promoted into the government – hence this strange talk of the “next generation being brought forward”. It took Blair seven years to talk about the need to regenerate, it’s taken this lot two years.
It’s interesting that, as this day’s reshuffle leaks out, you start hearing reports that “the women” will soon be announced as if they were all under one subheading in a No10 strategy sheet.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate, free for a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.
UNLOCK ACCESS Try a month freeAlready a subscriber? Log in