Claire Fox

Jess Phillips is wrong to tell men to ‘pass the mic’

When Labour leadership challenger Jess Phillips urged men to ‘pass the mic’ to a woman on the top job, telling Sky’s Sophy Ridge it would ‘look bad’ if Labour failed to elect a woman, she more or less admitted not being up to the job. Surely the weakest argument any leadership candidate could use is demanding a step-up based on their sex? In effect, Phillips is trying to knock out the leading candidate, Keir Starmer, because he’s a man.

We heard a similar argument on Question Time last week. When Laurence Fox was asked who he preferred as the Labour leader, he replied ‘Keir Starmer – he just looks like he can take Boris on quite well.’ Quick as a flash, Shami Chakrabarti – who had only just declared that she wasn’t going to share her opinion on the Labour leadership race – suddenly developed a view and snapped back: ‘You don’t think any of the four women?’ Laurence, now being lauded as a hero of the anti-woke fight-back pointed out: ‘It’s not about women! Jeepers creepers!’ He added, rather sarcastically: ‘Sorry, let me rewind: any of the women. Is that better? Any woman because it’s really important what gender you are, what sex you are rather than what your policies are and how you approach politics… Come on.’

Many have criticised Fox for sneering complacency. But regardless of his tone, he has a point. His reply at least nodded to a political viewpoint, choosing a would-be leader he considered capable of being a credible opponent to Boris Johnson (and rather ruining his opponents’ accusations that he’s a proto-Tory).

In contrast, the ‘pass the mic’ approach sidelines political difference. In her interview with Ridge, Phillips complained that she’s fed up of hearing ‘we have to pick the best person for the job’ because they never mean the ‘best person, they always mean the best man’.

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