Women in Labour: will this pregnant pause ever end?
It’s a very strange thing, but the party which, at its first ever parliamentary meeting, deemed that women’s suffrage was a priority, which led the charge on the Equal Pay Act, and which introduced all-women shortlists has never succeeded in electing a woman as leader.
There have been deputy leaders of Labour aplenty. But so far, it remains an embarrassment to a party with equality at its core that a full quarter of a century after Britain’s first female prime minister left Downing Street, Labour has only ever been led by men.
If Nigel Farage falls on his sword (again), even UKIP could end up pipping it to the post with a female leader.
So for many Labour MPs it’s a matter of urgency to get a woman elected this time round.