Amberley Thay studies History at the University of Exeter, and is a Holocaust awareness campaigner. She is involved in the Barnet and Camden Young Conservatives.
This article is a response to a ConservativeHome comment piece titled ‘The Young Conservatives have a woman problem’ which can be found here.
No, the Young Conservatives do not have a woman problem, and anyone who says otherwise evidently needs a benzodiazepine-laced needle rammed into their arm, because they’ve lost the plot.
The Conservatives have a history of women leading at the highest level. We are the party of the Iron Lady, Kemi Badenoch and countless other strong women – yes, Liz Truss counts. The main characteristic we see across them all, is that they do not make a point about being a woman. It is just something that they are. I agree with this approach. As a believer in equality, your gender is just who you are.
I don’t look at gender as a defining feature of any politician. I judge them based on their political capabilities. Their ideas, priorities and ability to lead are what determines my vote. Not whether they have an XX or an XY chromosome. That applies to the Conservative Party leadership, but also to the Young Conservatives as well.
From what I have read, I must say that describing women who support male candidates as “being reduced to a cheerleader” is quite derogatory. Women are perfectly capable of weighing up candidates and deciding who deserves our support. We do not blindly applaud any candidate because, surprisingly enough, we are capable of independent thought. Shocking, I know.
I made the decision to support one candidate while other women supported different candidates. That’s good. That’s healthy. That’s the fun of politics! A woman does not have to stand for every position for her participation to count.
The absence of women standing for YC chair is not in itself demonstrative of misogyny. Currently, we don’t actually know if no women applied. They are just, for the time being, rumours. All we know is that the three chosen candidates were men. Maybe us women weren’t interested. Maybe we thought the YCs were better led by another candidate. There are a whole host of reasons for why no women were selected, and the question deserves some level of investigation – not an assumed explanation. The idea that that there is a problem with women not being involved in politics as a whole is not limited solely to the Conservatives. It spreads across all parties, no matter how the media likes to paint it.
At Party Conference, there was no shortage of female representation amongst the YCs. Conservative Young Women officially relaunched during the gathering, and hosted a range of events including a social on the Saturday night and panels throughout the remainder of the get together. I, meanwhile, had the opportunity to host a Young Conservatives dinner on the Sunday evening, bringing together a whole range of YCs from across the country. The recognition we wanted from these events was just the time and effort we put into them. Not that we were women.
Another criticism made was that there was a significant lack of female visibility at the conference. Proof, apparently, that the YCs are merely a “lads club.” But to use visibility as a measure of participation is wrong. These events involve countless hours of planning, discussions and preparing – all of which goes unnoticed on a polished social media post. Go to the events, speak to the people involved and just have a look around – because you’ll soon realise that female YCs are instrumental to the organisations’ success. And that we do, in fact, fit in.
And just look at Kemi’s speech at the close of Conference. The front row was flooded by feckless youths, who were branded with a red sticker and shoved to the front of the auditorium. The party was not showing off a particular group of young people. It was trying to show off all young people. Not just young women. The Party was looking to show off their never ending pool of slightly awkward, sweaty, aimless young people – God knows why. But we women were there too. We are no different from the men in that regard, nor do we want to be. We are just Young Conservatives.
Therefore to assume that the Young Conservatives have a women problem is highly inaccurate. Come to a YC event, come to a hustings, come to a campaign day: us young women are everywhere, you just have to open your eyes.
Amberley Thay studies History at the University of Exeter, and is a Holocaust awareness campaigner. She is involved in the Barnet and Camden Young Conservatives.
This article is a response to a ConservativeHome comment piece titled ‘The Young Conservatives have a woman problem’ which can be found here.
No, the Young Conservatives do not have a woman problem, and anyone who says otherwise evidently needs a benzodiazepine-laced needle rammed into their arm, because they’ve lost the plot.
The Conservatives have a history of women leading at the highest level. We are the party of the Iron Lady, Kemi Badenoch and countless other strong women – yes, Liz Truss counts. The main characteristic we see across them all, is that they do not make a point about being a woman. It is just something that they are. I agree with this approach. As a believer in equality, your gender is just who you are.
I don’t look at gender as a defining feature of any politician. I judge them based on their political capabilities. Their ideas, priorities and ability to lead are what determines my vote. Not whether they have an XX or an XY chromosome. That applies to the Conservative Party leadership, but also to the Young Conservatives as well.
From what I have read, I must say that describing women who support male candidates as “being reduced to a cheerleader” is quite derogatory. Women are perfectly capable of weighing up candidates and deciding who deserves our support. We do not blindly applaud any candidate because, surprisingly enough, we are capable of independent thought. Shocking, I know.
I made the decision to support one candidate while other women supported different candidates. That’s good. That’s healthy. That’s the fun of politics! A woman does not have to stand for every position for her participation to count.
The absence of women standing for YC chair is not in itself demonstrative of misogyny. Currently, we don’t actually know if no women applied. They are just, for the time being, rumours. All we know is that the three chosen candidates were men. Maybe us women weren’t interested. Maybe we thought the YCs were better led by another candidate. There are a whole host of reasons for why no women were selected, and the question deserves some level of investigation – not an assumed explanation. The idea that that there is a problem with women not being involved in politics as a whole is not limited solely to the Conservatives. It spreads across all parties, no matter how the media likes to paint it.
At Party Conference, there was no shortage of female representation amongst the YCs. Conservative Young Women officially relaunched during the gathering, and hosted a range of events including a social on the Saturday night and panels throughout the remainder of the get together. I, meanwhile, had the opportunity to host a Young Conservatives dinner on the Sunday evening, bringing together a whole range of YCs from across the country. The recognition we wanted from these events was just the time and effort we put into them. Not that we were women.
Another criticism made was that there was a significant lack of female visibility at the conference. Proof, apparently, that the YCs are merely a “lads club.” But to use visibility as a measure of participation is wrong. These events involve countless hours of planning, discussions and preparing – all of which goes unnoticed on a polished social media post. Go to the events, speak to the people involved and just have a look around – because you’ll soon realise that female YCs are instrumental to the organisations’ success. And that we do, in fact, fit in.
And just look at Kemi’s speech at the close of Conference. The front row was flooded by feckless youths, who were branded with a red sticker and shoved to the front of the auditorium. The party was not showing off a particular group of young people. It was trying to show off all young people. Not just young women. The Party was looking to show off their never ending pool of slightly awkward, sweaty, aimless young people – God knows why. But we women were there too. We are no different from the men in that regard, nor do we want to be. We are just Young Conservatives.
Therefore to assume that the Young Conservatives have a women problem is highly inaccurate. Come to a YC event, come to a hustings, come to a campaign day: us young women are everywhere, you just have to open your eyes.