Sir Keir Starmer should make tackling misogyny the sixth key mission of his government, Harriet Harman has said.
The former Labour cabinet minister told our political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that the work so far to tackle it is “just not good enough”, and women’s voices need to be respected in government.
Her comments come after the most difficult week of Sir Keir’s premiership that saw him fighting for his political future.
Two of his closest advisers, as well as the nation’s most senior civil servant, have left Downing Street in less than a week as he has sought to regain control.
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The fallout from Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, as well as the revelation that the prime minister knew his former communications chief, Matthew Doyle, had an association with a convicted paedophile before nominating him to the House of Lords, saw Sir Keir accused of prioritising a “boys club” culture over the views and experiences of women.
For the first time since taking office in July 2024, he addressed a meeting of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party in which he promised that culture change in his government is coming.
Speaking on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harman said he needed to go much further in making tackling misogyny a priority of his government, suggesting that he make it the sixth headline aim of his administration, alongside economic growth, expanding clean energy, fixing the NHS, making the streets safe, and breaking down opportunity barriers.
She…
