Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum before conference to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.
44% say ‘gender is irrelevant’; but 35% say Clegg should have appointed female cabinet minister by now
LDV asked: The Cabinet, which includes five Lib Dems, comprises four women (all Conservative MPs) and 19 men following the reshuffle. Of the Lib Dems’ 20 junior government posts, six are held by women of whom three are MPs. The Lib Dems have nine female MPs [NB: actual figure = 7 MPs: apologies for the slip. ST]. Which of the following statements best reflects your view?
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44% – Gender is irrelevant. It’s important for Nick Clegg simply to pick the best person for the job.
35% – We urgently need to increase female representation at senior levels. Nick Clegg should by now have appointed at least one female Lib Dem cabinet minister and brought other talented female Lib Dem MPs into government
19% – Neither
2% – Don’t know / No opinion
A plurality of members opted for the view that it’s more important to pick the best person for the job, an echo of the decision by the party conference in 2001 to reject all-women short-lists. A substantial 35%, though, believe Nick Clegg is wrong not to have promoted at least one of the party’s nine female MPs into the cabinet. Of the almost 1-in-5 who opted for ‘Neither’ the most common comment was that the party desperately needs to boost female representation in the Commons in order to give the party leader a greater pool of talent to draw on. Others also made the point that we shouldn’t only focus on the male/female balance: many other groups within society are also under-represented within senior Lib Dem ranks.
By the way, to the person who commented, “Gender is not the same as sex. Gender is masculine or feminine and pertains to one’s sexuality or sexual orientation. Some argue that there is no such thing as gender. I presume sex is what is meant by gender here.” – I agree with you, and I was aware I was misusing the word even as I wrote the question. However, using the word ‘sex’ accurately can also often introduce confusion.
And here are the results of the other reshuffle-related questions we asked…
Bare majority (51%) say reshuffle has changed the Government for the worse
LDV asked: This month David Cameron and Nick Clegg reshuffled the Coalition Government. From what you have seen or heard about the reshuffle, do you think it has changed the Government for the better, for the worse, or has it made no real difference?
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7% – Has changed the government for the better
51% – Has changed the government for the worse
39% – Has made no real difference
3% – Don’t know / No opinion
But bare majority (53%) also say it’s made no difference to Lib Dem influence on the Government
LDV asked: Do you think the reshuffle has increased the amount of influence the Liberal Democrats have in government, reduced the amount of influence the Liberal Democrats have, or made no real difference?
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13% – Has increased the amount of influence the Liberal Democrats have
30% – Has reduced the amount of influence the Liberal Democrats have
53% – Has made no real difference
3% – Don’t know / No opinion
Three-quarters say reshuffle was a Tory ‘lurch to the right’
LDV asked: The reshuffle of Conservative cabinet ministers was described by some as a ‘lurch to the right’. Do you agree with this description?
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75% – Agree
14% – Disagree
11% – Don’t know / No opinion
Members back Laws’ return by 2:1 majority
LDV asked: David Laws was appointed Joint Minister of State in the Department for Education and Cabinet Office two years after he resigned from the Cabinet because of allegations about his expenses. Do you support or oppose his return to Government?
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59% – Support
32% – Oppose
9% – Don’t know / No opinion
* Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.
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11 Comments
Well, there you are then. Most Lib Dems don’t care much about gender equality, and they think a dishonest MP who lied about his expenses, and arguably committed fraud, is worthy of promotion. Such cynicism. Another neo-liberal might win the next leadership election at this rate.
Was there any correlation between a respondent´s gender and the answer given to question 1?
“44% say ‘gender is irrelevant’; but 35% say Clegg should have appointed female cabinet minister by now.”
That’s pretty much a split vote. At a guess, I’d say that most of those urging for a female in the cabinet are women, most of those thinking such matters are irrelevant are men. I don’t think this data is the least bit useful as a summary statistic unless it is broken down by gender of respondent.
PS: The correct word is gender not sex. Sex is biological, gender is its expression in society. The OED says: “The state of being male or female as expressed by social or cultural distinctions and differences, rather than biological ones.” So gender is correct for social surveys.
Here’s one male who believes there should be more women in the Cabinet, Andy. Of course the best person should get the job, but historically that tends to be the best man for the job. The same applies to Black and Asians . Always the best person gets chosen, we hear, which implies that BAME people are just not good enough. Well, they’re equal so a proportion should be good enough. By the way, did LDV have a question about BAMEs in Government…?
The ‘irrelevance’ thing might hold if the appointments made were obviously ALL the most talented.
There are only 4 posts to hand out amongst 56 MPs. So 1 in 14 get on the cabinet. We have only 7 female MPs. The numbers don’t stack up unless you just want to promote Ms Token. I believe Lib Dems do care deeply about gender equality but will have no truck with divisive fixes like that.
Terry, some people believe in forgiveness.
There problem is that there isnt an obvious candidate for a Lib Dem female Cabinet member. Lynne Featherstone is getting there, but needs a bit more time IMO. If there’s another reshuffle forced later in the Parliament then it might be a possibility.
I think the options you have given in the question about female ministers reveals your bias. I belive both that gender should be irrelevant AND that we should have more female ministers. It’s because gender is NOT irrelevant that we have systemic prioritisation of men over women in society. This is not a personal opinion, this is solid fact, borne out by studies in Gender research units in Universities all over the world.
When you present the questions in the way you do, you mislead people. You give them a false choice, and therefore the result is meaningless. Worse, you also imply that wanting more female minsters means you don’t want the best person for the job. There is bias in your question. Do you see it?
@ Lee Chalmers – “When you present the questions in the way you do, you mislead people. You give them a false choice, and therefore the result is meaningless.”
Thanks for the comment, Lee. I understand the point you’re making, but I don’t agree that it’s a false choice – the fact that it was the single most popular option shows that. Surveys like this are not intended to shape opinion but understand what the public (in this case Lib Dem members) think. As it stands, lots of people do frequently use the phrase ‘gender is irrelevant’ – simply saying they shouldn’t doesn’t change that reality.
peter – Of course “some people believe in forgiveness”. Usually, however, in the case of serious offences like had been committed in the case under discussion, an employer will not employ the person concerned in a job in which such an offence is possible again. People found guilty of theft, for instance, are rarely employed (by anyone with a knowledge of the situation) in positions where guardianship of money or valuables is a part. In fact, theft, and many other serious charges, are regarded as Gross Misconduct, attracting a penalty of instant dismissal in most employments. This is why, for instance, there was such shock at the record of PC Harwood, dismissed for his actions surrounding the death of Mr Tomlinson. Mr Harwood was dismissed after his disciplinary hearing.
On a broader view, it seems there is a real divergence of opinion on David Laws – many people feel he got off extremely lightly, whereas there seem to be a lot who claim what he did was at the less serious end of expense malpractice. As a personnel specialist who has dealt with many disciplinary cases, most of those accused of disciplinary offences purport to believe that they have done little, if anything wrong. Outsiders looking in often disagree. This, by the way is not referring to the fact that people deny charges, which they also do, but relates to the way they perceive their own behaviour.