Amber Rudd accuses ERG of 'whiff of sexism' over readiness to back Boris Johnson but not Theresa May

Former minister hinted that Mrs May was treated differently to Mr Johnson because she is a woman
Bronwen Weatherby15 October 2019
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Ex-minister Amber Rudd has accused the European Research Group of a "whiff of sexism" over their readiness to back Boris Johnson's deal but not Theresa May.

The Tory MP aired her views in an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live's Emma Barnett aired today and said "it's difficult not to share" the view that Mrs May was treated differently to the current PM because she is a woman.

Ms Rudd, the former work and pensions secretary, resigned from Boris Johnson's cabinet in September over the expulsion of 21 Tory MPs for defying the whip on Brexit.

Barnett questioned Ms Rudd on how Mr Johnson appears to be receiving much more support from the ERG for his new withdrawal bill proposal despite its similarity to the former PM's.

"Why would they accept it from him and not from Theresa May?" asked Barnett. "There's only one difference between Boris Johnson and Theresa May - one's a woman, and one's a man".

 "There absolutely is a whiff of sexism" said Amber Rudd 
Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd

In her response, Ms Rudd said: "I find it very disappointing - I found it at the time - the way that Theresa May was treated by some of these largely male groups.

"I mustn't suggest that the whole of the ERG is male, it's not, because there's plenty of women in it as well.

"But it did feel like we had our second female prime minister being pushed out by a group of men at the time."

She added: "I think there absolutely is a whiff of sexism about it."

Ms Rudd remarked that the ERG had already made one attempt to remove Mrs May the previous December, saying "people can draw their own conclusions" about why such a similar deal is now acceptable to the ERG under Mr Johnson's leadership.

She went on to say that perhaps there was a more trusting relationship between Mr Johnson and hard-Brexiteer group of MPs because PM wanted a harder Brexit than Mrs May.

She said that Mrs May had perhaps suffered from the "dominance penalty" - the theory men are rewarded but women punished for aggressive behaviour in the workplace.

She said: "But I also think that there are certain behaviours that particularly men in politics want to see that women don't so much, that Boris did adopt, which has given the ERG members a lot of confidence.

"So for instance I was very opposed to the prime minister expelling 21 colleagues from the party as members of parliament and I felt very strongly that Ken Clarke, who had been in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet, should have a place in Boris Johnson's party."

Ms Rudd's comments were made while talks in Brussels between the UK and the EU to secure a deal this week intensify.

Mr Johnson has been given until midnight to agree to a legal text which EU leaders can sign off at the EU Council summit beginning on Thursday.

The PM has repeatedly said the UK will leave the EU on October 31 however, reports from Brussels suggest the widely-held view is that is unlikely. Mr Johnson will have to request an extension if no deal is in place by the end of Saturday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in