Was yesterdays reshuffle really a reshuffle for Women?

Yesterday, in a desperate attempt to make the Tory party seem more women friendly, Cameron used his reshuffle to promote any women Tory MPs he could find.

Despite being billed as a ‘reshuffle for women’ (a problem I will come to later) of those promoted yesterday 27 were men and just 11 women.

There are just 48 women Tory MPs and, as always with the Tories, the majority of them are foam-at-the-mouth right-wingers who don’t belong in this century.

Unfortunately, for all of us, Cameron’s bid to make the Tories seem more women friendly means that, until next May, we will actually be governed by a number of this small group.

They include Priti Patel, who has been promoted to the Treasury. Patel is a classic no-holds-barred free-market capitalist who co-authored the book ‘Britannia unchained’. If you are unfamiliar with the book it is an ode to the wonders of the free market and the evils of workers’ rights. The book genuinely makes the argument that, despite being in an age where 1.4 million workers are on zero-hour contracts, workers are currently offered ‘excessive protection’ by employment law and these laws need to be reformed to tackle the ‘lazy’ workers of Britain.

Patel also believes that we should bring back the death penalty to act as a deterrent. Patel is obviously not familiar with all the evidence that suggests her claim that the death penalty can act as a deterrent is completely unsubstantiated or the fact that homicide rates are much higher in countries that have the death penalty. See the video below of Ian Hislop taking Patel on over her views on the death penalty.

Also promoted was Nicky Morgan, who has replaced Michael Gove as Education Minister. Morgan was previously Minister for Women and Equalities but retains her post as Minister for Women. Morgan is one of the many Tories who voted against the same-sex marriage bill because she believes that marriage can only ever be between a man and a woman. This prompted many to rightly question whether it was right that she was the Minister for Women and Equalities and whether a more accurate title would in fact be Minister for Straight Women.

So, do these promotions mean the Tories have solved their problem with women?

It remains to be seen if this reshuffle will give a poll boost to the Tories. However your party clearly has a major problem if you have to bill one of your reshuffles a ‘reshuffle for women’.

I can’t imagine the modern day Labour Party having to promote a reshuffle as a ‘reshuffle for women’.

If you have to actively promote the fact that you are trying to give more opportunities to a group of people that make up 50% of the population then you probably aren't doing equality right.