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Johnson represents ‘boys’ club’ approach to Commons, says Rudd

PM’s style means prospects for women are diminishing, according to former cabinet colleague
Boris Johnson is emblematic of a “boys’ club” approach to the House of Commons which makes it harder for women to win promotion, his former cabinet colleague Amber Rudd has said as part of a project in which former ministers reflected on their time in power.
Rudd, who was home secretary under Theresa May, and then quit as work and pensions secretary when Johnson was prime minister, said he was part of an “establishment group” whose style meant the political prospects for women were actually diminishing.
“There is a kind of boys’ club-type behaviour in parliament because it is still more like a public school or a university club than anywhere else you’ll ever go,” Rudd told the Institute for Government (IFG).
“I fear that it’s going backwards a bit at the moment because unless you have the leadership really making an effort to ensure that women are promoted as equals, all the time – not just because, ‘oh, let’s promote the women, we forgot about the women’ – it’s going to be a problem,” she said.
“I see that in Boris Johnson, I’m afraid. Even though I don’t dislike him at all. He’s come from that establishment group. And also, he has that sort of language, which he’s – quite rightly – nervous of using in front of women.”
Rudd said she had left Johnson’s cabinet amid a purge of Tory MPs over Brexit because of the way he treated people.
“It was Boris Johnson’s style of government, really,” she said. “It was the way he treated other people and his determination to deliver Brexit, whatever the cost in terms of the economy and, I thought, the consequences to people’s lives.”
Another former minister, Andrea Leadsom, said that when she was the Commons leader, her relations with John Bercow, the then Speaker, were so bad that eventually they could not have their scheduled weekly meetings alone.
“It reached a point where I had to take someone with me, because of the level of vitriol in those meetings,” Leadsom said. “And he, likewise, said he needed to have someone there, because apparently I was extraordinarily difficult.”
The two clashed repeatedly over how the Commons should operate amid a chaotic period when May was trying to get a Brexit deal through parliament. At one point Bercow was accused of calling Leadsom a “stupid woman” in parliament, which he denied.
In another interview, Jeremy Wright, the former attorney general, who was a cabinet minister under both May and David Cameron, said the latter “let his irritation show more often and more visibly than Theresa ever did”.
He also expressed regret at not having pushed back more against newspaper headlines condemning judges over their handling of high-profile Brexit cases.
At its peak, a Daily Mail headline from November 2016 called three high court judges, who ruled that parliamentary consent was needed for the government to trigger the Brexit process, “Enemies of the People”.
Wright told the IFG: “Where I think we were going wrong … was to allow the sort of abuse to play out in the newspapers, of those who were doing their job as judges and as lawyers.”
source: Peter Walker
Levant
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BENEFIT Sponsors Gulf Uni...
- April 17, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has announced its sponsorship of the “Innovation and Sustainable Technology Solutions Competition (GU - IST Solutions), hosted by Gulf University at its main campus.
This strategic sponsorship reflects BENEFIT’s active role in advancing technological innovation and fostering sustainable solutions to future challenges. It also seeks to empower Bahraini youth by enhancing their skills, capabilities, and competitiveness in innovation and solution development—contributing meaningfully to the broader goals of sustainable development across all sectors.
As part of BENEFIT’s active involvement in the competition, the company has announced that Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager of Public Relations and Communication, will serve on the competition’s supervisory committee. Her upcoming participation reflects BENEFIT’s forward-looking commitment to championing academic and professional excellence.
Commenting on the occasion, Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager of Public Relations and Communication at BENEFIT, said, “We are privileged to support this pioneering initiative, which aligns seamlessly with BENEFIT’s enduring commitment to fostering innovation and nurturing the potential of Bahrain’s youth. Our participation is rooted in a deep sense of social responsibility and a firm belief in the pivotal role of innovation in shaping a sustainable future. Through such platforms, we seek to empower the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and foresight required to develop impactful solutions that address future challenges, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030.”
Dr. Aseel Al Ayash Dean of the College of Engineering in Gulf University commented, “We extend our sincere gratitude to BENEFIT for their generous sponsorship and support of the Innovation and Sustainable Technology Solutions Competition. This contribution plays an instrumental role in helping us achieve the strategic goals of this initiative, namely, cultivating a culture of innovation and sustainability, encouraging efforts that address the imperatives of sustainable development, and enhancing the practical and professional capabilities of our students and participants.”
The event will bring together a diverse spectrum of participants, including secondary school students, university undergraduates, engineers, industry professionals, entrepreneurs, academic researchers, and subject matter experts representing a wide range of disciplines.
The competition seeks to inspire participants to develop and present innovative, sustainable technologies aimed at addressing pressing environmental, social, and economic challenges. It encourages the formulation of business models that integrate advanced technological solutions with core principles of sustainability. Moreover, it serves as a platform for emerging leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators to contribute to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals, promote the ethos of responsible technology, and demonstrate its transformative potential across various sectors.
Attendees will have the opportunity to view a series of project presentations submitted by participants, covering diverse areas such as eco-friendly product design, smart and sustainable innovations, renewable energy technologies, water conservation and management, waste minimisation and recycling, green architectural solutions, and sustainable transportation systems. Outstanding projects will be formally recognised and awarded at the conclusion of the event.
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