Politics and Parenthood: An Examination of UK Party Leadership Elections

Smith, Jeffery S.

doi:10.1093/pa/gsx016

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…May's borrowing from Thatcher was partly conscious, but partly an almost inevitable falling into a powerful and irresistible archetype and narrative. The media pushed the comparison even before she was leader, speaking of a 'battle of the two iron ladies' in the final all women leadership run off (Smith, 2017). The public instinctively looked for parallels and May was seen as having 'many of the same positive and negative characteristics' as Thatcher -being 'decisive, and good in a crisis' but 'out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people' and with 'a cold personality' (Yougov, April 2017;Young, 1993).…”

Section: 'Two Of a Kind'? Comparing Thatcher And Maymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both women faced gendered portrayals of them as too masculine and insufficiently feminine -May as the emotionless 'Maybot' and Thatcher as the 'Iron Lady' (a term she took on) (Jamieson, 1995;Murray, 2010;Crace, 2017). Thatcher balanced her masculinist style with her feminine sartorial appearance including pearls and the infamous handbag (Carroll, 2009), as well as through use of her family -consistently portraying herself as housewife and mother (Smith, 2017). Similarly, May's famous leopard print kitten heels and love of fashion portrayed her femininity (Williams, 2020b).…”

Section: 'Two Of a Kind'? Comparing Thatcher And Maymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Remind you of anyone? Comparing the gendered heroic leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May

Worthy,

Smith,

Richards-Gray

2023

Br Polit

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to navigate the significant gendered barriers to women operating in executive institutions. A close comparison reveals the two leaders adopted a similar approach, styling themselves as 'heroic' and radical outsiders to govern within the masculine office of Prime Minister. In office, the two leaders adopted a comparable style, pursued a strong vision, and sought to closely control their inner courts. However, their performance and governing context made for very different outcomes. In their performance, Thatcher proved an adept communicator and operator, while May showed poor skills and communicative abilities. Moreover, while Thatcher navigated entrenched gender norms in an increasingly favourable context, May governed during the brittle politics of Brexit, over a far more deeply divided Cabinet and party.Although decades apart, as women, these two leaders were novelties and outsiders in executive office, a rare phenomenon in British politics (Fry, 2015). They governed through what were broadly the same set of executive institutions at the centre, led the same political party, and dealt with the same blend of personal and structural opportunities and constrains the self-same institutions created (Helms, 2012). Even the media coverage and gendered frames remained similar between 1979 and 2016 (Williams, 2020b).Both leaders faced the challenge of office by using their outsider status -styling themselves as heroic and radical outsiders. Furthermore, although May rejected any comparisons between herself and Thatcher, she consciously borrowed from her predecessor, famously doing an impression of her in her first Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs).Political leadership must blend 'skills in context', from individual skills such as vision and communication, to more relational attributes such as political support from powerful colleagues (see Heffernan, 2005;Seldon, 2021;Theakston, 2007). These skills can be seen as uniting leadership 'performance' with context and 'the interplay between personal, institutional and contextual factors' (Hargrove and Owens, 2003; Strangio et al, 2013, 1). Taking this as a starting point, we argue that successful leaders often blend three features: a particular (and, we argue, gendered) 'heroic' style; a strong vision; and clear control of their inner court. We compare thatcher and May's leadership against each of these elements in turn.Thatcher's longevity can be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that her leadership involved a 'heroic' role as a change agent, which was associated with a particular style, strong vision and -for much of her premiership -an ability to control her inner court. Meanwhile, we argue, May's heroic style came apart after the 'failed' snap election of 2017. May tied herself to more rigid aims with less care or caution than Thatcher and failed to communicate or narrate her approach, hence her attempts to control her Cabinet came rapidly unstuck.

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Section: 'Two Of a Kind'? Comparing Thatcher And Maymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 'Two Of a Kind'? Comparing Thatcher And Maymentioning

confidence: 99%

Remind you of anyone? Comparing the gendered heroic leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May

Worthy,

Smith,

Richards-Gray

2023

Br Polit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…May's win was down to her reputation as a 'safe pair of hands' and perceived competence (Quinn 2019). Her gender played a role in clearing her path, as her final opponent Andrea Leadsom stepped down after her controversial remarks over motherhood (Smith 2017). (Lynch and Whitaker 2018).…”

Section: (Re-)election Margin For the Party Leadershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Dominance, defence and diminishing returns’? Theresa May’s Leadership Capital July 2016–July 2018

Worthy

Bennister

2020

Br Polit

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Theresa May's first two years in office illustrate Anthony King's (1991) observation that premierships can vary within themselves. Her premiership divides into two distinct phases, before and after the snap general election of June 2017, with a final coda after July 2017 when her premiership unravelled. Whilst the disastrous election looked like the crucial event, analysis using the Leadership Capital Index (LCI) suggests that, contrary to popular assumptions, before the election May was weaker than she appeared and afterwards not quite as diminished as assumed. The LCI analysis we present here (focusing on the year before and the year after the 2017 general election) shows that May's capital fell, but not as far as presented by prevailing narratives. May went from being, in LCI terms, an 'exceptional leader' to a 'medium capital leader' facing obstacles, but still capable of action. May's resilience after 2017 was a result of Brexit, the poor polling of her opponents and her unexpected poll strength, bolstered by the weakness of her internal challengers. Even a poorly positioned prime minister has considerable resources to call upon.

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“…Political decisions and efforts may be influenced by politicians' individual backgrounds, including the number of children they have (Baumann et al 2013). Parenthood might also have an influence on political success (Smith 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Having power, having babies? Fertility patterns among German elite politicians

Hudde¹,

Friedrich²

2019

JFamRes

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Members of the political elite have far-reaching influence on the overall society. In this paper, we analyse fertility patterns among the German political elite for two reasons: First, we learn more about the living circumstances of a subgroup that makes crucial decisions and could serve as a role model for the general population. Second, we gain insight into the association between social status and fertility patterns at the top tier of the status distribution. We collect biographical data from all high-rank politicians in Germany in 2006 and/or 2017, comprising 184 women and 353 men. We compare fertility patterns in this subgroup to the general population, as well as we differentiate the number of children by politicians’gender, region (eastern/western Germany), party affiliation, and other variables. Results show that, on average, male politicians have relatively many children: 2.0 in western Germany, and 2.2 in eastern Germany. Female politicians have very few children in western Germany (1.3) and relatively many in eastern Germany (1.9). The east-west gap between men and women is entirely driven by differences in childlessness. For men, the observation of high fertility in this high-status group could hint towards a positive association between social status and fertility at the top of the status distribution. For women, large east-west differences in this subgroup could mean that the association between social status and fertility at the top of the status distribution might be negative or positive, depending on macro-level characteristics such as gender norms and work-family reconciliation policies.

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Politics and Parenthood: An Examination of UK Party Leadership Elections

Cited by 15 publications

References 17 publications

Remind you of anyone? Comparing the gendered heroic leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May

Remind you of anyone? Comparing the gendered heroic leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May

‘Dominance, defence and diminishing returns’? Theresa May’s Leadership Capital July 2016–July 2018

Having power, having babies? Fertility patterns among German elite politicians

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