It’s interesting to notice that while James McGrath was sacked by Conservative Central Office (er, I mean by ‘Boris’) for saying something which could just about be construed as racist if taken out of context, it appears to be perfectly acceptable for the latest high-profile all-powerful appointment at City Hall to come out with something which it’s almost impossible not to construe as sexist.
It just goes to show that (a) the Tories are far more sensitive to charges of racism than sexism and (b) sexism is rather easier to get away with these days than racism.
Incidentally, since I appear to be casting the first stone here, do any women want to write for Boris Watch? Not that I run the place, but it occurs to me that all the active contributors here appear to be male, which makes us no more representative of Boris’s electorate than his own administration is. If you want to join the “hair-splitters convention”, just register as a user and then comment here and I’ll get in touch with our helpful administrator and ask him to grant authoring capabilities to you.
Tags: sexism · Tim Parker2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
I’d be happy to contribute to Boris Watch via my ovaries.
Well it did seem like that. According to Dave Hill, Parker says in the latest edition of the GLA staff magazine ‘The Scoop’: ‘nothing would make me happier than to be able to boast a top team which was much more diverse. But as the skills requirements for a post get more demanding the narrower the field of expertise and the less people there are to choose from. Ideally we don’t want to end up with a disproportionate representation of old white guys like me but the most critical determinant must be to select the best person for the role.’
Let’s leave aside the assumptions (women are not skilled enough for ‘more demanding’ posts etc) and consider what has actually happened in Boris Johnson’s administration so far?
In every case at the most senior level in the GLA where a post was held by a woman under Ken Livingstone they have been replaced by a man, or the post abolished, under Boris Johnson. This was the case with the statutory Deputy Mayor (Richard Barnes replaced Nicky Gavron), the head of the Fire and Emergency Planning services (LFEPA, Brian Coleman replaced Val Shawcross). the chair of the London Development Agency (LDA, Harvey McGrath replaced Mary Reilly), the Director of Media and Marketing (Guto Harri replaced Joy Johnson), and the Director of Strategic Projects and Performance (held by Murziline Parchment - post abolished) -
http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/Ken-Livingstone-Boris-Johnsons-Administration-Women-in-London-article_id-1712.html
Going just one level down, four senior posts held by women were abolished - the mayoral advisers on Culture and Events, on Women, on Creative Industries, and on Planning. Only one woman at this level, on Culture, was appointed by Boris Johnson. That is the record of Boris Johnson’s administration - actions speak far louder than any words.
Tim Parker says he’s appointing the ‘best’ candidates. Then women are not appointed or sacked. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that women have less ability and merit than men. Does Parker really not understand what he is saying? This is ludicrously sexist.