Historically speaking, Diane Abbott is the first black woman to stand in a leadership contest of a a major political party, and I know for many this will be a significant and wonderful thing. Cath Elliott over on the Guardian says “So what if Diane Abbott’s nomination is tokenism?” for this exact reason.
She writes:
We’ve got a predominantly white male parliament; a predominantly white male Cabinet; there are two middle-aged white men in the running for the Liberal Democrat deputy leadership, and if Abbott hadn’t made it, we’d have had four middle-aged white men in the running for the Labour party leadership. And yet despite all this evidence to the contrary, some still like to claim that we’re living in a post-feminist, women-really-can-have-it-all society now.
And so, the answer to her problem, the problem of people thinking we’re living in a “women-really-can-have-it-all” society when it’s simply not true is to create the illusion that it’s true, making everyone relax, stand down and feel that the job’s done? I don’t get it.
Because, when you really look at what happened, of all the women in the Parliamentary Labour Party only ONE had the courage to stand, and even then Diane only stood because no other women would. Why didn’t Harriet Harman stand? Why didn’t Yvette Cooper? Seriously, why did these women not even try? They’re fit enough to run Government departments, but not fit to run a political party for reals? That’s the real question that needs asking. That’s what Cath should be writing about, not celebrating this cheap stunt done in her name.
This isn’t a victory, Cath. This is you being presented with a lovely, fluffy, feel-good hand to talk to while the true macho face of Labour listens to something else.
How magnanimous. Harriet Harman, the acting leader of the Labour Party, has granted Diane Abbott a mercy nomination. They don’t agree with each other politically, but, heck, they’re both women. That should obviously override any and all other considerations, right?
Despair, thy name is tokenism.
Ed Balls has joined in too, eager to prove his pro-diversity credentials. He’s already got his 33 nominations, so he’s asked MPs intending to nominate him to nominate Diane Abbott instead. I think this demonstrates not so much good sportsmanship on Ed Ball’s part but rather just what sort of threat he considers Diane to be. That’d be “absolutely no threat whatsoever.”
Perhaps I’m being a little cynical. Perhaps after yesterday’s piece about the uncomfortable morality of positive discrimination I’m being overly sensitive to this rather public determination to ‘get a black woman on the ballot’ to make Labour look like a more woman and ethnic minority friendly party when the truth is that Labour’s parliamentary party have done little more than pat Diane on the head for standing and then utterly disregard her presence in the contest.
There is, after all, another left wing back-bench rebel trying to get on the ballot. This candidate has actually got more nominations, so in terms of ensuring there’s a broad spectrum of political opinion in the contest, this candidate might actually be the sensible one to pick. But this candidate is a white male. An old one, at that. No-one’s asking other MPs to give John McDonnell a nomination. He’s left to stand – and fall – on his own two feet, and if you want people to be truly equal that’s how things should be for Diane Abbott too.
I don’t think I’m ever going to understand this sort of logic, but then I’m not the kind of person Labour is trying to appeal to with this sort of highly public display of some-of-my-best-friends-are-black-ism.
So, my message to Labour MPs is this: Don’t you dare. Don’t nominate her just because she’s a woman. Don’t. You won’t be helping. Not really.
I don’t envy you. You’ve set yourselves up as the party that reflects the diversity of the nation, but when it really counts, when it really really matters you’ve looked to Oxbridge educated White Males to lead you, and that’s just plain embarrassing isn’t it? Would it really be so unthinkable to simply assert that Diane hasn’t been nominated because, well, she’s a bit crap?
Would that be so, so, so unthinkable?
