Well, that was pleasant. The treatment of Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom over the last few days should leave us in no doubt about how the mainstream media operate – like a pack of wolves hunting for their next victim. The fact that she was taken out by a feminist journalist working for the Paper of Record sums up how degraded our media has become.
Journalists are entitled, obligated in fact, to scrutinise candidates, their competence, their political record, what they have said in the past and proposed policies. What leaves such a bad taste in the mouth is the entrapment of a female politician on such a personal issue such as motherhood. Poor Leadsom, unschooled in the ways of the media and the political world, did not stand a chance.
I was not that invested in either candidate but I did watch in fascinated horror over the weekend how this motherhood story unfolded. Perhaps this says more about my character, but I am sure there are many out there who were turned off politics completely by the entire episode.
Most of all, however, I do not want to hear ever, ever again, especially from anyone from the Slime of London Newspapers (who called mothers ‘monsters’ today by the way) complaining that we do not have enough women or indeed mothers in politics. Andrea Leadsom has been thrown under a bus, referred to as an extremist, and called Andrea Loathsome just for talking about her kids.
Now what mother would put themselves and their family under such scrutiny? You would have to be a masochist to do it. So this, and other reasons I will explain tomorrow, is the reason we do not have more mothers in politics. A media hatchet job is a major repellent.
So I do hope Rachel Sylvester of The Times is proud of her political scalp. Another one bites the dust, eh. Congratulations.
(Image: RachelH_)
