A woman's place is in the...

I recently met a lady called Emma on Twitter, who has produced some fantastic t shirts stating “A woman’s place is in the House of Commons” (link to purchase below). Feminism and politics is too big an issue to cover in one blog post, but I wanted to explain why I’ve written “The Election” with a female politician protagonist.

Zoe Fletcher is one of the two main characters in my novel. She starts off as a student debater at Durham University and quickly fights her way to the top of her student society to become President. Right from the outset she faces misogyny and sexism from the “old boys” of the club. However, Zoe triumphs at university and she quickly rises up the ladder of a political career in Westminster. Of course, she faces some opposition along the way but I haven’t painted too stark a picture for what it’s like for women in politics.

The thing is, I don’t think women of my generation are as encumbered as previous generations. In 2015, women leaving school and university have exactly the same opportunities as men of the same age.  Somewhere along the way a gap appears and perhaps there is still a glass ceiling. But I think the ceiling is beginning to crack. Just look at the recent General Election leaders’ debates featuring Nicola Sturgeon, Natalie Bennett and Leanne Wood – they have made David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband look decidedly dated. The men strain to assert their authority and credentials as leaders, but the women seem confident in their style of consensual politics and appear as far more natural leaders. I’ve also been in contact with some fantastic female parliamentary candidates on Twitter who I’m certain will make a massive positive difference to government if elected.

I sense the tide of politics is changing in favour of equal representation for men and women (but still only around 25% of female PPC though, which needs to change). I wanted to write a political story from a woman’s point of view as I don’t think there’s too much of that out there at the moment. Of course, I am a man writing from woman’s perspective so how can I really know what I am writing about?

Judge for yourself by downloading my book from Kindle! - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VJ39ILE

If you want to buy Emma’s t shirt, here’s the link - https://www.etsy.com/shop/finprint