#DebateHer: Where are the Women in the UK General Election Debate? We’re Still Looking!!
By Maura Reilly
The United Kingdom is set to have a snap general election on December 12, 2019; Parliament has already been suspended to allow for five weeks of campaigning. With the start of the election campaign season, comes several political debates, one such debate hosted by ITV has come under much scrutiny by the Liberal Democratic Party led by Jo Swinson and Scottish National Party (SNP), led by Ian Blackford.
The ITV debate, scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, November 19th, has faced criticism for having a head to head format featuring only Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the Conservative Party and Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party. The debate leaves out the leaders of the other four parties fielding more than 50 candidates in the upcoming election. This is the first time a television debate will have a head-to-head format with only two party leaders, in the UK’s short history of televised political debates which began in 2010. While the format has been suggested before, it has always been turned down for a larger event featuring more party leaders.
While the November 19th ITV debate leaves out a total of 14 parties running candidates in the election, the Liberal Democrats and Jo Swinson are the only party and woman likely to win enough seats to take control of Westminster and Downing Street. On the debate, Swinson has said “it is so important that millions of remainers can make sure their voice is represented, that it is a fair debate between the different options on offer.”
The exclusion of Swinson and a voice for the Remain movement, mirrors the press coverage during the lead up to the June 2016 Brexit Referendum, which largely featured male politicians and left Brexit’s potential impact on women largely out of the conversation. The Liberal Democrats are the only party campaigning on the promise of a second Brexit Referendum, and the SNP represent a region with one of the largest Remain strongholds, 62 percent of Scottish voters voted to remain in 2016.
Both the Liberal Democrats and the SNP filed a legal complaint against the ITV debate, which was heard this Monday, November 18th, by the London High Court. The parties’ legal argument rested on the exclusion of the Remain view from the debate for a general election, in which how to proceed with Brexit is seen as a central issue. The High Court decision was released at three pm (UK time) dismissing the case, stating ITV was operating as a private enterprise when deciding the debate format, not as a public function, and are not subject to the High Court. The two judges presiding, continued saying, the Liberal Democrats and SNP could file a complaint with Ofcom, the broadcasting regulatory body, following the airing of the debate.
Since the exit of former Prime Minister Theresa May, women’s voices are being increasingly left out of the Brexit debate and eventual decision, which the absence of Jo Swinson from the November 19th debate illustrates. Swinson and other Liberal Democrat MPs launched a Twitter campaign with the hashtags #DebateHer and #ScaredBoys to both draw attention to the subversion of the Remain campaign and call for Swinson’s inclusion in the debate.
Swinson’s absence is not just a blow to the voice of Remainers, but emphasizes continued and systematic exclusion of women’s voices and concerns on the topic of Brexit. Recent polling shows women now back remaining in the EU by 12 points, a drastic shift from the 2016 referendum when women broke 51/49 to leave, and yet no woman is included in a general election debate expected to center on Brexit.
While there are other debates scheduled in the lead up to the election on December 12th, which will feature several of the party leaders including Swinson and Blackford; the exclusion of the only woman running who has the potential of becoming Prime Minister in this election, and the leading advocate to remain in the EU is notable.
Check the following link for the first part of Maura’s Brexit analysis!
Maura is a RepresentWomen Fall 2019 Research Intern from the Washington, D.C. area. She graduated from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland this past spring with an honors degree in Social Anthropology.
