Will Britain’s next Prime Minister be a Lesbian?

On June 23rd Britain voted for #Brexit. The Prime Minister resigned. The Labour Party imploded. Many dark clouds now hang over Westminster and the country, but dark clouds have silver linings. It looks certain a woman will now be elected leader of the governing Conservative Party, this will be only the second time in history a woman has ruled the country, a great step forward for gender equality. After securing leadership of the Conservative Party, it’s most likely the new female leader will call a general election with the aim of securing a mandate from the country (lessons learnt from Gordon Brown).

The prospect of a general election has tipped the Labour Party, the official opposition, into a state of frenzy. Career politicians see a rare opportunity to grab the reigns of power and, like something out of an episode of game of thrones, have launched a coup to topple their leader, Jeremy Corbyn…but why? Enter stage right, Lord Kinnock, a Labour Party grandee, it’s most successful, unsuccessful, past leader, who answered that very question in a rousing speech at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) last week…Corbyn fails the “door step test”. The man on the street thinks he’s a bit weird, therefore, whilst led by Corbyn, Labour will never win a general election.

This is where it gets interesting. In their quest for a leader to pass the doorstep test, the PLP has turned to Angela Eagle? In many ways Eagle does pass the doorstep test, a middle class metropolitan, the obligatory PPE degree from Oxford and a solid voting record aligned with centre right politics (pro Iraq, pro Student Fees, pro Syria) — remember, the doorstep is always in a Tory marginal seat. This is the common fodder of most career politicians, where Angela shines is her commitment to LGBT equality, being the first MP to voluntarily come out as lesbian. For me, this demonstrates real leadership — but does it pass the doorstep test?

It’s both sad and shocking that according to the results of the government funded British Social Attitudes survey (2013), 1 in 4 people in Britain still consider same sex relationships as “wrong” or “mostly wrong”. Given the hullabaloo this weekend, regarding the importance (or not) of having 2.4 children as a qualifier to lead the Conservative Party…on the doorstep, this stuff still matters more than it should.

With an army of pollsters on hot dial, those behind the Labour coup know this, and I can’t help but think Eagle is just a pawn, sacrificed for a doorstep knight in shining armor…Hillary (of the Benn dynasty) or Dan Jarvis? Or maybe, just maybe, pollsters have discovered that attitudes are continuing to shift, and not only will Britain’s next Prime Minister be female, she will be a lesbian. Personally, I’d like to see the PLP rally behind Corbyn and deliver as a strong left of centre opposition, but failing that, dark clouds can have silver linings.