EXCL Theresa May blasts 'vicious' online abuse of female MPs
3 min read
A "vicious streak" of online abuse is putting women off entering politics, Theresa May has said.
In a frank interview with The House magazine, the Prime Minister said female MPs across the political divide had "really suffered online", and warned that "nastiness" aimed at women was now a "real problem".
Mrs May also pushed back at questions about the supportive role played by her husband Philip May, and rejected criticism of her serious style, saying: "I'm not a stand-up comedian."
The Prime Minister was speaking to deputy Conservative chairmanJames Cleverly ahead of the party's conference in Birmingham next week.
Asked whether women were being put off politics by abusive online comments, the Prime Minister said: "It doesn't in terms of me personally, it doesn't distract me.
"But I am conscious that there are some of my female colleagues, across the House – it isn't a party thing – but across the House, colleagues have really suffered online and continue to suffer online. Obviously we've had some instances investigated by the police and so forth.
"But it is a real problem that this nastiness, this sort of vicious streak has entered into our politics. I think that will put women off.
"It's so important that we ensure we have different views in politics. People have come from different points of the political spectrum, but we should be able to debate those, argue them out and do it in a reasonable way, and not resort to this sort of attack that takes place."
Elsewhere in her interview, Mrs May - who famously decided to call last year's ill-fated snap election while on a walking holiday with her husband Philip - pushed back when asked about the role her husband plays in her political decision-making.
She said: "I don't think he is part of my decision-making process, he's my husband."
The Prime Minister added: "I just wondered when you asked me about Philip's role, whether if I was a male Prime Minister, you would have asked the same question about their wife?...
"I'm just raising the question as to whether actually there are those out there who think that because it's a female Prime Minister, therefore there must be a man somewhere."
Mr Cleverly also asked the Prime Minister - who raised eyebrows when she was filmed taking part in a dance on a trip to Africa - why she chose not to show a "cheeky, humorous, slightly irreverent side" of herself in public.
She said: "I was tempted to say that there are some people who would say that maybe the dancing in Africa was a side that they haven't seen before – but there have been differences of opinion as to whether that was a good thing to do!"
But Mrs May added: "I'm not a stand-up comedian. I am Prime Minister."
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