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David Cameron's 'Etonian clique' keeps out women, says former civil servant Fresh questions for PM over womens' role in government
(about 9 hours later)
David Cameron operates an "Old Etonian clique" that leaves little room for women, an outgoing senior Whitehall figure has claimed. A senior Whitehall figure's reported comments about how difficult it was for women in politics to get into powerful networks and "Old Etonian cliques" prompted fresh questions Thursday over David Cameron's attempts to make the government more "women friendly". Dame Helen Ghosh, who recently retired as permanent secretary at the Home Office appeared to suggest the prime minister had surrounded himself with old friends from school and university, to the exclusion of women – though she denied this interpretation.
Dame Helen Ghosh, the permanent secretary at the Home Office and one of a handful of women to reach the highest level in major government departments, made the remarks, which will reignite the debate on the prime minister's attitude towards women, in a talk at Cambridge University. In a talk at Cambridge University, the London Evening Standard reported her as saying: "If you look at the current government – not necessarily back to the Bullingdon Club days – but Cameron, it is true, it is well known, has a clique, a network of friends – the friends he made at school, friends he made at university.
"If you look at the current government, not necessarily back to the Bullingdon Club days, but Cameron, it is true, it is well known, has a clique, a network of friends – the friends he made at school, friends he made at university," she told students, the Evening Standard reported. The paper also reported her as saying: "Women don't network. It is actually quite difficult for a woman to get in as part of an Old Etonian clique. They are far too busy doing other things, like bringing up their children, looking after their constituency."
Ghosh, the first female permanent secretary at the Home Office in its 256-year history, said the clique also consisted of people who supported Cameron in opposition and his successful bid to become Tory leader. She added: "I do think the fact that politics is so driven by networks does impact on women. Women don't network. It is actually quite difficult for a woman to get in as part of an Old Etonian clique. They are far too busy doing other things, like bringing up their children, looking after their constituency." In a statement later, Dame Helen said: "It is entirely false to say that I suggested that I think David Cameron surrounds himself by old Etonians – or that he has too few women in his team. A cursory look at the important roles around him reveals it is simply not the case."
In 2005, at the time of Ghosh's appointment to her previous post – the top job at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – she was the only woman to head a major department in the British government. She stepped down from the Home Office in September, after 33 years in the civil service, to become director general of the National Trust. Her departure prompted concerns that Whitehall was looking "maler and paler". Asked about the comments at a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister said: "I understand she is now saying she didn't say what she is reported to have said so I think you might want to bear that in mind."
Her comments are a blow to the prime minister, who has been trying to project a more women-friendly image of the coalition government following previous criticism. Last year, he was accused of patronising two female MPs when he told the Labour MP Angela Eagle to "calm down, dear" and referred to his own MP Nadine Dorries as "frustrated". Such remarks were said to have stoked anger among women already angry about policies that affected them disproportionately. The Evening Standard said that it stood by the quotations it reported.
The prime minister has also faced criticism for failing to fulfil his pre-election pledge to appoint a third of his first government's jobs to women. Ghosh said that while female cabinet ministers supported each other, they were excluded from more powerful cliques. "Female cabinet ministers do a bit of networking among themselves but the other networks in governments are often much, much more powerful – whether it's the Etonian clique or the Brownites or the Blairites," she said. She also said that it was a source of regret to her that too few women were getting the top civil service jobs. Until her recent retirement Dame Helen was one of Britain's most senior civil servants as permanent secretary at the Home Office after a 33-year career in Whitehall.
In 2005, when Ghosh was appointed to her previous post – the top job at Defra – she was the only woman to head a leading department in government. She stepped down from the Home Office in September after 33 years in the civil service, to become director general of the National Trust.
Her departure prompted concerns that Whitehall was looking "maler and paler"
Last year Cameron was accused of patronising two female MPs when he told the Labour MP Angela Eagle to "calm down, dear" and referred to his own MP Nadine Dorries as "frustrated".
Such remarks have angered women already angry about policies that affect them disproportionately.