John McDonnell said he wanted a woman to become the next leader of the Labour party, a day after senior party figures were accused of failing to take allegations of sexual harassment seriously enough.
The shadow chancellor defended Labour’s record on representation of women, pointing out that the party was the first to have a gender-balanced shadow cabinet and had more female politicians than any other political party.
“I am hoping that the next leader of the party will be a woman,” he said, but conceded there were other areas that could be improved to encourage more women into politics, including job-sharing for MPs.
McDonnell has encouraged some of his closest shadow cabinet allies, notably Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary and his protégé, describing her as “incredibly bright, meticulous, [with an] eye for detail, an increasingly good advocate”.
In a wide-ranging chat on the website Mumsnet, McDonnell also hinted that long-awaited changes to the party’s sexual harassment policy would be implemented by Labour’s ruling national executive committee at a meeting on Tuesday.
He described Bex Bailey, the activist who alleged last year she had been raped at a party event and who accused Labour of dragging its feet over the issue, as “incredibly courageous” for speaking out.
McDonnell said: “The NEC is meeting as we speak to discuss rule changes based upon [independent expert] Karen Monaghan’s report, which I understand will implement what Bex has recommended herself.”
However, he ducked questions on the controversial issue of trans rights. “I am really trying hard to fully understand the range of views that have been expressed on this and I’ve set up a number of meetings to talk to people from across the spectrum.”
In response to questions on nepotism, McDonnell defended employing Jeremy Corbyn’s son as his chief of staff, saying Seb Corbyn had been appointed “on merit”, while he [McDonnell] was a backbencher.
“Let me make it clear that [he] was appointed to my parliamentary office when I was a backbencher and has worked for me for several years and prior to me becoming shadow chancellor. I regret the level of abuse he’s received just because of his surname … I do not believe that people’s families should be brought into political debate in this way.”
The shadow chancellor, who has previously called for Conservative MPs to be “challenged” and to face “direct action” when out in public, condemned activists who targeted Jacob Rees-Mogg outside his London home last week and told the Tory MP’s children “your daddy is a horrible person”.
McDonnell said: “I totally condemn what happened when a person accosted Jacob’s children. It was appalling. What I have said in the past is that MPs, of whatever persuasion, should be confronted by people if their actions in parliament are appalling; protest and direct action have been part of our political life since time immemorial. Nevertheless, that protest and direct action must be peaceful.”
Meanwhile, McDonnell appeared well prepared for the Mumsnet biscuit test. “My mum worked behind the biscuit counter in BHS and we lived off broken biscuits, in particular rich tea,” he said. In 2016 Jeremy Corbyn was branded miserable by some Mumsnet users after he said his favourite biscuit was shortbread but that he generally avoided the teatime treats because he was “totally anti-sugar on health grounds”.
