Blair Babes or Blair's Babes was a term sometimes used to refer to the 101 female Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Labour Party elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in Labour's landslide 1997 general election victory, after images of the new prime minister,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, with 96 of them on the steps of

Church House Church House may refer to: Buildings Diocesan and national ecclesiastical offices * Church House (Presbyterian Church in Ireland), Belfast, Northern Ireland, headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland * Church House, Brisbane, Queenslan ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

were widely publicised. The photographs have been called "infamous". The phrase is attributed to the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''. The term was criticised as trivialising women in politics, and the group of women MPs to which it referred have been studied as a group.

Background

The 1997 general election saw more women elected to the House of Commons than ever – 120, exactly double the 60 elected at the 1992 general election. Aside from the 101 Labour MPs, there were also 13

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

, three Liberal Democrats, and three from other parties (including Speaker

Betty Boothroyd Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency), West Bromwich an ...

, previously a Labour politician). However, many of the new female MPs grew disillusioned, and nine either chose not to stand or lost their seats in the 2001 general election. Despite two female MPs winning by-elections between 1997 and 2001, and other women being elected, the total number of female MPs fell to 118 at the 2001 general election. A further 22 stood down or lost their seats at the 2005 general election, although the number of female MPs increased again to a new record of 127.

Perception

According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'',

Margaret Moran Margaret Mary Moran (born 24 April 1955) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Moran was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South from the 1997 general election to 2010. In November 2012, jurors at Southwark Crown ...

, MP for Luton South, described the "perception that the 1997 intake of female Labour MPs are all robotic clones" as "complete tosh".Mark Inglefield. "A fair cop", ''The Times'', London, 2 September 2000, p. 22 Moran said that she herself was not a Blair Babe, but a "Blair Witch". The columnist

Polly Toynbee Mary Louisa "Polly" Toynbee (; born 27 December 1946) is a British journalist and writer. She has been a columnist for ''The Guardian'' newspaper since 1998. She is a social democrat and was a candidate for the Social Democratic Party in the 19 ...

condemned the term as a "casual,

misogynist Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practised ...

tag."

Implications of the term

The sociological implications of the term and the experiences of Labour's women MPs were extensively analysed by Sarah Childs in her 2004 book ''New Labour's Women MPs: Women Representing Women''. It has been identified as a trivialising way to refer to women in politics, similar to Cameron Cutie. Tony Blair's wife

Cherie Blair Cherie, Lady Blair (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is the spouse of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth was born ...

did not like the term. Margaret Moran said it should not be used. The term has also been used within Parliament to stigmatise some women MPs, separating "young attractive" Blair's Babes from "brainy babe . Some of the group believe that the term was harmful to their ability to bring about change, and that it encouraged a focus on their appearance. It has been reported that the ''Daily Mail'' used the term "to challenge Labour's claim that having 101 women MPs would make a difference".

Experiences of Blair's Babes as a group

This group of women MPs has sometimes been used as a way to examine women MPs' experiences in Parliament, as in a ''

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'' article by

Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer. Early life Cooke was born in Sheffield, England, and is the daughter of a university lecturer in botany and a biology teacher. She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11 ...

in 2007. Cooke's interviews of ten of the women found that some of them had experienced bullying, sexism and cliques in Parliament, as well as working hours that conflicted with family life. They have also been the subject of "where are they now?" articles. The journalist Lucy Ward has written of the group, As of the 2024 general election, there are five Blair Babes left in the House of Commons, out of a total of 263 female MPs. File:Official portrait of Ms Diane Abbott crop 1.jpg,

Diane Abbott Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has been serving as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987 Unit ...

(1987)

Hackney North and Stoke Newington Hackney North and Stoke Newington is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 1987 by Diane Abbott, a member of the Labour Party who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 6 October 2016 to 5 April 2020. Abbo ...

File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP crop 1.jpg,

Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician who has served as Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, Cooper has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of parliament (MP) for Po ...

(1997)

Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley is a constituency in West Yorkshire of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 gener ...

File:Official portrait of Ms Angela Eagle MP crop 1.jpg, Angela Eagle (1992)

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

File:Official portrait of Maria Eagle MP crop 1.jpg,

Maria Eagle Maria Eagle (born 17 February 1961) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Garston, previously Garston and Halewood, since 1997 Unit ...

(1997) Liverpool Garston File:Official portrait of Siobhain McDonagh MP crop 1.jpg, Siobhain McDonagh (1997) Mitcham and Morden

Background

Perception

Implications of the term

Experiences of Blair's Babes as a group

List

References

Further reading

See also