Prime Minister David Cameron’s three-day-old administration was criticised by activists, the press and even his new coalition partners for picking an almost entirely white, male and upper-class Cabinet despite pledging that his Conservative party would no longer be an old boys club. Cameron and his deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats, both grew up in wealthy families and attended elite schools. The 23-member Cabinet they selected after forging a coalition government this week includes Britain’s first female Muslim member, but only three other women. Only two run government departments, the mark of influence and power.
Twenty-two Cabinet members are white, and at least 16 went to top universities Oxford or Cambridge. Cameron has been trying to detoxify the image of the Conservative party as a small club of aristocrats hostile to minorities and indifferent to the poor. He’s been including more minority candidates and pledged in his campaign that a third of senior government jobs would go to women. The participation of the left-leaning Lib Dems also raised expectations of more diversity, now dashed. “Cabinet jobs for well-heeled school chums,” the Daily Mirror tabloid scoffed. “A huge step backward,” wrote gender rights activists in a letter to The Times. “Awash with buddies, backslapping and in-jokes,” said a columnist for The Guardian newspaper.
Radio shows were inundated by complaints about the lack of women and minorities in the upper echelons of power. “When you look at the negotiating teams, they were male and pale,” Liberal Democrat lawmaker Lynne Featherstone told the BBC, referring to senior leaders from both parties who cobbled together the power-sharing deal. “We must do better.” Other European nations have greater gender equity at the top. About half of Norway and Sweden’s Cabinets consist of women, and Germany has six women in its current 16-member Cabinet. Six of Austria’s 13 top ministers are female. In Switzerland, women make up less than a third of the parliament, but within Cabinet there are three women out of seven members.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair had six women in his 2005 Cabinet. Gordon Brown, who resigned this week, had five in his team. “The numbers (of women in government) have certainly gone down, and so has the significance of the posts they hold,” said Margaret Beckett, who served as foreign secretary under Blair. “(Cameron’s) rhetoric has been that we need to bring more women into the administration, but his decisions have not matched that.” Eight percent of Britain’s population consists of ethnic minorities, with Indians being the largest group followed by Pakistanis.
Sayeeda Warsi, the first Muslim woman to sit at Cabinet, has not been given a defined policy area. Theresa May, the most senior female figure in the Conservative Party and the new Home Secretary, will also serve as minister for equalities. Her appointment was questioned by some gay rights activists. Although praised as a Conservative modernizer, May voted against equalizing the age of sexual consent for gays and heterosexuals in 1998, and in 2002 she voted against letting gay couples adopt children. May did, however, vote in favor of civil partnerships. Analysts say Cameron’s efforts to increase diversity in the party’s upper ranks by recruiting women candidates mockingly dubbed “Cameron’s cuties” by the press — didn’t work because the new recruits don’t yet have enough experience.
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service The Rt Hon David Cameron MP Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council (with special responsibility for political and constitutional reform) The Rt Hon
Nick Clegg MP First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The Rt Hon William Hague MP Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne MP Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP Secretary of State for the Home Department; and Minister for Women and Equalities The Rt Hon Theresa May MP Secretary of State for Defence Dr Liam Fox MP Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Dr Vincent Cable MP Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne MP Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley CBE MP Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove MP Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles MP Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond MP Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Caroline Spelman MP Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell MP Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson MP Secretary of State for Scotland (and providing ministerial support to the Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet Office) Danny Alexander MP Secretary of State for Wales Cheryl Gillan MP Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt MP Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws MP Leader of the House of Lords, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Rt Hon Lord Strathclyde Minister without Portfolio (Minister of State) * Baroness Warsi Also attending Cabinet meetings: Minister for the Cabinet Office, Paymaster General The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP Minister of State – Cabinet Office (providing policy advice to the Prime Minister in the Cabinet Office) The Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP Minister of State (Universities and Science) – Department for Business, Innovation and Skills David Willetts MP Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal The Rt Hon Sir George Young Bt MP Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP Attorney-General Dominic Grieve QC MP Department appointments Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister of State – David Lidington MP Minister of State – Jeremy Browne MP HM Treasury Financial Secretary – Mark Hoban MP Economic Secretary – Justine Greening MP† Exchequer Secretary – David Gauke MP† Ministry of Justice Minister of State – The Rt Hon Lord McNally Minister of State – Nick Herbert MP (jointly with the Home Office) Home Office Minister of State (Minister for Security) – Baroness Neville-Jones Minister of State (Minister for Immigration) – Damian Green MP Minister of State (Minister for Police) – Nick Herbert MP (jointly with the Ministry of Justice) Ministry of Defence Minister of State (Minister for the Armed Forces) – Nick Harvey MP Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Minister of State (Minister for Universities and Science) – David Willetts MP** Minister of State – Mark Prisk MP Minister of State – John Hayes MP Department for Work and Pensions Minister of State – Chris Grayling MP Minister of State – Steve Webb MP Department for Energy and Climate Change Minister of State – Charles Hendry MP Minister of State – Gregory Barker MP Department of Health Minister of State – Paul Burstow MP Minister of State – Simon Burns MP Department for Education Minister of State – Sarah Teather MP Minister of State – Nick Gibb MP Department for Communities and Local Government Minister of State – Greg Clark MP Minister of State – Grant Shapps MP Department for Transport Minister of State – Theresa Villiers MP Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister of State – James Paice MP Department for International Development Minister of State – Alan Duncan MP Northern Ireland Minister of State – Hugo Swire MP Law Officers Solicitor General – Edward Garnier QC MP Whips – House of Lords Lords Chief Whip (Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms) – The Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE
