On Friday 30th January, MP Theresa May was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to come and give a lecture to the Fifth and Sixth Form. Ordinarily, it is only the Sixth Form who take part in the lecture programme but the unique opportunity offered by this lecture dictated that as many girls as possible should attend.
Mrs May entered Parliament in 1997 as the Conservative MP for Maidenhead, and she now holds the positions of Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Shadow Minister for Women. It was slightly daunting to hear that she was determined to be a politician from the age of twelve, and yet she was very encouraging to anyone considering a similar career.
It was interesting to learn that she went to Oxford to study Geography and then continued to work in the banking sector for twenty years before embarking on a political career, demonstrating that politics can be entered into later in life rather than just straight after university.
It was particularly thought-provoking to hear about her work as Shadow Minister for Women. She highlighted the shocking inequalities that still remain between men and women in the workplace, for example, men, on average, receive 17% more pay than women. Her work to try to end such injustice is admirable and may be of benefit to many who heard her speak. She also endeavours to encourage more women into politics, she estimated that there is currently a female/male ratio of 120:430 in the government. The aspiring politicians present were relieved to hear of her efforts in this respect.
For the last 30 minutes of the lecture, Mrs May took questions from members of the audience. These ranged to probing enquiries about the current economic climate to the developing relationship between the USA and Great Britain after Barack Obama’s inauguration, as well as more personal questions such as why she was a member of the Conservative party and why we should be too. She tackled these questions wonderfully and everyone left the lecture feeling that they had spent an interesting and valuable lunchtime.
