Mary Dejevsky

The rise of the female ambassador

It is, of course, an excellent thing and a mark of social progress when an institutional bastion falls to woman-power. If the days are gone when the upper echelons of UK diplomacy were closed to women then so much the better, when a woman who married had to leave the service, and when female diplomats — with the honourable exception of Pauline (now Baroness) Neville-Jones, who resigned after being passed over for Paris — knew better than to hope for the top postings. The 21st century requires no less: entry on equal terms to the men, progression on equal terms to the men, and access to the most senior jobs on equal terms to the men.

But the way the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced the appointment of Menna Rawlings as the UK’s first-ever female ambassador to France last week, and then added the news that, with her appointment, all the UK’s top diplomatic postings are now held by women left me feeling slightly uneasy — and not only because the parade of smartly dressed, smartly coiffed (white) womanhood illustrating this great leap for womankind had more than an echo of Blair’s babes.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in