ABSTRACT
While the 101 Labour women MPs in the 1997 Parliament have been acknowledged for effecting some changes – adding colour to the House, changing the food served in Parliament’s restaurants to include ciabatta and mozzarella with ‘menus boast[ing] tiny hearts printed next to low-fat offerings and tiny ticks to denote vegetarian’1 – the dominant representation of them has been one of loyalty, timidity and tears. Most importantly, they are said to have failed women. The shadow of the reduction in lone parent allowance loomed large over their heads.
