A Woman In Politics: An Interview With MP Rebecca Harris

Rebecca Harris, though a Conservative MP, has to tackle everything thrown her way, even if that includes walking her dog, eating lunch and answering the phone simultaneously.

Mum of one, Rebecca won her position as the Castle Point MP for the second time in the 2015 General Election. Before joining the Tories, Rebecca ‘fell into publishing’ and maybe it was whilst being a delivery driver that Rebecca realised all the shouting she did at radio programmes could be a permanent job. ‘It was inside me all the time and we’re strange people in politics, it’s like a personality disorder.’

‘You don’t really think about it because you all feel like equals and it’s an incredibly polite and civilised place.’ However being apart of it is not as simple as they would like it to be. Though not carried out in Parliament, sexism is an issue because of the media. Rebecca, with a look of serious annoyance, critiques the media’s depiction of her; ‘Now you wouldn’t get that written about a bloke, ‘haughty but attractive’. The sexism I have come across is in the media, and I think that some of the older generation just sort of assume that MPs are blokes and ought to be blokes.’ But it’s not just words by which political females are judged Rebecca explains, whilst cleaning the lenses of her round-rimmed Vogue glasses on the hem of her black and white printed dress. The fashion that these professional women wear, too, is a source for judgement, regardless of their policies or work ethic.

Sipping on her coffee from a Union Jack mug and trying not to pay attention to her new rescue greyhound, Blue, Rebecca turns focus to issues the country faces, like the EU Referendum. ‘If I was given a referendum today about being in or out of the European Union under the current terms, I would vote to get out. That is always my position’, she says, with her finger pointing down on the table and pieces of her short brunette hair being tucked behind her ear.

Her strong posture illuminates her determination and loyalty, though it has been twisted in the media on occasions. But this does not shift her attention from the issues at hand. The current migrant crisis is cause for worry, not only for her constituents, but the nation. ‘They aren’t happy about the fact that there’s illegal immigrants working here that haven’t been picked up, but every one of those people are human beings as well. You forget that, so you have to have laws that are fair and reasonable’, she says.

Rebecca is a real people person, constantly engaging in charity work together with people-orientated plans she aims to carry out during her term. A group that she is determined to target, though, is definitely the women of Britain. She thinks women deserve to have explanations as to what opportunities are there for them, especially in politics. ‘I believe one day we will be saying, ‘we should get more men into politics’.