Thursday 9 June 2011

however does she manage it?

this was sent to me by a correspondent who described it as "Rachel Eden spouting out of her other orifice".  Well, I would not presume to comment on that, however do read the piece, it is a guest post by Ms Eden, whom, I repeat, I do not know in person; I know only that she is being pushed as the Labour parliamentary candidate for  Reading West.  Anyway, she posts there on a blog for mummies, yummy or otherwise, and it really is a "however does she manage it"? kind of thing.  And yet, let us deconstruct this a little.  She is a borough councillor, a member of the group which has just taken control of the council as a minority administration.  I was a councillor for ten years on that very council, latterly lead councillor for Arts and Leisure as it was then, and held a number of positions.  Also in Labour control.  So I know at least something about the onerousness of those duties.  For all that time I had a full-time, fairly demanding job outside the council and was the breadwinner of my family.  I went into politics as an elected representative when my younger child was seven, so not a baby - Ms Eden is the mother of a baby girl, I would guess about a year old.  But Ms Eden holds no paid employment outside her council duties, and even though council allowances are considerably more generous than they were in My Day it is not possible to live on them, at least not in Reading, and certainly not to keep a family on them.  So the husband Ms Eden acknowledges is in residence must be supporting the family financially.  For me that would have been an impossible dream.  Ms Eden also refers to her own mother, and to at least one other family member, turning up and babysitting while she attends meetings (I hope she did not claim childcare allowance for those meetings, hein?), something I never had.  She also has a cleaner, ditto for me until much later.

So, even in my current tranked state (Tramadol, might in future be tempted to use it recreationally, no, just kidding folks) while I recover from a broken rib and the finest medical minds of this part of France try to decide whether I also have pneumothorax and/or a collapsed lung, I can see that Ms Eden has a privileged life and is very far from "however does she manage it?"  Nicola Horlick (remember her?)  she ain't.

Still, I wish Rachel well in her quest for a parliamentary seat.  If she does get elected somewhere, and I strongly suspect it will not be in Reading West, as when she is selected the boys will see to that, if the electorate do not look as though they are minded to, look what they did to Anneliese Dodds, she will find that walks in the park with hubby while mummy babysits, then leisurely lunches with girlfriends, are not the stuff of an MP's life.  No.  There is actual WORK to be done.  Ever done any of that Rache?  Hope so.

Good to have pre-publicity for the campaign, though, I am sure you will agree.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well - you know - if being an MP was all about walking in the park with a baby and lesiurely lunches then - WEY HEY -- it must have been in another life because it wasn't like that for me.

Neither did I have the benefit of the trendy Carole Middletonesque mummsy to be a super gran - and certainly not the super dooper hubby at the kitchen helm, continually opening that capacious wallet for a whisk me away mini break, terrific perfume treat or just doing jolly supa thigimabobs with the bouncing Pears-soap style kids.

Not my story - natch.

However - it is now emerging that with parliamentary selections in the offing - nobody who does not have this Dorothy and Toto -style back story as a woman should BLOODY BOTHER TO APPLY.

So roll on right ahead, Rachey babes!
Anyone not conforming to this noxious stereotype should emigrate. Sadly, I don't have Barack Obama's number on me ..........

Anonymous said...

More whining from Jane the has-been or was it the never-was.

Your bitter musings on the town you used to live in years ago (informed by special sources in Reading) are getting tedious and repetitive.

Do try and move on and enjoy your new life in the far off place you now live in.

janestheone said...

Ooh, "far off place", excellent, I remember when the world was told I was going to "far-flung Latvia" - where people go from the UK for stag nights! Tell those who commute here from London that it is "far off"! Oh and another thing sir, if you don't like what you read here then, er, don't read it. Thanks though for being such an assiduous reader from your own far-off place.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous I can understand why you're bitter and angry. You got it wrong, dumped a good MP, then lost the council and now have two Tory MPs. To make your nightmare worse the person you dumped now writes more entertainingly and insightfully about Reading politics than any other source. Can you not do better than a tired cliche as your only reposte? Try writing something interesting yourself then we may pay attention. Otherwise don't waste our time.

janestheone said...

boys, boys, calm down - oh, and it's "riposte". Occurs to me though that the comments on this blog are populated by many people to whom such matters are the stuff of life. Sad bastards.

janestheone said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Glad to know that Rache has already got her outriders on mounted steeds, snorting and pawing -- yup whiney Anon?

Pass the Pampers.

Note to Rache.

It never works to play the Yummy Mummy card. Life has a habit of thumping you in the jacksy.

One moment the Lucy Cavendish of Reading. The next - a deserted wife with a baby on hip and without a Pampers Papa.

The Whips are not at all sympathetic to such circs, I am afraid - if you do ever scale the root of the greasy pole.

And as for the Reading Labour Party? Forget it sister.

Jonny said...

I'm not sure that entry was by Ms Eden. It is clearly a straight lift from Private Eye's Polly Filler.
And do women who have given birth really refer to themselves as "mummy"?

janestheone said...

apparently in some circles they do.

Anonymous said...

Yes - in the influential circles of the current Labour Party - one is a Mummy not a Mother.

And one just loves coffee and cakes.

Anonymous said...

OMG. As a Reading Labour Party member, who may one day be asked to nominate said Ms Eden, I am afraid she has just lost my vote for her teeth-itchingly appalling references to "Mummy" "Daddy" and "Little-One". I have never met the woman, but she is now dressed in a romper suit with bunches and an affected baby voice forever in my minds-eye. And with any other mother who has had to balance children and a demanding career I say "diddums", there's many have it a lot worse. Try being an immigrant worker doing night shifts.
"Messy Play" for crying out loud. I can just see the eternal conversations about "possetting" and carrying around vast amounts of muslin squares now. The sort of mum who had a baby and the rest of the world were sure as hell going to know about it.

Anonymous said...

"Constant Weader thwowed up" Dorothy Parker.

Anonymous said...

..and, Rachel, don't think an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence is a replacement for actual wit.

...and who is the batty old bird who is still putting everybody in clean knickers and loading the table with food even though everybody's left home? Sounds like a modern day Miss Havisham.

Anonymous said...

...and another thing. Just had a look at her profile on her blog. Reading list not got more sophisticated than your average sixteen year old girl. Apart from "Margaret Atwood" whom she seems to imagine is a book.

Still it is nice to know that there are still people out there who think it is somehow reasonable to list "Lord of the Rings" in favourite film and book.

Bless. I am hazarding a guess that she probably thinks eating a cream cake is naughty.

Anonymous said...

Do people still wear knickers these days?

Andraste said...

Anon 22.20, yes, White cotton Sloggis. Unless there's, er, something a bit special going on ;)

Anonymous said...

And if there is something a bit special - then what? Or not?

Anonymous said...

Black lacy ones ;)

Anonymous said...

...and who is the batty old bird who is still putting everybody in clean knickers and loading the table with food even though everybody's left home? Sounds like a modern day Miss Havisham.

Erm, possibly Jan Gavin?

Pants Ahoy said...

Jesus - a nation of knicker fetishists. That's enough.