Labour has never had a female leader because ‘it’s a bit sexist’, says Jess Phillips

However, former minister tells Hay festival ‘the idea that a woman leads and it makes it better for women is not one I’ve recognised in this country’

The Labour MP Jess Phillips has described her party as “sexist” for having no permanent female leaders in its history.

Asked at the Hay literary festival why Labour has never had a female leader, Phillips responded that “like all institutions, it’s a bit sexist innit”. She added that “every institution that every single person in this room works for is led by the patriarchy”.