Is a ‘boys’ club’ undermining Starmer’s government?
Electoral Dysfunction
Sky News
4.4 • 764 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Prime Minister has just about made it to Friday... but the crises keep coming. So is Downing Street a “boys’ club”? And how did two senior Labour figures with links to convicted paedophiles pass vetting?
Beth, Ruth and Harriet lift the lid on the weekend that led to Morgan McSweeney’s sudden resignation, revealing the three options that were on the table.
So now he has two women interim chiefs of staff – are claims that there’s a boys’ club in Downing Street valid? The ladies answer a listener question about whether women are being pushed onto a “glass cliff” just when everything’s going wrong.
Plus, Harriet explains what “structural misogyny” looks like in practice, why it matters for decision-making, and the proposal she’s putting directly to the PM: creating a First Secretary of State to drive culture change across government.
And as the Mandelson fallout continues, there’s fresh questions over another vetting failure - Matthew Doyle’s peerage.
A source close to the prime minister rejected suggestions of a "boys' club" in Downing Street, saying there were a number of "highly qualified and capable women that work in Number 10" including cabinet ministers and special advisers "across the whole government who are often forgotten in all of this".
Got a question for the burner phone? WhatsApp 07934 200 444 or email electoraldysfunction@sky.uk
And if you didn't know, you can also watch Beth, Ruth and Harriet on YouTube.
Transcript
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