A personal view

I think it is different with politics, if I had to vote on a matter which could affect the lives - for good or not - it is natural to discuss it to the person closest to you. As for oversea trips, it's what most countries leaders do

I do not think anyone has suggested that a wife (or husband, why always wives?) should melt into the background but outside politics husband's and wives generally do not start putting their oar into each others careers, unless they choose the same one, when that does occasionally happen.

I have attended the occasional work related do with DH and he has done the same for me, but generally he has gone about his engineering without needing me to join him on overseas trips or get in the way when he went offshore and certainly I was never asked for my opinion on any project he was working on. It worked the other way round. he was never asked his opinion on my work, nor did he contribute to work meetings.

i see no reason why politics should be any different.

Both the Blairs were in law and both involved in Labour Party politics, she being more to the left than her husband . She stood in a safe Tory seat and lost . They did reach a decision on who should continue in politics, she stayed in law and he went into politics

And I don't agree that a wife should melt into the background to support her husband .

On a much smaller scale , when I married we agreed I would continue with my protests even though married to a police office .

I was listening to an interview yesterday [I think it was with Andrew Neil] and one of the people being interviewed [according to the S.O.] was a lawyer. It was fascinating listening to the way he answered the questions; so different to the politicians with journalistic backgrounds. It isn't something that occurred to me until the people I spoke to pre referendum called the leave lot 'a bunch of journalists'. Didn't the Blairs have to make a decision as to which one would be the politician? I still think that Barbara Castle should have been our first woman PM. A remarkable woman imo.

Iwonder what would have happened if she'd been selected instead? No Iraq war?
Must be a novel in there somewhere.

Mrs Blair stood as a labour candidate before her husband did , I consider that being politically active

As PM spouses are being discussed I remembered Mary Wilson was a poet, so I Googled her. Amazed to find she made 100, does anyone know if she is still alive? Obviously a talented woman who stayed well in the background. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wilson,_Baroness_Wilson_of_Rievaulx

Anniebach I do not believe, and did not suggest that a woman - or man - involved in politics should give it up if they marry a more succesful politician. However I do believe they should continue their political life on their own skills and abilities only and not ride on the coat tails of their spouse.

Mrss Cameron, Brown, Blair, Messieurs Thatcher and May, none of them had/have political careers so I see no reason why they should play any part in the political process when their spouse becomes Prime Minister.

Most of them had successful careers of their own before their spouses became PM and I also think they should be able to continue these careers without having to subsume them to a politically successful spouse. This is something that, regrettably several of them, including Mrs Cameron, had to do,

Given she wasn't a political person, I thought Sam was a good Tory PM's wife. She brought up their children out of the limelight and was a good hostess when required. She also supported a lot of charities as the PM's wife that probably didn't make the news. She also continued to work (albeit part time) after her husband was made PM (not sure how much time she was able to actually work through). I think she played the role she 'trained' for very well and admired her by the time she was leaving Downing Street.

I also admired Sarah Brown very much and Cherie Blaire to a lesser extent when they were the wife of the PM.

I don't know why we haven't had a female Labour Leader or PM. It's an interesting question, but I'm not worried about the answer. For me and my family, Margaret Thatcher was the worst PM of our time. Theresa May I have more respect for right now, but it's very early days. That respect is partly because of how she conducts herself i.e. there's no whiff of scandal around her.

Let's face it, the Tories didn't have many candidates who were untainted that way.

By the way, I'm much more likely to come across Corbyn's wife's products than Cameron's.

Exactly, Annie, she shouldn't need to.
There should also not need to be a comment about her walking so many steps behind Corbyn by Fraser Nelson as if it's somehow a crime.
I find the whole tone of the tweet to be quite nasty.

Why should she have a need to broadcast it Jen?

Who is a business woman in her own right but possibly does not see the need to broadcast it.

Getinonabit, Corbyn has a wife, his third wife

Isn't the tweet Fraser Nelson's words, rather than Janice Turner's?

.trieher, Mo could turn the air blue .

Thatcher would not have been PM if Keith .Joseph hadn't blotted his book. He then chose to groom Maggie to carry his policies through for him

mOinca, you believe a woman involved in politics should stop all involvement if she marries a politician? I disagree

gettingonabit, Sarah Brown was not posturing , you are forgetting the majority of
PM wives have been married for quite some time, Gordon had been chancellor for three years when they married

Labour has a long history of strong women who never made the top of the party all for different reasons. Mo Mowlam, Barbara Castle, Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper. The Conservatives of course carefully groomed and manufactured Thatcher for the job. Theresa May seems to have got there by keeping her mouth shut. Maybe the trouble with Labour women is that they are never prepared to be "yes women" but state their views plainly and honestly and make enemies as a result.
sarahetc Labour women have often been prepared to use much more outspoken language, many of them were renowned for their graphic language, a rude word would not upset them.

No

Hmmm...interesting! So do you think working class women are prepared to accept that 'their' men are sexist and are more prepared to play the role of little woman?

Yes, I think they are - and I think it is true, but I think it is what I would call instinctive sexism rather than consciously thought through sexism.

To be honest, I'm more interested in the second part of the tweet about the impossibility of a Labour Theresa May.

I'd never even thought much about Samantha Cameron and don't think I've ever read about David's pride in his wife's talents. Maybe I just read things in the wrong places.

Is the tweeter trying to say that all Labour males are sexist?

I do not think Prime Ministerial spouses should play any part at all in political life. I do not even want to see happy family snaps on election leaflets.

You vote, or should, for an MP on the basis of their party affiliation and personal views on specific issues, not because their spouse is good looking/will run the constituency office/dress smartly for royal occasions. For once I admire Jeremy Corbyn. I know he is married, has had more than one wife, has sons - and that is it. I assume his wife leaves him to get on with his job and she gets on with hers. ditto their sons, none of them seem to be trying improve their standing by riding on the 'glory' of his position. Samantha Cameron played no part in her husband's political life other than as an accompanying spouse at big events, and as far as I am concerned that is as it should be. She has a life and career of her own.

The USA has a completely different electoral system. the President runs on a party ticket but runs as an individual - hence all the primary elections before the choice is made. The wives of presidents have often been strong women and unofficial vice-presidents. Think Martha Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacky Kennedy, Rosalind(?) Carter, Hilary Clinton. Michelle Obama has just been following in a grand tradition of presidential wives.

Thanks, daph, though it shouldn't have been a problem, janea, cos the link is to a tweet, not to the Times.