I never thought I’d say this but I wish Theresa May hadn’t quit... *Title edited by GNHQ*

Not sure who the leader is in Japan but their figures seem amazing given no perceivable lockdown, high density and population! Any explanations?

Leadership? That’s my point - surely TM wouldn’t have bungled it like Boris has.

Why her (of all people)? Just because she's female? There are good and bad leaders, surely, regardless of gender.

Furret, the 'old folks in homes' weren't forgotten, rather, they were disregarded, sacrificed even, as NHS beds were cleared.

The government decided that no testing was needed to send old people from hospitals into homes. They knew exactly what they were doing - and what would happen - it was deliberate - and unforgivable!

Well said Hetty58!

I would be interested to read where the government was sending patients who were due for release back into care homes Hetty, do you have a link?
it’s usually the hospital who will decide that a patient is able to be released back into their care homes, did the Government actually deny giving them tests, or did the hospitals not consider it necessary ?
I haven’t seen any factual evidence that the Hospitals were told not to test before a Patients release, but if you point me in the right direction I would be interested to read it

Keep your hair on Hetty and yes, there are times when a woman does a better job.

Can you think about that instead of going over the ground that has been ploughed over so often already. I do agree with your views (very much so) but that wasn’t the point I was making.

Let’s broaden our perspective. What if countries led by women are managing the pandemic more effectively not because they are women, but because the election of women is a reflection of societies where there is a greater presence of women in many positions of power, in all sectors?

Perhaps Theresa May would have had a better team around her.

It's not gender which matters but ability.
It may just be a coincidence that women lead some countries which have had a lower number of cases than others. For instance, Australia has a male PM but relatively few cases so far.

There are very many factors to take into consideration.

Oopsadaisy3

'Negative tests are not required prior to transfers / admissions into the care home.'

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/886140/admission__and_care_of_residents_during_covid19_incident_in_a_care_home.pdf

'Inquiry over coronavirus patients sent to care homes, as owner says he was forced to take in sick residents
EHRC announces that it is considering investigating the legality of discharging possibly infected patients from hospitals into care homes'

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/14/equalities-watchdog-considers-whether-sending-patients-hospitals/

oopsadaizy talking about sending bed blockers into care homes with spare capacity.

I can remember (probably Hancock) saying exactly that.

So it certainly did form of government policy in the period when they finally decided to take action.

The care home issue is just one point. The whole point is that women leaders seem to have grasped the nettle more thoroughly and effectively than many of their male counterparts.

There is of course a difference between the genders in the way they operate and their different leadership styles. Looking at the way these women have put practicalities and good old common sense before the size of their egos (or possibly another body part) has highlighted this difference,

The worst women I even came across in management were those who aspired to be like certain men who climbed the corporate ladder ruthlessly. The best ones were those who realised they had other skills, more subtle, better and effective ways of getting ‘things done’.

While people like Boris, Trump Bolsonaro and that fat bloke in North Korea seem to think in an ego and ambition driven way, others like those women mentioned seem driven to just get it right. Obviously there are men too who have taken this approach such as Moon Jae-in, but he is backed by thecvery well informed and well respected Kang Kyung-wha.

PS thank you GNHQ for correcting my typo.

furret I do agree the examples are so easy to find.

This seems to be yet another bash Boris thread. Theresa May was useless and ineffective. How on earth can anyone think she would have done a good job. TM threw away her majority because nobody had confidence in her ability. Boris did not. Boris has done a good job in very difficult circumstances. The Labour party and the media have done their best to make the situation worse.

Let’s broaden our perspective. What if countries led by women are managing the pandemic more effectively not because they are women, but because the election of women is a reflection of societies where there is a greater presence of women in many positions of power, in all sectors?

Very good point Furret
Somebody said recently that instead of just admiring Jacinda Arden and moaning about our ineffectual leadership, we need to elect one. And as you have said, promote a society where women of her calibre rise to the positions where they make a difference.

As someone says upthread, Australia has had few deaths and has a male leader, but I don’t think Scott Morrison is very popular with some Australians.
His handling of the bush fire crisis was slated by many.

I agree the women leaders have done a good job in this situation.

It’s alright saying let’s have a female leader - we had one forty years ago and a lot of folks haven’t stopped moaning about her! Even the Labour Party declined to be forward thinking on that score in the last three months!

If we’re judging the handling of COVID on gender, more men have got it right than women.

You cant measure it like that because there are fewer women so that doesnt make sense.

Do think that those countries that seem to have handled this pandemic so much better are those where the leaders that were elected, were genuinely concerned about the people (not about profit).

Those elected leaders (eg in New Zealand, Japan,etc), were therefore trusted and their advice followed by the population.

I think that's part of it, I think its telling that 3 countries with very high death rate are run by people with similar character traits.

Pantglas that’s exactly the type of woman I was talking about in management. Thatcher thought the way to success was to be like ‘strong’ men who had gone before, and then some more.

Thank you to those who looked behind the words and to my meaning. I’m glad we’re discussing this because I think it really matters when coming to decide what values we hold dear and how we would want our leaders to reflect those in a new world order.

At some point, the fact that it is a female leading a government will be utterly banal. We will look past gender and notice other qualities of leadership: vision, managerial skill, judgment, empathy, character, etc.