Jeremy Hunt

Responding to a letter from the Conservative Women in Parliament Group (CWIPG), Hunt last month laid out expansive plans for tackling discrimination against women in the workplace. On maternity rights, he pledged to increase flexibility for mothers returning to work by encouraging job-sharing arrangements and guaranteeing flexible working. He also wants to increase paternity leave, promote the uptake of shared parental leave, and take measures to ensure that women cannot be made redundant while on maternity leave.

On pay inequality he is slightly vaguer, promising to “consult on” the possibility of paid leave for carers and to “review enforcement of equal pay legislation”. Despite promising pledges, though, Hunt’s record as Health Secretary includes the implementation of a new contract for junior doctors which was widely criticised as enshrining a gender pay gap.

Boris Johnson

Johnson’s response to the CWIPG is briefer than Hunt’s and doesn’t make any solid policy commitments. Instead, he states that “where there are barriers – be they in pay, discrimination, against women on maternity leave, or the hidden inequalities of the health system – my government will call them out and do something about them”.

His record on women’s rights in the workplace is similarly light-touch, with few positions taken publicly on issues of pay and discrimination. When he did speak out on the gender pay gap during his time as London Mayor, it was to blame immigration for its persistence (a view not backed up by evidence or experts). He was also accused of breaching sex discrimination laws when he used his Telegraph column to state: “It is a fact that – on the whole – men and women express emotion differently … it should not be an offence to say that”.

Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt: how will the new Prime Minister impact the lives of women?