Harriet Harman says “embarrassing misogyny” is to blame for the fact that Labour has never had a female leader – despite regarding itself as the “party of women and of [gender] equality” next to the Conservatives, who have had two women at the top.

In an exclusive interview with Stylist’s Harriet Hall at the Hay Festival today, the veteran politician, who is standing for re-election in Camberwell and Peckham, says “it is not OK” that Labour has never had a woman at its helm; and insists that the party must actively work to alter its poor gender leadership record in the future.

Harman attended a Facebook Live session with Stylist alongside Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates, after promoting her new memoir A Woman’s Work at Hay.

Having campaigned for women’s rights as a Labour MP since 1982, she’s well placed to observe how the party has changed – and the progress it still needs to make in terms of gender representation.

“It's embarrassing misogyny”: Harriet Harman on why Labour has never had a female leader