In the run-up to the 2017 general election, the Labour MP Diane Abbott received almost half of all the abusive tweets sent to female MPs in the election period, and now, the MP is having to contend with yet more abuse.

This week, it was revealed by The Guardian that a prominent Conservative party donor, Frank Hester, said in a 2019 meeting that he didn’t hate all Black women but on seeing Abbott on TV that “you just want to hate all Black women because she’s there” and thought she “should be shot”.

Abbott has since reported Hester’s violent remarks to the police and issued a statement to Good Morning Britain where she said: “It is frightening. I live in Hackney; I don’t drive, so I find myself, at weekends, popping on a bus or even walking places, more than most MPs. I am a single woman and that makes me vulnerable anyway. But to hear someone talking like this is worrying.”

Hester has since apologised for his comments, calling them “rude” but said that his “criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”.

The Tories have a history of denying racism within their ranks but with comments as clear-cut and harmful as these, you’d think the prime minister would be able to call it what it is. Sadly not. When the story broke, Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, called Hester’s remarks “unacceptable”, but as time went on, Sunak eventually acknowledged the comments as “racist and wrong”. He went on, however, to suggest that Hester’s apology should be accepted and ruled out returning a £10 million party donation to him.

Today, Abbott attended the weekly prime minister’s questions (PMQs) session in parliament. Again, you’d think her attendance may grant her the opportunity to speak about this experience for herself as one of very few Black women in politics.

Shockingly, however, Abbott wasn’t called on once by the speaker of the house, Lindsay Hoyle. The MP stood to ask a question several times, and each time she was ignored. This cannot have been accidental or ignorance; Hoyle accepted questions and remarks from other MPs on the same topic. He knew that Abbott was there and yet appeared to dismiss her.

A spokesperson for Hoyle told The Guardian that he had not called Abbott because there had not been time to do so once he had gone through those listed on the order paper.

Labour leader Keir Starmer asked the prime minister if he was “proud to be bankrolled by someone using racist and misogynist language” and SNP Commons leader Stephen Flynn accused Sunak of putting “money before morals”. Abbott had to sit in her workplace – a workplace mired in misogyny and racism from both sides of the political spectrum – and listen to man after man talk and debate racism and her own experiences without ever being given the chance to speak for herself. This is how she’s treated in the house she’s sat in for nearly 40 years.

If ever there was a crystal clear example of what systemic racism and misogyny looks like in our political system, it’s MPs debating whether a donor saying he wants to shoot a Black MP is a bad thing and then not allowing the MP the donor was referring to speak for herself while she’s sitting in the same room and repeatedly asking to talk. And that’s not even taking into account how deeply offensive it is – and indicative of how little racism is taken seriously by those in power – for Sunak to effectively tell Abbott to accept Hester’s apology.

Soon after the PMQs session, Abbott shared a post on X: “I don’t know whose interests the Speaker thinks he is serving. But it is not the interests of the Commons or democracy.”

This is an MP who has also had to deal with alleged racism and abuse within her own party, which was laid bare in the 2022 Forde Report. The report found that a large proportion of the racism within the party was directed at her and Abbott is yet to receive an apology from the Labour leadership.

So, why is it any surprise that women, particularly women of colour, aren’t choosing politics as a career? I definitely wouldn’t. A 2023 Fawcett report found that only 37% of women MPs agreed that the ‘culture in parliament is inclusive for people like me’, compared to a majority of men. Meanwhile, 93% of women MPs said that online abuse or harassment has a negative impact on how they feel about being an MP.

If anything, many Black and brown women will see their own experiences reflected in how women MPs are treated – tone policed, silenced and spoken for. Black women aren’t just navigating a glass ceiling in the workplace but a concrete ceiling where a lack of diverse leadership and transparency in opportunities means many Black women can’t break through. In its Broken Ladders report, Fawcett also found that 75% of women of colour have experienced racism at work with 61% saying that they have changed one or more parts of themselves at work, such as their hairstyle or even their names.

And if this is allowed to happen in the country’s most visible workplace, the chances for people in environments that aren’t televised to millions are even lower. All this does is give other industries, corporations and businesses the green light to allow racism and misogyny to fester within its walls, with zero accountability or consequence. But there are consequences to these actions and who will shoulder the repercussions? Black and brown women, of course.

Image: Getty