WAYS OF POLITICAL WIVES

Evening Star, Issue 22540, 7 January 1937, Page 1

WAYS OF POLITICAL WIVES

HOMELAND EXAMPLES We hear a great deal about M.P.s, but not very much about their wives, and yet they are an interesting study, writes One of Them ”in the 1 Daily Mail.’ There is the Young Wife who behaves as if nobody had ever married an M.P. before. She shows tremendous keenness, haunts the galleries, loves to take her friends and point out to them the Front Bench celebrities. The policemen and messengers all have a friendly word with her; she is so fresh and interested in everything and so obviously enjoying herself. I have a dim recollection of this feeling. It was pleasant while it lasted. Then there is the Capable Wife, who is president of this and chairman of that, who runs the constituency and her husband, too. One sometimes wonders why he is there at all—so, I think, does he. Yet he |oins in the general chorus of admiration—“ My wife, you know, she runs the show.” And the others talk of her as “ Mrs So-and-so, what a wonderful woman!” A hard worker is this woman, who prides herself on never having an idle minute. She is ah excellent speaker, and thrives on the kudos she receives—and deserves. The New Member’s Wife is rather proud and thrilled at her position. One meets her at political receptions, complete' with husband in smart morning coat and buttonhole. (The Older Members’ wives have long learnt that their husbands are “ busy at the House ” on these occasions.) She tries to look very self-assured as she penetrates the crowd round the tea table, talking brightly with her husband, hoping people will think he is a friend she has just met. She is _ praying for a friendly face. A charming personality in her own home, she is a little out of her element here, rather doubtful about her clothes and the dashing new lipstick she was inveigled into buying. She has an inferiority complex, hut is determined nobody shall guess it. She is not enjoying herself, but, after all, she can always write home to her friends about the “ delightful reception ” and how she met the Prime Minister. The Older Member's Wife is in quite a different category. She has been opening bazaars and presiding over functions for so long that one feels sbo must say, as she shakes your hand, “ It is a great pleasure for me to be here to-day." She regards the whole business as somewhat boring, but necessary to her status, and she makes the best of it. A slight—quite- unconscious—glow of superiofnv .surro.4-'ls her, <■ One notices this also in Ministers' wives. ; , ' - The wife who iV not politically minded does not like limelight, but works hard behind the scenes. She is helpful in the constituency, often is her husband’s secretary; but she is not very spectacular, and therefore not of much account in the gay world. Always popular is the wife who makes jests about the constituents, pompous Ministers, her fellow-wives—-in fact, about everything. Delightful to meet, she is considered a little dangerous. In contrast there is the wife who thinks her husband is fulfilling a mission, that to represent so many thousands of people is a high calling. Doubtless very commendable sentiments on her part, cut apt to become tedious. On the whole these wives make a brave show. Theirs is not a very easy life. There are frequent journeys, late nights, and one is practically husbandless from -Monday to Friday. Possibly, like sailors, that is why members and wives always seem to get on so well together.