Marina Wheeler's big move to Labour

Boris Johnson's ex-wife Marina Wheeler is to become the Labour Party's new "whistleblowing tsar" for women.

Wheeler, a leading barrister, will advise Labour on its plans to strengthen protections for women against workplace harassment and abusive colleagues.  

Women who are bullied or sexually harassed in the workplace will be given "new protections as whistleblowers" under a Labour government, reported The Independent. 

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Wheeler and Johnson were married for 25 years before separating in 2018, a year before he succeeded Theresa May as prime minister. 

The background

Workplace whistleblowers are "already protected from unfair dismissal", said the BBC, but the law "only applies in certain circumstances – such as when employers have committed criminal offences". 

Labour is planning to extend protections to "cover people who want to go public about unacceptable behaviour they have faced from bosses, something the party says disproportionately affects women".

In recent years, dozens of MPs have been accused of sexually harassing and bullying members of staff. Most recently, Conservative MP Peter Bone is facing a six-week suspension from the House of Commons after parliament's Independent Expert Panel found that he bullied and exposed himself to a staff member.

The move "also follows allegations of rape and sexual scandal against comedian Russell Brand", said The Independent, which "came to light after a number of women broke years of silence over the matter". Brand has denied the claims. 

The latest

In a speech to the Labour Party conference last week, shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said that women suffering sexual harassment in the workplace face a "terrible choice: if she speaks out, the individual responsible may be investigated, but even then, she still risks losing her job and her other employment rights, while he gets a slap on the wrist.

"It is time we offered the same protections to people reporting sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination in the workplace as we do to other whistleblowers," she said. 

Speaking to The Independent, Wheeler said it was a “privilege" to help Labour protect women from abusive colleagues, and said many women experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace were forced to "suffer in silence" in order to "keep their jobs".

Wheeler highlighted a recent survey of NHS staff, which found that nearly two-thirds of women surgeons said they had been the target of sexual harassment and a third had been sexually assaulted by colleagues in the past five years.

"Having spent over two decades litigating employment disputes, I am delighted to be working with Emily Thornberry to help formulate solutions – including law reform where necessary – to encourage women to come forward," she added.

The reaction

The "irony" of Wheeler's new job has "not been lost on seasoned Westminster watchers", said Caroline Wheeler in The Sunday Times. "Johnson, who has himself faced accusations of sexual harassment – which Downing Street denied – saw his political career implode last year when he was accused of covering up for the alleged sexual misconduct of one of his ministers."

Chris Pincher, who served as Johnson's deputy chief whip, resigned his seat as an MP in September after losing his appeal against a proposed Commons suspension for drunkenly groping two men.

While Wheeler told the paper she has "no political allegiance", her appointment has nevertheless been viewed "as a coup for Sir Keir Starmer". 

Wheeler is also the "second high-profile woman from outside party politics" who will now advise Labour, said the Daily Mirror. Former senior civil servant Sue Gray, "whose report into lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street during Johnson's tenure contributed to his downfall", started work as Labour's chief of staff over the summer.