LETTERS
Prophecy
Sir: Reading Off the Record by the Coun- tess of Oxford and Asquith (London, 1943), I encountered the following observation in Chapter XVIII:
No amount of education will make women first-rate politicians. Can you see a woman becoming a Prime Minister? I cannot im- agine a greater calamity for these islands were they to be put under the guidance of a woman in 10 Downing Street. They are not even good speakers. . .
There have been many Prime Ministers who have not been good speakers, but they have had other qualities which have made up for that. To be a great Prime Minister you need not be a great orator. The other qualities are balanced judgement, a power of deliberation, to be open to reason, and above all, to suspend judgement. Can a woman do any of these things? Certainly not if she is clever; on the contrary, the cleverer she is, the less likely she is to suspend judgement. Nor is reason the strongest part of a woman's intellect. Intuition? perhaps. Prejudice? often. Courage? always.
Jack Johnstone
94 Longholme Road, Carlisle
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