God bless the Queen; God save the King.

Last week I got bitten by a pesky biting insect. The first I knew about it was when the back of my knee began to itch. And goodness did it itch. A perfectly formed hard lump appeared and the itch got worse. I applied all my many years of nursing knowledge to stop the itching, you know rubbing it with saliva, a drop of red wine and so on. All to no avail. In the end I decided that mind over matter was the way to go, but that itch dared me to scratch for several days before finally disappearing. I had a different kind of itch last week that tempted me once more to scratch. Not an insect bite but something just as irritating. It was the announcement that our next Secretary of State for Health and Social Care would be Therese Coffey. The almost irresistible itch was to devote this entire blog to her appointment.

But of course, events last week overtook me. On Thursday, our Queen died. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II was perhaps one of the most recognisable people in the world. She was Queen for 70 years and 214 days. She was the second longest reigning monarch of all time (King Louis XIV of France reigned for 72 years and 110 days). During all that time the Queen guided the UK through a post-war recovery, family challenges, technological innovation akin to the Renaissance and enormous social change. It is worth acknowledging that as a woman, the Queen succeeded in so doing, in a world where the social order was largely determined and arranged by men. She had a great sense of duty and always discharged this with care, compassion, an interest in others, and, at times, a sense of humour. She made people feel valued and special. The Queen was a much-loved and respected person and her passing truly feels like an end of an era. Yet strangely, it doesn’t feel like the start of a new one to me just now.

I never met the Queen in person, but have come close to doing so on five occasions in my life. The first time was when I was a young Boy Scout and along with many other Scouts, I entertained the Queen at some event now long forgotten. I do remember an archery session where I had to shoot arrows at balloons fixed on targets. The second time was when my father received his MBE at Buckingham Palace and I was allowed to witness the ceremony. The third and fourth times were connected to my university career. I had lunch with the Queen (along with 100 other folk) when she opened the Geoffrey Manton Building at Manchester Metropolitan University and saw her again, a few years later, when she opened MediaCity in Salford. Finally, J and I were invited to attend one of her legendary garden parties in 2020. Sadly, we never got to go due to Covid restrictions.

Hers was a life lived well. Like her family, and as we have seen, many people across the world, I will miss not having this wonderful person in my life.

There was another woman who died last week, who although perhaps wasn’t as well known as the Queen, I wanted to mention here. Her name was Marilyn Loden. In a different way, she made a big difference to many people’s lives. Marilyn was a passionate feminist, and she was the person who first coined the phrase the ‘glass ceiling’. Some have described her as a pioneering feminist, and she was certainly iconic. In 1978, she first used this now famous phrase when she spoke at the Women’s Action Alliance Conference in New York. Marilyn was not meant to speak and was a last minute substitution for a speaker who failed to turn up. It was during this panel discussion that she talked about the struggles women can experience as they try and advance their careers in often male dominated organisations. She described how many women find it impossible to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ due to cultural prejudices and powerful organisational norms. The ‘glass ceiling’ became a phrase that resonated with women globally. It continues to resonate to this day.

Marilyn wrote many books, the first of which perhaps captured the zeitgeist of the time (1985). It was titled, ‘Feminine Leadership, or How to Succeed in Business Without Being One of the Boys’. In the US she had a positive impact. I loved the story told of Hillary Clinton, who in 2008 after losing the US Presidential race to Barack Obama said: ‘Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to all of you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it’. Marilyn's work led to the creation of Glass Ceiling Commission in the US. Although the commission was dissolved in 1996, the issues they tackled have been further expanded to include challenging discrimination of all forms that can be found in all walks of life. And now, globally, promoting equality, diversity and equality across societies is increasingly given greater prominence and support across all aspects of society.

Last week, in the UK, we saw the assembling of the most diverse Prime Minister’s Cabinet ever. A cabinet of ministers led by our third female Prime Minister. Unlike Hillary, Liz Truss has managed to successfully break through that highest political ‘glass ceiling’.

One of those new cabinet ministers is of course Therese Coffey. Our new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is, at the very least, controversial. As a role model for healthy life choices, I’m not sure our cigar loving, wine drinking, overweight Therese hits the mark.  Some folk have said she also holds several prejudices. She is not keen on abortion, same sex marriages and urged those on Universal Benefit to work extra hours each week to make ends meet. And I don’t think she’s on Marcus Rashford’s Christmas card list either.

However, after the last few days where we have recognised and celebrated the consistent service, duty and leadership Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has provided over 70 years of her reign, the Therese itch is one I can leave unscratched. Let’s rather say thank you to our Queen, may she rest in peace, and let’s all look forward to a new era with King Charles III – God save the King.