I really wanted to meet Jess Phillips and had her on my podcast wish list for a little while (listen: https://smarturl.it/spinningplates). I think Jess always comes across as the sort of politician I imagined all politicians were like when I was a kid - smart, engaged and passionate. I was curious to hear about how it works when you’re raising a young family against the backdrop of politics. Jess is the Labour MP for Yardley in Birmingham, serving the same area she grew up in. It's also where she has brought up her 2 sons with her husband Tom, who has always done the lion's share of the childcare and cooking. Jess jokes that she sometimes feels like a 1950s househusband asking Tom why dinner isn't on the table, when she's finshed work. She is pleasingly happy in her own skin and has a turn of phrase that really tickles me. She talked to me proudly about her mum and dad's political activism, happy memories of watching Prime Minister's Questions after school with her nan every week and how she sometimes deals with aggression by fighting back with humour. We also talked about how every woman should be able to choose to have or not have a baby.
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