What is a boys club and does Labour have a problem?

The prime minister is facing calls to lead a “complete culture change” from the top of government following on from the Epstein Files implicating his former US ambassador Peter Mandelson as being closely associated with the sex offender.

Morgan McSweeney resigned as Sir Keir’s chief of staff as a result, as did his director of communications Tim Allan.

Leading into Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, there was further embarrassment for Sir Keir who had just suspended Lord Matthew Doyle for his links to a paedophile councillor.

At the Commons, Conservative leader accused the PM of "stuffing the Government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists".

Here is how it breaks down.

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What is a boys club?

During the PMQs exchange, Ms Badenoch accused Sir Keir of "stratospheric levels of delusion" as she said he "always puts the Downing Street boys club first".

According to the dictionary, a boys club is a “male dominated orgnisation that consolidates power and influence,” to the exclusion of women.

The term “old boys club” is also sometimes used to stress an association or network of men who go back many years.

Labour is not even the first to be accused of this in recent times, with Zarah Sultana hitting out at her Your Party collaborates. “I have been subjected to what can only be described as a sexist boys’ club,” she said amid a dispute that has now been resolved.

Does Labour have a boys club problem?

Downing Street has rejected suggestions that it had been run as a boys’ club, and the Prime Minister’s spokesman said he did not accept he had failed to fulfil his promise to end sleaze.

Sir Keir has said that there are a "large number of highly qualified and capable women" working in No 10.

In 2024, 190 of Labour's 411 seats were won by a woman (46 per cent) compared to the Conservatives 29 out of 121 (23 per cent). But unlike the Tories, Labour has never had a female leader.

The PM apologised to female Labour parliamentarians for appointing Lord Mandelson as he spoke at a meeting of the women’s Parliamentary Labour Party.

But he said an apology “must come with action” and that he looks forward to working with them to tackle misogyny and violence against women and girls.

He is now set to appoint a woman as first secretary of state with former interim party leader Harriet Harman stating he should task the appointee with tackling misogyny.

The last Labour first secretary of state was, ironically, Lord Mandelson, who served under Gordon Brown in the late 2000s.

Labour culture secretary Lisa Nandy told LBC: “If the Epstein files showed us anything, it's that they laid bare the fact that there is a group of very powerful, very wealthy men who run systems and the system in their own interests.

“They look after each other and they screw everybody else. And women and girls have been the main victims of that through their association with Jeffrey Epstein.”

She added that a culture change is needed within Downing Street too.

“So we're going to have to raise our level of ambition and we're going to have to really start acting like a Labour government that is bold and is radical and is prepared to tilt the balance of power in favour of ordinary people in this country,” Ms Nandy continued.

“I'm talking about two things. I'm talking first of all about not just small change and incremental change, but really big change that actually changes people's lives.”