The origins of the Labour Party bob
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Labour Party MP belonging to the female sex, must be coiffed with a bob.
From Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to deputy leader Lucy Powell, not forgetting Ed. Sec. Bridget Phillipson, the Labour bob is all the rage. It is not merely a haircut, it is a fact of life.
One wonders if it is an attempt a visual cohesion in a more diverse time, or if it is simply further proof that the only thing separating politics from high school is that the stakes are much higher (although I think most high school aged kids would disagree with that).
It certainly offers a sense of unity that is otherwise lacking between moderate anti-immigration Shabana Mahmood and the rest of the left-wing party.
Most of all, it harkens back to Labour’s good ol’ days. Through these modern fans of the bob back to grandees such as Harriet Harman, this haircut traces a clear line all the way back to the moment when the Labour Party undeniably peaked: when Cherie Blair revolutionised the party forever with her own bob.
Of course, there is some room for creativity when it comes to the Labour bob.
Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper, for example, tests the limits of this standard issue style by reducing its length to a pixie cut, taking a leaf out of the Angela Merkel playbook.
Lisa Nandy takes it in the other direction, growing it out to just shy of the limit where a “lob” could no longer be considered a long bob.
What is almost more striking than the universal finality of the Labour bob is the effect of outright rejecting it. One could even argue that her refusal to don the bob has been one of the reasons that Angela Rayner has held her place in the public imagination despite her retreat from front line politics after her stamp duty issues came to light.
After all, the Labour bob crew has well and true taken over from Rayner as the female faces of the Labour Party, but who do the cast of Saturday Night Live UK choose to imitate when commentating on the politics of the day? Angela Rayner, of course, with her distinctive and unmistakable red locks*.
* It should be noted that if SNL UK was broadcast by the BBC, its limited budget would undoubtedly mean that at least five different actresses playing five different Labour front benchers would have to share the same brown-haired bob wig.
A surprising amount of ink has been spilled in the hopes of finding an answer to the Labour bob question. In my opinion, the reason behind the style’s ubiquity is as simple as it is disheartening.
These women have to balance the limited time in their days with the sexist expectations put upon them. They know their time is precious, so they cannot waste it on an elaborate style. They also know that the press will happily discuss, critique, and even lambast any choice that strays too far from the average.
When you take into account that plethora of conditions, what else remains but the trusty bob?
And yet, in spite of the hope it would be too boring to suscite discussion - or precisely because of this fact - the Labour bob has generated a surprising amount of buzz.
Perhaps the sole, sad conclusion we can reach on the Labour bob is that nothing a female politician does is ever good enough for the public and the press.
And hey, the bob doesn’t look that bad. It could always be worse. It could be ‘French’.
