A former Welsh MP has spoken of her experience dealing with "brazen" male politicians at the Houses of Parliament. Betty Williams from the Dyffryn Nantlle area of Gwynedd served as Member of Parliament for Conwy from 1997 to 2010.
During an interview with Beti George on a her BBC radio show, Beti a'i Phobol [Beti and her People], Ms Williams spoke of her upbringing and career as a Welsh Labour politician. She won her seat in 1997 through an all-women shortlist, which was an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament in the UK.
Talking to presenter Beti George during the show, the former MP said that her experience of working at the Houses of Parliament was "incredible" but noted that on several occasions she and other female MPs fell victims to "brazen" behaviour. "It was an incredible experience going to the Parliament," she told Beti.
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"But, what I noticed back then was the lack of amenities offered there for women. All these women, mostly from the Labour party, in '97 hit the place like a bomb. There weren't enough toilets, there was a barber shop there but no hairdressers. That says a lot, doesn't it?"
She then added: "I remember there was one member, who was an example of how they were. There was a woman, she was a very pretty and busty woman, when she stood up on her feet - and to be able to stand up in Parliament and never having been there before was an experience and a half, wasn't it? I remember this man putting his hands around her chest as if he was playing with a woman's breast.
"We've seen things like that, and we've seen far worse. I remember one - his office was on the same corridor as mine, and this one time he came to pass each other in the corridor following a vote. He looked at me and he smiled and then said: 'you look lovely, I'd like to take you to the nightclub tonight'.
"How brazen? I looked at him and I gave him a look I only give when I don't like what someone has told me, a look only for some people. He kept his distance after that.
"Worse than that, I had three cases of things where there were examples of that. We were finishing up on a vote in the chamber once, and then this Tory crossed over from the Tory side, the opposition side, towards me. Julie Morgan and I were talking at the bach of the chamber, and he came and put his hand on my knee and squeezed it."
Betty Williams said she didn't know if similar incidents were still happening at the Houses of Parliament, but hoped that they didn't. She added: "Another time, the third incident I had, I remember we were in a meeting, it was a little bit crowded and that time a Tory held my breast. This was in public and there was a few people around. There were experiences that I endured that I did not like, not at all."
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