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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics

Peter Mandelson and savvy senior women

Peter Mandelson Stefan Rousseau
Peter Mandelson at the Labour party conference in Liverpool in 2023.
Peter Mandelson at the Labour party conference in Liverpool in 2023. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/Stefan Rousseau / PA

Amelia Gentleman says that Peter Mandelson reached out only rarely to senior women (Mandelson messages could form a manual in the dark arts of wielding power and keeping it, 3 June). Could this be because senior women are far more savvy and less prone to obsequiousness and false flattery than many of their male counterparts?
Helen Ryan
Blandford Forum, Dorset

• Peggy George (Other lives, 10 May) was indeed known for caring support. In 1971 I was the first girl from Sandfields comprehensive to receive an offer from an Oxbridge college, but was held back by the requirement for a language qualification. Peggy gave up her lunch hours to coach me through Latin O-level. So grateful.
Dr Jane Scullion
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire

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