Woman can be clever and have a career, but still like clothes, Theresa May joked.
The Tory home secretary, renowned for her often striking outfits, said one of the challenges for women in public life was “to be ourselves”.
She told the Women in the World summit: “I am a woman, I like clothes, I like shoes.
“You can be clever and like clothes, you can have a career and like clothes. These are not separate.”
Asked what puts women off politics, Mrs May – who has previously admitted a sense of loss at not being a mother – disagreed it was concerns about juggling the work with a family life.
She suggested it was the “rough and tumble” image, adding: “Often women just need somebody to say to them ‘I think you can do it’.”
She described former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher as a “unique politician”, but insisted she did not have a role model or mentor.
She also said she had tried never to attribute a failure to her being a woman.
You can be clever AND like clothes, says Theresa May
