Following Michael Fallon’s resignation over allegations of sexual misconduct earlier this week, the dam at the heart of Westminster has well and truly broken, exposing its centuries-old toxic foundations.

Tory MP Charlie Ephicke’s recent resignation, after “serious allegations” pending police investigation, along with claims of groping and inappropriate behaviour by Labour MPs Clive Lewis and Kelvin Hopkins, seem like just one more strand in a complex web of harmful masculinity.

Therefore, Theresa May’s decision to award the newly-vacated position of Defence Secretary to Gavin Williamson: a man famed for his naked ambition, a penchant for theatrical power play and his pet tarantula, Cronus, feels all the more poignant.

Had the timing been different, it would be easy to dismiss Williamson as an archetypal Machiavellian politician. When Ruth Davidson and former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith called on May for a reshuffle in the wake of Fallon’s resignation, there was a sense that the Government might have used the occasion to show an outright condemnation of inappropriate behaviour.

Gavin Williamson enters Ministry of Defence as the new Defence Secretary

That didn’t happen. It is an insult to Mark Garnier’s assistants, whom he asked to buy him sex toys. It is an insult to all those who came into contact with 25 Tory MPs who are alleged to have behaved inappropriately with colleagues and staff. It is an even bigger insult to the overwhelming number of female victims of Tory austerity (cuts have affected women by a total of £79bn since 2010, against £13bn for men). It is an insult to women whose safety has been jeopardised by government cut-backs and institutional indifference.

It is also an insult to teachers and practitioners committed to developing positive, inclusive educational models, who have had to stand by and watch girls’ educational attainment rapidly decline between 2005 and 2015 under this Government, as noted by the Gender Equality Index.

Instead, Williamson’s appointment not only cements the Tories’ catastrophic failing of, and contempt for, women, it also reminds us of the absence of any motivation to challenge a political culture that promotes aggressive assertion of power over those perceived to be weak.

If the outpouring of women’s and men’s stories as a result of the Westminster scandal teaches us anything, it is that the roots of this problem go far beyond the actions of a single party. Whilst Corbyn has been quick to propose a greater degree of accountability for perpetrators of assault and harassment, it is clear that this will not happen without a profound overhaul of a workplace culture that has caused so much damage and distress – inside Westminster and out of it.

Kevin Spacey: his accusers Show all 6 1 /6 Kevin Spacey: his accusers Kevin Spacey: his accusers Anthony Rapp In an interview with Buzzfeed, he claimed that Spacey had made sexual advances on him when he was 14 years old, attending a party at the actor's apartment.



Spacey responded to Rapp's allegations in a statement, saying he is “beyond horrified to hear his story” but does not remember the incident Rex Kevin Spacey: his accusers Roberto Cavazos The actor wrote on Facebook that he encountered Spacey at the bar of London's Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey was artistic director from 2004-15, and that the actor tried to grope him against his will Twitter Kevin Spacey: his accusers Daniel Beal The British barman alleged the actor approached him as he took a cigarette break while working at a West Sussex hotel, sitting down beside the then 19-year-old on a bench, flashing his privates and telling him, "It's big, isn't it?", before trying to pull his hand toward him.



When Beal returned to the bar to work, Spacey allegedly followed him and insisted on giving him a Swiss watch worth £5,000 in value. "I thought he was joking but he took off his watch and gave it to me," Beal stated. "Looking back I realise it was to keep me quiet." Dan Beal/Facebook Kevin Spacey: his accusers Tony Montana The filmmaker has accused Spacey of groping him while he was in an LA bar in 2003. "I went up to order a drink and Kevin came up to me and put his arm around me," he said. "He was telling me to come with him, to leave the bar. He put his hand on my crotch forcefully and grabbed my whole package." Youtube Kevin Spacey: his accusers Anonymous A man, identified as John, which is not his real name, said he was left traumatised after waking up to find Spacey lying on him in the 1980s BBC Kevin Spacey: his accusers Harry Dreyfuss The son of actor Richard Dreyfuss, Dreyfuss junior has claimed that Spacey groped him while his father and Spacey were rehearsing for a play in London in 2008

Westminster’s historic attachment to this type of masculinity has perpetrated a culture of silence and shame. Professor Terry Kupers’ definition of toxic masculinity as a “constellation of socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia and wanton violence” pretty much sums up recent Government policy.

Whatever Theresa May’s motivations for appointing Williamson, and regardless of the implications for her own precarious position in Downing Street, this appointment is symptomatic of a crisis of masculinity.

Conscious cruelty has become an established staple of current policy. Our Government has created a political climate in which vulnerability is abhorred. Power play and humiliation have become normalised, if not expected.

Whilst it is not up to the Tory party alone to fix the problem of systemic sexism, now is the time to begin honest and urgent conversations about the untenable nature of toxic masculinity and its pervasive grip on so many of those in power.