UK Tory MP Mike Wood rebuked after proposing ban on 'gender' in government publications

Conservative MP Mike Wood has been firmly rebuked after proposing that the word "gender" be removed from official government documents.

Wood, the MP for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire, raised the issue in a written parliamentary question addressed to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. He asked whether she would "make it her policy to reference 'sex' rather than 'gender' in future departmental publications."

Responding on Cooper's behalf, Foreign Office minister Seema Malhotra delivered a pointed reply:

"The department will continue to use the word 'gender' when it is appropriate to do so."

Malhotra then highlighted multiple instances in which Wood himself had used the term "with care and sensitivity" in the House of Commons:

• 2015 — He spoke "movingly about his ambitions for his own young son and daughter," but noted there was "far, far more to do if we are to eliminate the gender pay gap altogether and build the equal society that we all want."
• 2016 — He addressed "gender inequalities" and "gender-based violence" facing young women affected by the conflict in Yemen.
• 2018 and 2019 — He again referenced the "gender pay gap."
• 2022 — He praised the "almost identical gender balance" in pub trade employment, an observation he repeated in 2024.
• Last year — Speaking about a colleague affected by illness, he said: "Cancer does not care about politics. It does not care what background we come from, our age or gender, or what party we belong to. It strikes indiscriminately."

Malhotra concluded:

"In all these cases, the use of the word 'gender' seems perfectly appropriate, and in some instances – such as 'gender inequality', 'gender based violence', and 'gender pay gap' – these are commonly-used and widely-understood terms, which it would make no sense to strike from our collective vocabulary."

She urged Wood to "reflect on his proposal, and possibly have a conversation with his former self on the matter."