Warning: The following blog may offend half of the population.

Now I don’t have anything against women, after all I married one, every other of my parents is one and my daughter will grown into one in time too, but not too soon, hopefully.  So the following post is not misogynistic.

Honest.

However Theresa May has managed to raise my ire.  Yes her, the woman who’s sole contribution to the body politic is the wearing of kitten heals.  Apparently Chloe Smith’s victory in the Norwich by-election is nothing to do with Gordon Brown being as popular as Dan Brown in the Vatican, but is a victory for “New Politics”, because:

“Women are less interested in dirty tricks and backstabbing.  They are more interested in the policies and getting things done.”

I’ve read similar clap trap along the lines that if there had been more female bankers we wouldn’t have had a financial crises.

Really?

Let’s examine the facts, or it least my own prejudiced opinions based on a lifetime of experience so far.

Margaret Thatcher.  The country’s leading proponent of consensual, inclusive politics.

Blythe Masters.  JP Morgan banker who invented CDO’s.

Every female contestant on The Apprentice.  Ever.

EDIT 9/8/09

It would appear that stupidity is not confined to the ranks of female Tory politicians.  Harriet Harman has now nailed her colours to the man hating mast in an attempt to be a popular alternative to Gordon Brown; challenging target dear.

She has suggested that Leham Bros might not have collapsed if it had been Lehman Sisters (You see what she did there? Very clever), which I agree with.  They never would have lost all that money as they would have spent it on handbags and shoes long before.

Whilst I have no truck for self help books, I do enjoy reading the odd business biography or books on the psychology of investing.

It’s fair to say that Gerald Ronson’s autobiography, with the above title, will never rival Branson’s inspirational rhetoric or the psychological insights into investing of George Soros’ books, however it clips along at a fair old pace and covers clearly a long, but a lot more varied career than I had, at first, assumed. 

Some might say he can come across as chippy, painting himself as an outsider, when from many peoples’ perspective he is the epitome of a property establishment figure and I agree with his wife, he is clearly far from the simple man he claims to be.

What else would you expect in a man who has fought in street battles against fascists, mixed with celebrities and royalty, lost a billion, gone to prison and then made back a billion for his investors.

He is also a committed developer, which is my background and is often derided as a mugs game by successful property investors.

Apart from a few diverting hours on a sun lounger in Ibiza, I have taken two things from this book; first is the confirmation of my suspicion that I am not an entrepreneur, I don’t have the stomach or inspiration to run other businesses, I am a business man in property and second is to stop agonising of what other people think of me, if I am sure I am doing the right thing by my own principals. 

So watch out world.