There’s no denying Mary Lou’s sex appeal

Mary Lou McDonald has that intangible X-factor that few others in politics have and has used all of her considerable skills — including her attractiveness — to climb the ranks of Sinn Féin in a relatively short time. Like Margaret Thatcher she has exploited her gender positively, making herself the obvious choice to succeed Gerry Adams, writes Daniel McConnell

MY LITERARY hero — the late Christopher Hitchens — famously drew the ire of the left in the late 1970s when he had the temerity to write that he believed Margaret Thatcher, newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, was sexy.

He spoke of how she used her brain and her gender to overcome and surpass the sexist dinosaurs in the Tory Party to become leader and to later become prime minister and rule so completely for 11 years.