Broadcaster Ashley James has received widespread praise on social media after posting her definition of what “woke” means following a recent TV clash.
The former Made in Chelsea star appeared on ITV’s This Morning last month where she sparred with former Tory MP and Countdown regular Gyles Brandreth about the contested and often misused term, with hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard watching on.
The pair were reviewing the day’s news, and were asked to discuss a story claiming Commons leader Penny Mordaunt had banned “woke language” in Whitehall.
Gyles raged about “woke” culture creeping into the NHS after he claimed he was informed that nurses have to use the term “chestfeeding” instead of breastfeeding.
He added a producer told him he was allowed to say this, even though the NHS guidance shows it only applies to patients who are trans or non-binary.
This is where Ashley stepped in to make clear her fellow guest’s claims were “not true”, and explained what the guidelines actually referred to.
She said: “If you’re dealing with a trans person, use the term chestfeeding as it’s more inclusive. No one’s trying to ban the word breastfeeding.”
Ashley went on that the government are “stoking culture wars”, adding: “The term woke actually does mean being alert to social injustice. That can only be a good thing.
“Bear in mind, we know that currently parliament has over 50 MPs under investigation for sexual harassment, they would benefit from wokeness.”
After calling for people from more diverse backgrounds to stand as MPs, she said the term “woke” was being “weaponised, just like the term ‘snowflake’”.
She continued: “Actually it’s the people who fear wokeness that seem to be the snowflakes because they’re getting offended by words.
“All it is doing is trying is to attempt for society to care about and consider people’s feelings and to attempt for society to be more equal.”
Ashley ended by saying: “Wokeness is not the reason we don’t have affordable housing. Wokeness is not the reason that public services are crumbling. It’s just a nothing story.”
She posted the encounter on her Instagram feed this week, and the clip quickly gained traction. She later said on X: “Oh wow I’ve just seen my mentions and this has blown up. Thanks everyone. It’s such a huge privilege to get to talk about these topics on This Morning.”