This paper examines the ways in which Labour Party MPs who happened to be mothers talked about their experiences of combining the political and private lives. Based in part on interviews conducted with Rachel Reeves MP in 2017-2018, politicians’ memoirs and other first-hand sources, it will use Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper, Diane Abbott and Oona King as its main case studies, outlining in which way and why some women provoked greater interest in their private lives at certain points in their careers.