1 The race to No.10 starts now
Steel yourselves as all the parties go on a charm offensive in a bid to win the female vote, says Gaby Hinsliff
WITHIN DAYS OF Rishi Sunak walking out of No.10 (into a downpour without an umbrella) to call a snap election for 4 July – taking even close colleagues by surprise – the key issues, personalities and possible pitfalls likely to shape the race emerged.
All the main parties are chasing women’s votes, knowing we’re traditionally more likely than men to make up our minds relatively close to polling day and, therefore, theoretically more open to persuasion – though that may be an uphill job with Labour starting off more than 20 points ahead. (According to an eve-of-campaign poll for YouGov, 18% of women still aren’t sure who they will vote for, compared to only 11% of men.)
Though the parties had yet to publish their manifestos as Grazia went to press, the Tories are expected to highlight their promised 30 free hours of childcare for working parents – although they’ll face questions about whether it’s being properly funded. And don’t be surprised if parental campaigns for a smartphone-free childhood, or concerns about how online porn is affecting young women, also crop up at hustings.
Labour have said they will keep the Conservatives’ childcare expansion plan if they win, and they’ll be stressing pledges to halve violence against women and girls: expect to hear Keir Starmer talking a lot about his pre-Westminster career as Director of Public Prosecutions (when he prioritised bringing more rape cases to trial), while Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper promises crackdowns on domestic violence and sex offenders.
From the Lib Dems you might be hearing about more generously paid parental leave, sorting out social care – and making our rivers and beaches clean enough for wild swimmers, a surprise hot topic during May’s local elections.
Though some feminist trailblazers will be retiring from Parliament at this election – including Labour’s Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett, both of whom served briefly as interim leaders of their party, plus ex-PM Theresa May – there will be lots of female faces fronting campaigns. Sunak’s close ally Laura Trott, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, will be hammering home the Tories’ main message that the economy is supposedly turning around now; Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper will likewise be all over the airwaves, while the Green Party’s co-leader,
