10 HOT STORIES
Sky News political editor Beth Rigby reveals what really happens on the campaign trail and the issues women care about
MOST PEOPLE DON’T tune into an election until two weeks before it happens. So what we’re seeing right now are the main parties frantically trying to attract the attention of floating voters and shore up their base, knowing there’s only a small window when they’ll have the nation’s eyes and ears.
What do they do? They play to the issues they know people care about. According to the latest YouGov polling, for women these are the NHS, immigration and the economy. It’s interesting to note that these same issues are top of the agenda for men too, with the economy as their top concern. Also, some 13% of women still ‘don’t know’ who they will vote for, compared to 8% of men.
It doesn’t surprise me that women are especially engaged on the issue of the NHS. Women still take the lion’s share of caring responsibilities and the NHS runs through every woman’s life: be it a smear test, breast check, having a baby, the menopause or caring for elderly relatives. Immigration has risen up the agenda for men and women, which is also unsurprising given record levels of legal migration and images of those making the perilous Channel crossings in small boats still all over the news.
As for the economy, women are often managing household budgets, childcare costs and doing the weekly shop. Household disposable income is lower than it has been in years. On the first ITV leaders’ debate, a woman named Paula said she struggles to make ends meet and she’s worried about the future. It’s also what I hear time and again on the campaign trail.
So can undecided women swing this? No. Labour are too far ahead in the polls for the floating female voters to make a dent. If the Tories manage to take this lead off Labour it will be a record-breaking victory no one has ever achieved before. So, while women are vitally important, this is not a knife-edge election, unless something goes drastically wrong, of course…
That’s why optics are everything. Each political party will send teams of staffers to locations in advance of big speeches or the visits we film for TV news. They want the visual messaging to be just right. Keen to give a casual vibe? Ask your politician to turn up in trainers. Want to portray your leader as a humble ‘man of the people’? Invite the press pack to a parish hall and make sure he’s drinking tea with the locals. There’s a reason why both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak keep turning up with their shirt sleeves rolled up ��
