This last week has been difficult for Labour – but personally, I have had some of the best campaigning experiences of my life, where I have seen just how well we can engage with people when we act well and really listen. I’ve been keeping in touch with Seema Malhotra, Director of the Fabian Women’s Network, since she came to speak to the Birmingham Fabian Society earlier this year, and she has kindly involved me in several of the events that have been taking place in the region, both in an organisational and a participatory sense.
On Friday, I went campaigning in the constituency of Birmingham Northfield for Richard Burden – he currently holds the seat, but like every other MP in Birmingham, he is taking nothing for granted, and he and his team are working tirelessly to reach as many voters as possible. This is not unusual in itself, but what was really great was just how many times Richard was described as “proactive” “helpful” and “just a really nice guy”. And a couple of these accolades came from people who were quite ticked-off with Labour. It was really quite lovely, hearing what Richard had done to help people – from the people he had helped. Ultimately, I met three undecided, one Tory/LD, one LD – and about 20 Labour. So there you go, if you’re a public servant, people really quite like it when you act like one.
Sunday was a very different ball game – campaigning in the city centre with Eddie Izzard. The day began well when I went into Starbucks wearing my #fighters badge, and the lady who served me told me that she was voting Labour (hurrah) but that she couldn’t skive off work to come along (boo). There was quite a gang of us – students, PPCs and a few others – and it was so awesome to have Eddie there. People loved him, he made them light up, and he had his priorities straight. He listened to their stories, he emphasised the importance of casting a vote…and then asked them to vote Labour. My personal favourite was a small girl (who had been covered in Labour stickers by her mother), who Eddie greeted with the words “you have no idea who I am, do you? I am the King of Spain!” She beamed widely. It was awesome – you must understand, I have been spouting Izzard-isms since I was about 14, and to be working with him for a mutual goal, on the basis of shared values, even for an afternoon, was the greatest fun. What he did so well was what we all try to do when speaking with people – he demonstrated how politics is related to their lives.
Tuesday rolled around, and I was at the Matthew Boulton campus of Aston University, crammed into the only corner of the room that seemed to have any signal. Ed Miliband was there to answer questions from students studying politics there, and to essentially justify the existence and purposes of the manifesto that he helped to create. I was there (rather less importantly) to tweet it. This is one of the areas where Ed really shines – in his role with the Department of Energy and Climate Change, he has done scores of these Q&As, because he knows the value of talking to people who are genuinely sceptical, unconvinced and are willing to challenge him. It’s an interaction, not a broadcast. Everyone learns.
And he was challenged – on everything from Afghanistan to the Cadbury takeover, to whether the Labour Party was for socialists or social democrats to expenses and electoral reform. I don’t think everyone got the answers they wanted – on Afghanistan, many in the room clearly wanted to hear Ed say that it wasn’t the right thing to do and that he was sorry they were there – what they got was an explanation of why it was Afghanistan over Saudi Arabia, or Yemen (places highlighted by the questioner as countries of origin for terrorists), and what the war was supposed to achieve for the people in Afghanistan, and the people of the UK. I think the young lady who asked about Cadbury wanted to hear that the takeover could be undone, and that similar takeovers would never happen again – Ed told her what the government had learned from the experience, and how things were likely to change in the future. I did some eavesdropping after it had finished – most were simply eagerly discussing what had taken place. A couple were clearly impressed by Ed himself – but one said “he dodged every question”. I concede my bias – but in my view, he didn’t, and I hope that he and other MPs continue to do this sort of event, because the challenge is well worth the reward.
Yesterday was different again – Harriet Harman came to Brindley Place in Birmingham to meet with Labour women, and a few non-members from Birmingham Feminists. She was there to launch a new Labour women’s safety document, and was joined by Fiona MacTaggart, and Shabana Mahmood and Lynette Kelly (PPCs for Birmingham Ladywood and Birmingham Yardley respectively). This, I suppose, was less about challenging, and more about getting people with shared goals and values together to say “is this where we should be going?” And it was excellent – we had women from different backgrounds, with different concerns, and we had thorough, substantive and productive discussions on transport safety (predominantly buses and taxis), human trafficking and the role of the media in the objectification of women. Furthermore, we could track exactly where Labour women (notably Fiona and Harriet) had made a difference – particularly in the areas of domestic violence, rape and other sexual offences, and human trafficking.
So there you have it – in a week where you’d be forgiven for thinking that Labour’s fortunes belong to a dead rock star, an anthropomorphised pig and a pensioner who showed us all exactly why we shouldn’t use the language of the right to talk about immigration, my experience shows anything but. No one has even mentioned Elvis and/or Peppa Pig on the doorstep, or anywhere else. It may be too early to say whether Mrs Duffy will get an honourable mention, but I’ll let you know. Either way – mistakes get made, stage management can go wrong – and people can say things in the heat of the moment that they don’t mean (or that they do mean, but would generally phrase more sensitively). But that does not change the choices that people are making on May 6th, or your values, or the values of the electorate. Let’s make sure, in this last week, that this election comes back to policy, values and showing that Labour has the best plan for Britain for the next five years.
This blog was originally posted on House of Twits.
Categories: Labour Doorstep
Tags: afghanistan, birmingham, cadbury, ed miliband, eddie izzard, elvis, fabian society, fabian women's network, fiona mactaggart, harriet harman, lynette kelly, peppa pig, richard burden, saudi arabia, seema malhotra, shabana mahmood, yemen
Can Labour win back women voters?
February 7th, 2010
On Friday, I chaired an excellent meeting of the Birmingham Fabian Society – we had invited Seema Malhotra (pictured), director of the Fabian Women’s Network and former Chair of the Fabian Society, to talk to us about how Labour can win (or keep) the women’s vote. Her speech and the ensuing discussion were everything that I love about the Fabian Society – vibrant, insightful, illuminating – but with the added bonus of a highly diverse set of people.
Part of New Labour’s success was the way in which they captured the female vote – a vote which had, traditionally, belonged predominantly to the Conservatives. This was notable among younger women – in the last three General Elections, these women were far more likely to vote Labour than Tory, and more likely to vote Labour than men of a similar age. This was for a number of reasons – and not least because the number of female MPs doubled to 120 in 1997 – 101 of these being Labour. It wasn’t enough, but it was an important leap.
But since the early months of Gordon Brown’s leadership, there has been reason to believe that we may be at risk from losing that resonance with female voters, but to assume that Gordon Brown is less appealing to female voters than Tony Blair may be to oversimplify a trend which is as complex as women (i.e. people) are. It is worth asking whether there is really a golden issue, or set of issues, that will draw in the vote from the majority of women. Indeed, do women voters have drastically different priorities to male voters? Certainly, the gender gap has always been of electoral importance, and parties have been obsessive with regards to trying to capture that elusive, typical example of the gender profile that they must win over to win the election – recent examples include the hollow cardboard cut-outs Holby City Woman, and more recently, Motorway Man. If nothing else, the manner in which politicians have been falling over themselves to be grilled on Mumsnet is testament to that.
Research from the Fabian Society emphasises that public services are of particular concern to the female voter. For example, the YouGov polling highlighted above indicates that women are twice as likely as men to say they do not know which party cares the most about public services. But why? In a blog post last year, Seema noted that there has been “a failure to explain what has been delivered for the amount spent, which has become even more significant at a time of economic instability.” More generally, she highlighted in her speech that when Blair became leader of the Labour Party, he moved the party away from linking values to politics, and doing so became deeply unfashionable. Even the best of deeds become impersonal when you do not make the political case for them – so in spite of record investment in schools, health services, education and communities, women, who vote as much with their values as their pragmatism, seem to trust the Conservatives more. In Seema’s words, “Labour has failed to maintain a relationship with the public whereby they believe Labour does not just pay for care, but actually cares.” Without the values, without the heart, the policies aren’t connecting with women, people – even if they are helping them.
During their time in power, Labour have changed expectations of what is normal, standard, both in terms of equality and the quality of many areas of public services. This is a great achievement – but it’s harder to brag about achievements when they have become… normal. However, I wouldn’t change that better normal for the world, we need to build on those achievements, we need to honestly address our failures, we need to win over the women who feel that politicians don’t represent them and policies don’t speak to them. I think we’re actually getting there – quite aside from some promising recent polling figures, the Equality Bill and the pledge to provide one-to-one home care for cancer patients show that Labour cares about people and equality, and is putting that at the heart of its manifesto.
This blog was originally posted on House of Twits.
Categories: Policy Review, Women
Tags: birmingham, fabian society, fabian women's network, gordon brown, nhs, seema malhotra, tony blair
