Many of the women who responded to an online callout or spoke to the Guardian expressed frustration with politics that had failed to address poverty, inequality, healthcare for women and children in particular, the climate and Brexit, and voiced acute fears for their and their families’ future: mothers of children with SEN (special educational needs) or mental health issues, mothers unable to afford childcare, or with adult children unable to buy homes, unpaid carers, women feeling exploited in low-paid jobs with no prospects of progression, and women with disabilities fearing harsher welfare conditions in future.
Scores also said they were concerned about rising extremism and political polarisation, misogyny, violence against women and girls, antisemitism and Islamophobia.
About a fifth of respondents said they had either decided to spoil their ballot paper or were considering doing so, among them Sharon, a 60-year-old social worker and “lifelong Labour voter” from London who does not own her own home and has no savings. Her two adult children are unemployed, despite having gone to university, each owing about £40,000 as a result. Private rental housing was “beyond their means”, she said.
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Politicians, she said, had repeatedly failed to deliver on promises, such as building more houses, improving the NHS, or reducing knife crime.
“However, the final straw for me is the issue of women’s rights,” she added.
Sharon was one of hundreds of women who shared that sex-based rights for women and girls was a main political concern of theirs this election.
Women from across the country, dozens of them economically disadvantaged or with disabilities, said they would abandon Labour, the Lib Dems or the Greens over this issue and vote either Conservative, Reform or spoil their ballot – particularly women from marginal areas Labour is hoping to gain, such as Lincoln, Darlington, Derbyshire, Warrington North and Truro and Falmouth.
Various said they felt “politically homeless” because of this issue, with Starmer having repeatedly referred to the debate over trans rights as “divisive and toxic” culture wars.
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Embury, who had been living alone but continued to work with her husband after they split up years ago, took out a £250,000 loan against her home, on which she had already paid off a mortgage, in the hope of saving the family business, but in vain.
Some expressed fears for the safety of trans-identified relatives in the current political climate, such as a woman from the West Country who said her teenage daughter was transgender and felt “concerned by the aggressive and inhumane discussion of marginalised people”.
She’d “like to vote Lib Dem” but felt that the party had not centred “the harms of Brexit to our businesses, healthcare, communities and culture” sufficiently in their election campaign.
Scores of women, from across the political spectrum, said immigration was a main concern: Politicians, they told the Guardian, should “close our borders immediately”, and “tighten UK security”.
Helena, a 47-year-old teacher from Worcester who voted Labour in 2019, said parties could win her support by, among other things, “addressing immigration decisively, listening to the concerns of ordinary voters and investing in the skills of young people in this country” – views that were widely shared by respondents, various of whom expressed fears over soaring crime and poorly managed integration of migrants affecting schools and other public services.
Elizabeth, a 72-year-old retired civil servant from London, said social care, child poverty and the cultural sector were among her top concerns and she would “reluctantly” vote Labour.
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