If there was a general election tomorrow and you were an ordinary woman on an average wage..

[Kreuzberg]

Who would you really vote for ? A party wishy washy on self ID and other trans issues with a gobby brash deputy leader who puts her foot in it and a lacking in charisma but well meaning leader or a party that implemented austerity, savage cuts to all public services, oversaw the deaths of 150,000, deceitful, pork barrel politics, corrupt, but with a teflon coated populist leader, plummy voiced slick mps and a less wishy washy stance on self ID (although not necessarily to be trusted)
What is most important to women earning £30,000 who are going to be hugely affected by the spiralling cost of living, struggling to heat their homes, feed their kids ? Issues very much the result of conservative policies like brexit, austerity etc or trans issues ?
I'm not pro self ID but not cat in hells chance I'd ever vote tory either. Their past record is not erased just because they say they know what a woman is. I'm addressing this to average earners too as they are on the front line.

I'd look into the Lib Dems, but if it came down to the Conservatives or Labour, I would probably have to vote Conservative as the best of a bad bunch. It wouldn't be a good move, I acknowledge that, as it's never good to have one party in power for too long, they get complacent and it could lead to an abuse of power, but I couldn't vote Labour at the moment. The women issue is part of it but there are other reasons (for me).

@AhNowTed

"Labour: dislikes women."

What a load of nonsense.

This shower couldn't give two fucks about women.

Too busy gifting 8.7BN in dodgy PPE contract to their friends and family, and writing off 4.5BN in covid fraud.

And taking money from rich Russians.

But sure, Keir Starmer is the problem 🙄

That’s the thing. It’s beyond me how anyone could trust the word (and that’s the only commitment to the trans argument that’s come from BJ as far as I know) of a band of grifters who will declare we’ve always been at war with Eurasia and u-turn to we’ve always been at war with Oceania for a price.

Tory. I can no longer vote Labour. Their views on women are a dealbreaker for me.

A vote for any party other than Labour is a vote for the Tories

and ...

As far as I'm concerned people spoiling their ballots in constituencies where that facilitates a Conservative victory are as responsible for that victory as those who vote Conservative in the first place.

This is the kind of stuff that lost labour the red wall. People will not be scolded into voting labour.

@urbanbuddha

Any amount of comments about being politically homeless or spoiling ballots don't disguise such posters in many constituencies being complicit in being prepared to facilitate the Conservative party being reelected.

You speak as if people should ignore policies which gravely concern them. As if women's rights were a secondary concern to be consigned to the sidelines. Labour should be listening to voters not telling them how to think.

I didn't speak as though people "should" do anything. I know what I think of vote spoilers though.

they get complacent and it could lead to an abuse of power

This has already happened and continues to happen.

I genuinely don’t know. I’m in a Tory seat but Labour are a serious threat, so I feel a significant responsibility to vote wisely. I’d need to speak to the Labour candidate carefully. If she was a blind follower of TRA sound bites with no nuance or understanding, I’d really struggle to vote for her.

I'd like to vote Labour but it would depend on the polls locally.

I will vote for whichever unionist party (Labour, Tory or Libdem) is most likely to beat the SNP in my constituency.

The Union v Independence remains the defining issue for most Scots.

@Misiecle

This is an existential crisis for women. And it’s not a single issue. The people most affected in a recession are women. Their jobs get ditched, more of their income goes on basics, their care responsibilities get harder as hard choices are made with limited income. Everything gets harder for women. A party which doesn’t know what a woman is cannot deliver healthcare, fight crime, combat sexual inequality or support those in poverty in any meaningful way. And I’m not comfortable with any party which can’t prioritise people over ideology.

Well said. Women's rights are not a nice-to-have add-on.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

Labour,

I'm not a fan of their stance on self ID or womens rights, and think they are massively letting down their female voters in this regard but I can't vote Tory because they are absolutely awful and voting anyone else would be a waste of a vote, as would spoiling my ballot.

I'd rather Labour wins with their awful stance on women than Tory win because I and others like me didn't vote.

This, I would be vote for labour.

We are all equally despised by politicians of all parties. It's plain as anything.

I may take inspiration from this thread and sticker my ballot paper.

I'm hoping that some "Respect my sex if you want my X" campaign stickers might be available to buy soon.

If not I'll use some Women=Adult Human Female and one of Posie's other stickers.

@LaQuern

Labour every single time. I'm sorry but there's bigger issues at stake than self ID.

This current government are a shower who only care about themselves and the wealthy, and they need to go.

This. But here in deepest Toryland the choice is Lib Dem or Tory, so it would have to be the lesser of two evils. The LDs haven't got a hope of making govt anyway, but a few seats scattered about would probably be ok.

Labour. They may not be perfect, and self-ID is an important issue, but the current Tory government is a self-serving, corrupt bunch of chancers who are only in it for their own gains. They don't give a fuck about regular people.

Anyone who votes for the Tories and then finds themselves in the shit financially only has themselves to blame.

Lib Dems are the second non-Tory party where I am so I always vote for them. It makes no difference, the Tories always get in anyway.

Labour in a heartbeat, sometime you need to vote what’s best for the masses and not just yourself, thousands of people are cold and hungry!

I will vote Conservative for two reasons.

1. I’m in a marginal Scottish constituency, and need to get rid of the vile SNP, to prevent them further mismanaging Scotland and threatening endlessly to break up the UK.
2. I am a gender critical feminist, and the Tories are the only party who are not throwing women’s rights under a bus. So in my case, it’s an easy decision. Pro UK, pro women.

@MaryAndHerNet
It's like picking between being beaten with a baseball bat or golf club.
Either way, you're getting a beating. Which is going to cause the least pain?

Tories: hates poor, ill, disabled, working class etc.
Labour: dislikes women.

Libs are wishy washy, Greens support Channelor.

Voter turn out is going to be incredibly low.

This is how I felt at the last election, when it was the prospect of Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn for PM. I voted Labour (despite the fact I didn't think JC would make a good pm) because our local candidate was very good, and interested in, and involved with the local community (the Conservative candidate got in - they always do)

I am in the category the OP is talking about and it's a shit choice. Again. I actually really hoped it would be different 4 years on...

The 'average' woman doesn't ever think about self-ID issues. OP lost me at first sentence, Impressive!!

@urbanbuddha

Any amount of comments about being politically homeless or spoiling ballots don't disguise such posters in many constituencies being complicit in being prepared to facilitate the Conservative party being reelected.

You speak as if people should ignore policies which gravely concern them. As if women's rights were a secondary concern to be consigned to the sidelines. Labour should be listening to voters not telling them how to think.

Absolutely this. Have they learnt nothing since the last GE?

This is like that awful game kids play at school where they go "if you had to snog x or y (insert disgusting boys name) which would it be?" And you HAVE TO pick one. So you eventually pick the lesser of two evils and get ridiculed about it for ever more.

Never will I ever vote Conservative. But Labour's stance on self-ID really scares me. So do I go against everything I believe and not vote, or hold my nose and vote for Labour? 🤷‍♀️

@Christmas1988

Labour in a heartbeat, sometime you need to vote what’s best for the masses and not just yourself, thousands of people are cold and hungry!

Are women not the masses??

I know this isn't the done thing on this site but defining what a woman is to me seems a bit of a fringe issue. There are nurses who rely on foodbanks and people having to make the choice between heating and eating. The tories look after their own and are generally of the mindset that if you're poor it's because you just aren't working hard enough. Having said that, it'll be a cold day in hell before I vote for Labour again. The only thing Keir Starmmer knows how to do exceptionally well is sit on the fence. At least the tories are bolden with their hatred for people who are poor or just about managing.

Say what you like. I'm not speaking on behalf of the Labour Party.

As far as I'm concerned Conservative voters don't care about the struggling in wider society.

Most vote spoilers don't either. They're just less honest about it.

If Labour can't stand up to less than 1/2 percent of population and acknowledge what a woman is can't expect they could stand up for UK. I would vote Conservative even though I detest Richi Sunak.