Apparently middle-aged women ‘hold key to winning the next election’.

[MmePoppySeedDefage]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/400763a6-18f6-11ee-8434-240b5ab9f9b1?shareToken=2738fe2529f30cbb2a569d3b44a75d6bb_

Im middle aged. (i recently turned 50) and i read Woman and Home (dont have a home of my own and live in social housing)

Might be an idea if they saw us all as individuals rather than one big homogenous mass.

Have voted Labour all my life but wont ever do so again due to their calling for longer harder harsher lockdowns AND then trying to gaslight us that they didnt.
Have never voted Tory and never will. Politically homeless.

@Hepwo Nobody thinks that group read take a break. Take a break went from genuinely influential to totally irrelevant as its readership plummeted.
Nobody is disputing that all political parties use marketing information and segmentation. Its all the made up quotes about a Lib Dem "source" and Labour "source" that is obviously a journalist at their desk. And the market segmentation described in an awful way.

well I've just skimmed the report
it identifies TWO groups who are key to labour winning the next GE- 'Workington Man' and 'Stevenage Woman'
there is nothing in there at all about 'take a break' or the WI
there is only 1 mention that I can find of concerns about women's rights-

The majority of voters in the UK are socially conservative. This is particularly true of the Patriotic Left, but also of the Disillusioned Suburbans, who are more socially conservative than Labour’s 2019 voters. These voters believe that we should not increase immigration numbers. They believe Britain should be proud of its past. They believe that young people do not respect British values. They believe that certain places should be made safe by restricting entry by biological sex.

the report seems to me to argue that the Labour party should respond to the 'socially conservative' views of their target voters rather than the 'socially liberal' concerns of the more committed left wing voters, because these people apparently still are giving more support to the Labour party than they did in the 2019 election

To say all this is not to say that Labour must be drawn to extremes. The Conservative Party will likely make social and cultural issues the cornerstone of their election campaign. But Labour should take positions which acknowledge that concerns about social and cultural issues are legitimate, that Labour will not fudge or waver on them, and that there is almost always a balanced and principled position to be taken. You must be tough on crime, not just its causes. You must control Britain’s borders, not just create a safe route for immigrants. You must address inequalities that are geographic and class-based, not just those that are based on protected characteristics.

I think this is actually quite hopeful for us. We need to relentlessly target the Labour party with our concerns or womens and children's rights and safety. We need to push them so that the 'balanced and principled' position they take is one which actually balances our needs with those of trans people. So, third spaces, clarify that sex=biological sex, an end to misleading and insulting language, and protect children from drugs and procedures that irreversibly harm them. Tell me when they start fundraising for a trans refuge and I will run a cake stall.

I must say though that I find it a bit obtuse that they assign all views on social issues to a value on the conservative/liberal spectrum and then assume that any individual's views all cluster to one end or the other. Such a crude analysis and one which I imagine doesn't reflect the reality of most of us here.

I agree that marketing professionals are going to slap on daft labels (which are often patronising when it comes to certain groups). But, while that is incredibly annoying when you are part of the group being labelled, my irritation would be massively ameliorated if the parties actually developed policies focussed on women's rights. Instead Labour and the Lib Dems seem to believe, that after years of offensive attacks, we will forget everything they have done the moment they say that they value women and that some of their best friends are women. So they treat us like vacuous airheads who don't deserve rights. Welcome to 1952 folks.

I think this is actually quite hopeful for us. We need to relentlessly target the Labour party with our concerns or womens and children's rights and
safety. We need to push them so that the 'balanced and principled' position they take is one which actually balances our needs with those of trans
people. So, third spaces, clarify that sex=biological sex, an end to misleading and insulting language, and protect children from drugs and procedures that irreversibly harm them

Well you crack on, but you should know some if us, many of us in fact have done this already. Some very bravely from the inside of the party.
I'm of the opinion now after my many missives to the labour party that I can no longer assume its ignorance. They have been told and will not listen. I dont care why they dont listen. But I wont waste any more of my time with complete idiots. Neither do I want idiots running the country.

But if you think you can change it, go for it. You might surprise us all.

sorry, I know many women have been banging their heads against a brick wall, I didn't mean to suggest otherwise- my point is that now they have a report telling them the blindingly obvious, with charts and maps and things- maybe NOW they will listen. Or even remember...oh yes, we had a letter about that didn't we....

You must address inequalities that are geographic and class-based, not just those that are based on protected characteristics.

Quite often they have the wrong list of protected characteristic groups. They are not going to drop inter sectional DEI.

As someone else said, they do the wrong market research as they have no diversity of opinion in the workplace.I

I also recall Matthew Goodwin tell trigonometry that Labour listen, ask no questions and ignore advice, as if it's a box tick exercise.

I'm guessing that the take a break quip is about the disillusioned suburbans who are not politically engaged and this is what the millionaire, private school, report sponsors think they read!

YY.

Your certainty is unjustified.

It's easy to find politicians talking about the segments so I can well believe that patronising spin came out of someone's mouth! Despite callingeveryone calling everyone a liar or the article "made up rubbish".

Yes, every election there are named people who represent segments of the population the party needs to target. In the past there was Mondeo Man etc.

I can believe that the Ollies and Jemimas and other assorted nepo babies working for the Labour Party strategy team believe that the poors read Take a Break.

There's six groups in the download report.

Britain’s Voters 9

1. The Activist Left 10
2. Centrist Liberals 11
3. Disillusioned Suburbans 12
4. The Patriotic Left 13
5. English Traditionalists 14
6. The Rural Right

You quote two of them.

The majority of voters in the UK are socially conservative. This is particularly true of the Patriotic Left, but also of the Disillusioned Suburbans, who are more socially conservative than Labour’s 2019 voters.

It's a dismissive way to target working class women, they would probably label the same men "Sun readers".

We've been saying for years that 'ordinary people' would never stand for this nonsense once they heard about it, and so it proves....now the labour party are being told they have to take into account what these 'ordinary people' think on social issues and although most of the attention is given to crime and immigration, they allude to sex based rights. This is an opportunity and we shouldn't pass it up because we are sooo affronted by the thought that we might read 'Take a Break'.

Do you think Starmer's ever going to make it to a 100?

https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/04/03/99-9-per-cent-of-women-havent-got-a-penis-keir-starmers-identity-crisis/

Consultant surgeon, Dr Anthony Hinton tweeted: “Keir Starmer claims 0.1 per cent of women have a penis.

“I’m in my 40th year as a doctor, studied 5 years at medical school & was top in my class for biology. Never knew 1 in 1,000 women have a penis.”

how does this sort of comment help?
at the next election we will elect either a labour or a tory government
just shrugging your shoulders and saying they're both too dreadful to vote for, for different reasons is abdicating responsibility, and comes from a position of privilege- many people cannot afford the prospect of more of the same

its almost as though some people would prefer we didn't vote labour and will find reasons to discourage us from doing so

who would that be I wonder

I think because of this ordinary people will vote any which way but labour, lib dems, greens, wep.
So that leaves the communist party, sdp, the party of women if any are an option locally, unlikely I think plus it would have to be enough votes to win or of course conservative.

I told labour where they were going wrong in 2017. 6 years later they are not listening. I emailed a bullet point list. I emailed for the last time in 2018. I had not even one reply. Not one.
They are supposed to tempt me to vote, I'm not supposed to harangue them.

IMHO the only way this country is going to improve and move ahead is when people stop thinking like this. Both parties are past their sell by date and represent no one except themselves. We desperately need new parties and the end of the old parties it has happened before with the end of the Whigs and Labour being started by working class people at beginning of 20th Century. Just vote for anyone but these two or don't vote at all.

I'm under 45. Are Labour assuming that I will give them my vote or have they given up on me?

its almost as though some people would prefer we didn't vote labour and will find reasons to discourage us from doing so
Please can you explain this:
If we're Tory voters - because this, I assume, is what you're driving at - then why are we so pissed off about it?
Why aren't I laughing my head off?

just shrugging your shoulders and saying they're both too dreadful to vote for, for different reasons is abdicating responsibility, and comes from a position of privilege- many people cannot afford the prospect of more of the same

If the best you can do for democracy and society is turn out every 5 years to put a tick in a box, that's abdicating responsibility. Most left wing women, who have been made politically homeless by Labour's thirst for the gender borg, campaign, volunteer, donate and work to improve their communities every single day. We won't be finger wagged into compliance.

Another middle-aged woman here. For the benefit of folk involved in running political parties and campaigning for election, I'd like to state that I will be voting for a candidate and political party that respects my sex-based needs and rights and those of my children. This might well entail voting for a different party to usual.

Shall I tell you what might have sent me to bed feeling a tiny bit hopeful? If I'd seen a post that went along the lines of: 'I'm a diehard Labour voter and I really hope that article is untrue but, if any of it is correct, then it's unacceptable and I completely understand why you're all so pissed off.'

Instead what have we had?
This didn't happen.
This didn't happen you silly, gullible women.
If it did happen, the Tories are worse.
Suck it up. It is your duty to vote Labour / Lib Dems even when they don't even attempt to hide their disdain for you. .

And now we've had: Why are you complaining - is it because you're Tory voters?

Suck it up. It is your duty to vote Labour / Lib Dems even when they don't even attempt to hide their disdain for you.

This was the recent issue between Jess Phillips and the Head teacher.

This goes back to Gordon Brown and Bigot.

I had to stop reading that

Those names and profiles are so cringe