Politicians ignore the Mumsnet manifesto at their peril - article

[fromorbit]

Appears in the left wing New Statesman:

Politicians ignore the Mumsnet manifesto at their peril
It is hard to read the list of policy demands and not reflect that life is getting worse for British women.

When an online forum for new parents was founded in March 2000, few could have imagined the influence it would come to have. Yet the Mumsnet co-founders, Justine Roberts and Carrie Longton, are now two of the most powerful women in the UK. And a grilling by the site’s members – or Roberts herself – can make or break politicians.

https://archive.is/yagUk

Excellent article. I look forward to the web chats flagged up at the end:

Both Rishi Sunak’s and Keir Starmer’s offices are in discussion with Mumsnet about speaking with its users, but nothing is yet confirmed. The benefits of doing so – if they perform well – are clear. Women form the majority of the country, and Mumsnet women in particular are seemingly more likely than any other demographic to vote. Politicians ignore them at their peril.

Starmer’s not going to come here. He knows all too well what the big questions are going to be.

Are you trying to suggest that our PM in waiting is a big ol' coward who's afraid of wimmin? It'll be fine! Putin -male, Biden -male, Netenyahu -male, hamas (all)-male! It's not like he'll have to deal with women so I'm sure he's happy to leave us to talk about knitting, cheese, cake recipes and smashing male privilege.

I hope we get Sunak and Starmer on for webchats.

Here in Argyll&Bute there's someone standing as an independent who devoted about half of his blurb in the Oban Times to gender issues and women's rights. He'll get about ten votes but I was pleased to see that someone actually mentioned this issue.

I’d probably have voted for him. I’m in Dumfries and Galloway and the choices are awful.

Good article though. I know the polls are predicting a landslide, but they’re not always right and there’s so much unrest at the moment that I do wonder.

Not that I’ll necessarily like the result, of course. I was horrified by the Brexit vote, but the country was quite restive back then too. It’s worse now and I do wonder what will happen as I think lots of people don’t want the same government to continue, but don’t see Labour as being a safe alternative. It’s certainly not like it was when Blair came to power and selecting Labour felt like a positive step.

There is no way either Sunak or Starmer will do a Q&A here. They'd be eaten alive.

Fed up of the posts from mainly Tory HQ. Perhaps because I agree with them I don't spot Labour stooges as easily.

'Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer’s offices are in discussion with Mumsnet about speaking with its users, but nothing is yet confirmed. The benefits of doing so – if they perform well – are clear. Women form the majority of the country, and Mumsnet women in particular are seemingly more likely than any other demographic to vote. Politicians ignore them at their peril.'

[edited for fucked up formatting]

I think Labour getting in would be a positive step. I worry that the country is so irredeemably fucked that Labour won't be able to make the changes needed.

I like the universal childcare plan that Labour propose.

Saving the NHS seems impossible sadly.

9 million votes are worth getting. That's why Mumsnet has featured in every election since 2010.

I suspect Sunak will definitely try it because he is desperate. If he does I imagine Starmer will too.

However it would be even funnier to try and get Lib Dems, Greens etc to come because making them face reality in any way is worth doing.

I can't imagine either Sunak or Starmer are scared of Mumsnet.

I think that politicians have realised that direct connections with The Great Unwashed are not a good idea. Has one ever produced a positive? They only seem to produce negatives (e.g. Gillian Duffy).

Advisers try to micro-manage interactions these days because politicians are afraid of the electorate. Which is a sad state of affairs.

However it would be even funnier to try and get Lib Dems, Greens etc to come because making them face reality in any way is worth doing.

Gets my vote @fromorbit

Another cracker from Hannah Barnes. I’d vote for her. Life feels absolutely like it is getting worse for women, over the past 14 years in the UK

I haven't watched all of the debates and interviews, but I have seen bits. Has any of this come up on any of these national platforms? And if not does it tell us anything?

Tell us about voters' questions? Or tell us about which questions the media allow to be put forward?

I'm a long-time NS subscriber, and I have to say, I was considering stopping my subscription (I was finding I was two or three issues 'behind' in my reading, etc). The replacement of Stephen Bush with Andrew Marr seemed a retrograde step too. But the welcome arrival of Hannah Barnes on the staff has encouraged me to crack on.

I saw this on Reddit too. The comments are mostly annoying and ignorant, though there are a couple of people trying to have a reasonable discussion:

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/1det68i/politicians_ignore_the_mumsnet_manifesto_at_their

Well yes. Although the media hasn't previously shied away from asking what a woman is, so does the fact there don't seem to be any questions around this suggest that it is way down the list of people's priorities now we have an election