All to play for

Mumsnet, the UK’s largest website for parents, sister site, Gransnet and Ipsos have published a joint report ‘All to Play For’ – the follow-up to their 2013 report ‘The Women Problem’ - which is an in-depth study into women voters and who’s winning the battle for their vote ahead of next year’s election.

The report uses Ipsos polling data available in August 2014, and qualitative work with focus groups comprising a diverse range of Mumsnet and Gransnet users.

The report explores women’s opinions of the current political leaders, their voting intentions and policy priorities; as well as the specific challenges each of the parties face if they are to win female support in the 2015 general election.

Key findings include:

• Six out of 10 women (58%) say they may change their mind between now and next May (53% of men).
• 48% of women (and 51% of men) think Labour should change its leader before the election, compared with 29% of women (and 25% of men) when it comes to the Conservatives.
• If Boris Johnson were to take charge of the Conservative party it could boost the party’s support similarly across the genders, (with the party’s vote up 7% among male voters and 6% among women) with the hypothetical potential to significantly cut into Labour’s current lead among female voters.
• Women are more likely to back Labour (39%) than the Conservatives (30%), but this gap has narrowed since last year’s report, from 14 points to nine.
• Older women are now more likely to back the Tories than Labour (In 2013, 36% of women over 55 said they would vote Labour and 33% Conservative, these figures are now 34% and 36% respectively).
• Satisfaction levels for all party leaders are historically low, with David Cameron on -21, Ed Miliband on - 22, Nick Clegg on -37 and Nigel Farage on -16.
• A large majority of both women and men (68% and 67% respectively) believe the country would be better run if there were more women in parliament.
• Furthermore, 65% of women (and 60% of men) think Britain’s governance would be improved with more women at the Cabinet table.

Ben Page, Ipsos Chief Executive, said:

“All the historical precedents suggest that this is going to be a very close election to call, and the women’s vote is just as unpredictable – and as important to parties – as men’s. Labour are doing better amongst women as they have done for some time now (while UKIP does noticeably worse) – but has dropped over the year, and our research with Mumsnet highlights the range in the women’s vote, with younger middle class women strongly behind Labour, but older women now just tending to the Conservatives”.