As parties vie for votes with promises they may or may not keep, Tortoise is asking public and not-so-public figures for the one thing they hope for from Britain’s next government.
I hope that this election gives us a government which does something about the myriad ways this country simply doesn’t work for women and girls. The failure to tackle male violence, the gender-pay gap, the crisis in maternity care – all are indicative of a political culture which sees “women’s problems” as less important than men’s. And because this is unlikely to change unless we see women better represented among our politicians, I hope that we see more female MPs elected than ever before, and move closer to a gender equal parliament and a properly representative cabinet. Mumsnet’s nine million users are highly politically engaged but three-quarters of them tell us they feel their voices are not heard by politicians. So we’ve produced a Mumsnet Manifesto framed by their experiences and we’re challenging every party to engage with these issues. I hope they are listening.
