Woman to Woman (campaign)

Woman to Woman, known in the media as Harriet Harman's Pink Bus, was a political campaign in the United Kingdom for the Labour Party at the 2015 general election.[1] It was led by Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Harriet Harman, and involved a pink battle bus visiting marginal constituencies, promoting Labour policies and rallying support among female voters.[2] It was described by Labour as the party's "biggest ever women's campaign".[3] The Pink Bus was criticised in the media as "sexist and patronising".[4]

Harriet Harman led her own general election campaign to the main one fronted by Ed Miliband.

The campaign was regarded a failure for the Labour Party, which polled well below expectations in the general election, winning 30.4 per cent of the vote and 232 seats, 24 fewer than its previous result in 2010.[5] Despite this, the voter turnout was 1 per cent higher than 2010, and the overall number of female Labour MPs increased from 81 to 99.

Following the election Harman announced she would stand down from the role once a leadership election had taken place.[6]

Background

Ed Miliband was elected to replace Gordon Brown as Labour leader in 2010 while Harriet Harman remained deputy leader.[7]

Events
Fathers 4 Justice protesting the Pink Bus

The campaign visited 70 constituencies promoting Labour's "women's manifesto",[8] which focused on five areas the party identified as being important to female voters: childcare, social care, domestic violence, equal pay and political representation.[9] Harman campaigned on enabling voter engagement with the nine million women who did not vote in 2010.[10][11] The campaign involved a pink 16-seater Ford Transit travelling Britain with female members of Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet supporting Labour prospective parliamentary candidates around the country.[12] Another goal of the campaign was to achieve a 50:50 Parliament, an equal split of men and women in the 650-seat House of Commons.[13] There was some debate amongst the media over whether the bus was magenta or fuchsia, before Harman later admitted the colour was pink, a colour commonly regarded as a gender stereotype.[14][15]

The campaign was launched on 11 February 2015 in Stevenage, a marginal constituency in Hertfordshire. The first stop was an Asda supermarket in the town, where Harriet Harman and Shadow Culture Secretary Gloria De Piero talked to shoppers and store employees.[16][17] The same day during Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron said the campaign was evidence that Labour "can't talk to women because they've got a pink bus touring the country".[18] Harman appeared on Channel 4 News and debated The Guardian columnist Zoe Williams about the election campaign.[19] Other constituencies visited in February included Bedford[20] and Cambridge.[21]

Labour MPs Gloria De Piero and Naz Shah campaigning in Bradford

In March, the campaign made a stop at a Morrisons supermarket in Rothwell in West Yorkshire, another marginal constituency.[22]

In April the campaign stopped in Stockton South.[23] The same month, Alexandra Topping from The Guardian spent a day on the bus with the campaign.[24]

Protests

The campaign was protested by activists from New Fathers 4 Justice. Fathers' rights activist Bobby Smith first confronted Harman in Asda in Stevenage and then again later in the day whilst wearing a T-shirt that had "This is what a victim of feminism looks like" written on it. Smith said, "You're dividing up men and women ... you're making it them versus us. Are you thinking of getting blue van?"[25][26] Smith also confronted Harman in Croydon,[27][28] Cambridge[29] and Gloucester where Smith said, "Fathers in this country falsely accused of domestic violence are lower down the scale when it comes to rights than a convicted paedophile. I haven't seen my children for four years. I have tried everything else so I have to protest like this." When asked whether she would take the time to listen to Smith's story, Harman said: "I have talked to fathers' groups over the years and I know what they are protesting about. He [Smith] is protesting about his own family situation and that is not something that should be decided by politics. That is something for the family court."[30][31] Gloucestershire Constabulary intervened when the situation became heated.[32]

Election results

The campaign was not very successful as the Conservatives held many of their marginal seats. Constituencies that the bus visited which saw an increased Conservative majority included Bedford, Elmet and Rothwell, Stevenage and Stockton South, but Labour did take many seats from the Liberal Democrats such as Birmingham Yardley and Cambridge. Despite this, the voter turnout was 1 per cent higher than 2010, and the overall number of female Labour MPs increased from 81 to 99.[33]

Reception
The colour pink has connotations to the Mattel doll brand Barbie.

The campaign was mocked as "patronising" by journalists Sophy Ridge and Julia Hartley-Brewer.[34] Former Conservative MP Edwina Currie also criticised the campaign.[35] Ella Whelan wrote in Spiked that the "Barbie bus" was sexist and patronizing.[36] Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also mocked the vehicle as a "Barbie bus" and Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage mockingly said "the wheels have come off the Labour bus".[37] The bus was mocked by the Labour-supporting newspaper Daily Mirror by Fleet Street Fox.[38] The pink bus also spurred online memes, with one referencing the character Elle Woods from the film Legally Blonde.[39] The campaign was covered comedically on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.[40]

Harman defended the campaign saying, "it's an eye-catching colour. It's identifiable".[41] She also said regarding the colour that the party wanted it to "look conspicuous and therefore a white van was not going to do the job".[42]

See also
  • EdStone, another part of the Labour election campaign in 2015

References
  1. "Labour launches biggest ever women's campaign: Woman to Woman". Tumblr. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  2. Matt (11 February 2015). "Labour launches biggest ever women's campaign: Woman to Woman". Harriet Harman. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  3. "Harriet Harman: 'Strident Harpyism Is Now Conventional Wisdom'". HuffPost UK. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  4. ""Sexist twaddle!" – Worcester parliamentary candidate in Facebook storm over pink bus campaign". Evesham Journal. April 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  5. "Election results: Conservatives win majority". BBC News. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  6. "Harriet Harman stepping down as Labour deputy leader". ITV News.
  7. "Ed Miliband is elected leader of the Labour Party". BBC News. 25 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 September 2010.
  8. Harriet (24 March 2015). "Woman to Woman Campaign Report published". Harriet Harman. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  9. "Pink bus of Labour women on 'kitchen table' tour to woo female voters". The Guardian. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  10. "Labour defends use of pink minibus in women's campaign". BBC News. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  11. "The Only Thing Worse Than The Pink Labour Bus Is 9 Million Women Not Voting". uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  12. "Labour defends use of pink minibus in women's campaign". BBC News. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  13. "Labour pink bus: Party criticised for patronising 'Barbie doll' colour as Harriet Harman attempts to appeal to women voters". The Independent. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  14. "Inside the bus that Labour admits is pink". BBC News. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  15. "Labour launches pink bus and women everywhere despair". Glamour UK. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  16. "Harriet Harman's pink bus hits the campaign trail". BBC News. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  17. "Angry man confronts Harriet Harman over pink battle bus". The Independent. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  18. "Harriet Harman's pink bus tour gets off to a bumpy start". The Guardian. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  19. Harriet Harman defends Labour's pink "barbie bus" | Channel 4 News, retrieved 17 December 2022
  20. Matt (24 February 2015). "Woman to Woman – Bedford". Harriet Harman. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  21. Matt (24 February 2015). "Woman to Woman – Cambridge". Harriet Harman. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  22. "Harriet Harman paints Yorkshire pink in Labour's battle bus". Yorkshire Post. 16 March 2015.
  23. Matt (11 April 2015). "Woman to Woman – Stockton South". Harriet Harman. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  24. "Cupcakes, balloons, Harman and Balls: a day on Labour's pink bus". The Guardian. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  25. Dearden, Lizzie (11 February 2015). "Labour pink bus: Angry man heckles Harriet Harman over 'patronising' campaign during tour". The Independent. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  26. Watt, Holly (11 February 2015). "Harriet Harman's pink bus tour kicks off in Stevenage". The telegraph. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  27. "Fathers 4 Justice protestors and far-right activists gatecrash Labour's 'pink bus' visit to New Addington". Croydon Advertiser. 18 February 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  28. Baynes, Chris (23 February 2015). "Croydon needs a female MP, says shadow minister on 'patronising' pink bus tour". Croydon Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  29. Busby, Eleanor (24 February 2015). "Harriet Harman defends bright pink bus on visit to Cambridge". Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  30. Mortimer, Hayley (5 March 2015). "New Fathers 4 Justice protesters gatecrash Harriet Harman's visit to Gloucester". Gloucester Citizen. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  31. "Fathers for Justice halt Harman's pink bus tour". Gloucester Review. Tindle Newspaper Group. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  32. "Fathers 4 Justice crash Labour's pink bus campaign". ITV News. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  33. "General Election 2015: This was a historic night for female MPs". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  34. "Harriet Harman denies pink battle bus to attract female voters is patronising". The Guardian. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  35. "Why would any woman want to vote for the patronising Labour Party?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  36. "Harman's Barbie bus: The new face of feminism". www.spiked-online.com. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  37. "Harman bus 'patronising', say women". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  38. Fox, Fleet Street (11 February 2015). "Harriet Harman and her pink bus are thunderingly thick, says @fleetstreetfox". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  39. "The Wheels Have Already Come Off Harriet Harman's Pink 'Barbie' Bus". HuffPost UK. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  40. "Watch John Oliver Slam the Way Britain's Labour Party Woos Women". Time. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  41. "Labour Denies Pink Minibus Is 'Patronising'". Sky News. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  42. "Labour's pink bus: top 'sexist' spats in British politics". Channel 4 News. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
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