Whether politicians like it or not, voters care about the politics of gender ideology, Critical Race Theory and other left-wing absurdities.
For many voters, their ‘X’ on the ballot paper will be decided by the stances of Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer on such issues at the next election.
So-called ‘woke’ political causes continue to make headlines, and so do the responses of MPs to these stories in the press. From the superficial war on statues to the almost-so-comical-it-could-have-been-satire story about staff at the University of Oxford calling for a ban on sheet music because of its supposed links to colonialism and white supremacy. But on more serious issues, it matters to the public how their MPs view the debates on transgender women competing in women’s sports, or how they define the differences between biological men and women.
It matters to the public how their MPs view the debates on transgender women competing in women’s sports, or how they define the differences between biological men and women.
The Labour Party certainly won’t win votes if its deputy leader, Angela Rayner, says that women cannot be defined by their genitalia, or even if its leader, Sir Keir Starmer, says that “99.9%” of women don’t have a penis. And, although in the same breath he was right to call for end to the “toxic divide” over trans rights, he unfortunately is complicit.
Starmer has been fighting an internal battle within the party over trans rights ever since he was elected leader. He’s also been fighting a public battle to prove to the electorate that he isn’t ‘woke’ – to some extent, this starts with addressing the absurd conflict over Labour’s “women problem” and the Rosie Duffield/J.K. Rowling row.
Facing an intense pressure from progressive groups within the Labour Party, Sir Keir is obviously struggling to appease the various liberal-left factions within his party – that would rather see him removed anyway – whilst at the same time attempting to show voters he is a pragmatic leader. His problem is that now having gained an unfortunate reputation for fence-sitting, either side of the debate accuses him of siding with the other. Electorally, this will prove a difficult challenge for Starmer.
What will also prove to be difficult is having to justify to floating voters – and certainly Conservative voters, in mind of his desire for a majority – his support for the ‘taking the knee’ malarkey of the Black Lives Matter lobby. Firstly, he will have to defend the vomit-invoking PR stunt where he was pictured taking the knee himself with his deputy alongside him, but secondly for the row of epic disproportions between the government and the opposition over England footballers taking the knee during the Euros.
Starmer’s main challenge ahead of the next election is outlining on which side of the fence he truly sits on – because attempting to appease two extremes will simply alienate support from both sides. On the one hand, he has to keep his party members on side which will mean cow towing to progressivism. At least, then, he could count on substantial support from Gen-Z and millennial voters. On the other hand, this would further alienate the average voter who doesn’t think women can have penises, or that elements of history need to be rewritten in order satisfy a minority of left-wing activists. At the very least, to take the progressive position would be to hand a cache of ammunition to his political opponents at the ballot box.
But ‘woke’ politics is not just an issue for Starmer and Labour. It poses just as much of an issue for the Conservative Party, which is seen by some of its own supporters to be not doing enough to oppose progressivism.
But ‘woke’ politics is not just an issue for Starmer and Labour. It poses just as much of an issue for the Conservative Party, which is seen by some of its own supporters to be not doing enough to oppose progressivism.
The Tories are also challenged, arguably more so than before, by having to convince young people to vote for them – and judging by the government’s record on how it has treated young people over the last three years, it is no wonder that Gen-Z and millennial voters would rather cast their crosses in the box of an alternative party. From abandoning university students during the pandemic to Liz Truss’ fatal ‘mini-Budget’ that caused mortgage interests rates to skyrocket, younger voters aren’t short of reasons to be furious with the Conservative government.
What the Tories need to do to restore some faith in their governance. To do this, they need to take the firm stance voters expect a Conservative government. In times of political turbulence, the Tories really need to do very little to retain the support of the party membership. If Rishi Sunak took a moment to think ‘what would Thatcher do’, and did it, Conservative voters would assuredly remain on side. That being said, how would Thatcher have responded to ‘woke’ activism and some of the frankly insane discussions that dominate the British political landscape today? Most probably she would have laughed it out the door.
If Sunak’s government was willing to stand up to some of the lunacy concocted by left-wing activists, be it demands to tear down statues or allowing for transgender people to ‘self-identify’ without a medical diagnosis for gender dysphoria, the Tories might just stand a chance of retaining support. But this Conservative government often proves to be one that’s actions are not followed up by its rhetoric.
If Sunak’s government was willing to stand up to some of the lunacy concocted by left-wing activists, be it demands to tear down statues or allowing for transgender people to ‘self-identify’ without a medical diagnosis for gender dysphoria, the Tories might just stand a chance of retaining support.
The Tories, like the Labour Party, are in danger of being seen of sitting on the fence. Although individual MPs have their views and make them known, the leadership needs to make clear the party line on ‘woke’ politics – that being to stamp them out and to challenge them. Otherwise, those who accuse the Conservatives and the Labour Party of being two sides of the same coin, may well be proven right.
Given Sunak’s weakened position – a Prime Minister without a public mandate, a leader of a party whose own members challenge his legitimacy – he needs to ensure he is in the strongest possible position come the time of the next election to ensure another Conservative majority.
By Jack Faulkner
