General Election 2015 Report to National Executive Committee 24Th March 2015 Harriet Harman QC MP

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Woman to Woman Campaign Tour - General Election 2015 Report to National Executive Committee 24th March 2015 Harriet Harman QC MP

@HarrietHarman | #pinkbus1 | #Labour4women

Table of Contents

Labour’s Woman to Woman Campaign….…….……..…3 65 Constituencies Visited to Date……………………….….5 Meeting Women in Many Different Settings…….….…7 Woman to Woman Campaign Literature…….………….8 Woman to Woman Digital Campaign……………..……..10 Saturation National and Local Media Coverage……..13 Key Campaigners……………………………………………….....14 Women Trade Unionists…………..……………………….....16

The #Pinkbus tour has been made possible by enormous support from the Party and I would like to thank Iain McNicol and his team particularly Emilie Oldknow, Emma Meehan and her team, the Regional offices, the local and

national Press teams, Kat Segal and the digital team, Caroline Adams, Anouska Gregorek, Beth Gardiner-Smith and my own team particularly Ayesha Hazarika, Sophie Wingfield, Clare Gosbee, Hannah Lazell and Matt Price.

Labour’s Woman to Woman Campaign Labour's Woman to Woman campaign is the biggest ever women's campaign to reach out to women across the country ahead of May's General Election - particularly the 9 million women who did not vote in 2010. With the famous Pink Bus, the Woman to Woman campaign has visited 65 constituencies and will be campaigning up to Election Day in every English Region, in Wales and Scotland. Women from across Labour's team - including Shadow Cabinet members, MPs, councillors, MEPs, peers, AMs, MSPs and members of the GLA as well as from our affiliated trade unions - have joined the Woman to Woman tour. We have been highlighting all of Labour's key policies on the NHS, on the economy, on housing, education and immigration - but also issues of childcare, equal pay, tackling domestic violence, older women and women's representation. We are talking to women in their workplaces, at school gates in shopping centres, colleges and universities as well as on the doorstep. And the Woman to Woman tour is supported by a digital campaign. We have been putting the spotlight on our team of Labour candidates in our key seats and mobilising women Labour Party members to support them. The Woman to Woman campaign is reaching out to women and showing them that Labour is a party which they can count on to deliver for women in terms of our people, our politics and our policies.

On its tour of the country the #pinkbus has highlighted the impact of this Coalition government on women in the different nations and regions of the UK:

65 Constituencies Visited to Date

DATE CONSTITUENCY Candidate 11/02/2015 Stevenage Sharon Taylor 12/02/2015 Norwich North Jessica Asato 14/02/2015 Thurrock Polly Billington 18/02/2015 Croydon Central Sarah Jones 18/02/2015 Battersea Will Martindale 18/02/2015 Bermondsey & Old Neil Coyle Southwark 19/02/2015 Hastings & Rye Sarah Owen 19/02/2015 Brighton Kemptown Nancy Platts 20/02/2015 Southampton Itchen Rowenna Davis 20/02/2015 Reading West Victoria Groulef 21/02/2015 Milton Keynes South Andrew Pakes 21/02/2015 Northampton North Sally Keeble

24/02/2015 Bedford Patrick Hall 24/02/2015 Cambridge Daniel Zeichner 25/02/2015 Lancaster & Cat Smith Fleetwood 26/02/2015 Burnley Julie Cooper 26/02/2015 Pendle Azhar Ali 26/02/2015 Darwen & Rossendale Will Straw 26/02/2015 Heywood & Liz McInnes Middleton 26/02/2015 Bury North James Frith 27/02/2015 Wirral West Margaret Greenwood 27/02/2015 Weaver Vale Julia Tickridge 28/02/2015 Manchester & Bolton Julie Hilling MP West 02/03/2015 Dudley South Natasha Milward 02/03/2015 Halesowen & Rowley Stephanie Peacock Regis 02/03/2015 Wolverhampton Rob Marris South West 04/3/2015 Finchley & Golders Sarah Sackman Green 04/03/2015 Ealing Central & Acton Rupa Huq 04/03/2015 Brentford & Isleworth Ruth Cadbury 05/03/2015 Gloucester Sophy Gardner 05/03/2015 South Swindon Anne Snelgrove 06/03/2015 Bristol West (inc. Thangam Debbonaire South & East) 06/03/2015 Kingswood Jo McArron 07/03/2015 Brent Central Dawn Butler 07/03/2015 Harrow East Uma Kumaran 10/03/2015 Redditch Rebecca Blake 10/03/2015 Solihull Nigel Knowles 10/03/2015 Worcester Joy Squires 11/03/2015 Ilford North Wes Streeting 11/03/2015 Hornsey & Wood Catherine West Green 11/03/2015 Enfield North Joan Ryan 12/03/2015 Cardiff Central Jo Stevens 12/03/2015 Cardiff North Mari Williams 13/03/2015 Carmarthen West & Delyth Evans South Pembrokeshire 13/03/2015 Gower Liz Evans 16/03/2015 Colne Valley Jane East

16/03/2015 Elmet & Rothwell Veronica King 17/03/2015 Dewsbury Paula Sherriff 17/03/2015 Batley & Spen Jo Cox 17/03/2015 Bradford South Judith Cummins 17/03/2015 Bradford West Naseem Shah 19/03/2015 Great Grimsby Melanie Onn 19/03/2015 Lincoln Lucy Rigby 20/03/2015 Erewash Catherine Atkinson 20/03/2015 Loughborough Matthew O’Callaghan 21/03/2015 Sherwood Leonie Mathers 21/03/2015 Ashfield Gloria De Piero MP 23/03/2015 Bermondsey & Old Neil Coyle Southwark

Meeting Women in Many Different Settings

Visit Constituency Visit to local supermarket & meeting with Stevenage, Battersea, Redditch local women Listening event – hearing the concerns of Croydon Central, Southampton Itchen, local women Dudley South, Cambridge, Wolverhampton South West, Brighton Kemptown Leafleting Bermondsey & Old Southwark Canvassing Milton Keynes South, Bedford, Gower, Camarthen West & South Pembrokeshire, Cardiff North Highlighting women’s sport Northampton North, Hastings & Rye Roundtable discussions with local women Burnley, Wirral West, Burnley and women’s organisations Visit to local Sure Start Centre Pendle, Finchley & Golders Green, South Swindon Schools gates – discussions with local Rossendale & Darwen, Weaver Vale parents Roundtable with local trade union members Bristol West, Cardiff Central/South Meeting with UNITE apprentices Solihull Roundtable with care assistants Halesowen & Rowley Regis Highlighting local maternity closures Ealing Central & Acton Coffee morning with local activists – Brentford & Isleworth mobilisation event +1 coffee morning with local activists and Ilford North friends – mobilisation event Walk around local shopping centre Gloucester Visit to local college/school & discussion South Swindon, Kingswood, Solihull, Enfield

with young voters North, Lancaster & Fleetwood Visit to Single Parents Action Network & Bristol West discussion with women users Street stall Harrow East, Hornsey & Wood Green Visit to Asian Women’s Resource Centre Brent Central

Woman to Woman Campaign Literature English Leaflet:

Welsh leaflet

We are collecting all the demands of women from all of our visits all around the country.

Woman to Woman Digital Campaign The #pinkbus campaign is supported by a digital campaign on Facebook, twitter and via email. “Woman to Woman” infographics have been shared by almost 10,000 people onto their own Facebook profiles, reaching 982,560 with key messages. Although, we do not currently have the full figures for twitter engagement, the example below, has been retweeted, favourite and mentioned 1,079 times.

The example below, which has been posted on Facebook has 2,048 likes, 4,230 shares, and has reached 435,072 different timelines.

Saturation - National and Local Media Coverage The Woman to Woman Campaign and specifically the #pinkbus has generated massive local, regional and national media coverage for Labour’s message on women and our parliamentary candidates. Some examples can be found in the appendix.

Gloria De Piero MP on Loose Women, ITV

The #pinkbus makes it into the Observer’s A-Z of the General Election 2015

Key Campaigners Labour women politicians are coming on the on the #pinkbus on its tour of Britain – Shadow Ministers, Members of Parliament, GLA members, Assembly members, members of the Lords and MEPs. Shadow Cabinet Gloria De Piero MP Mary Creagh MP Lucy Powell MP Rachel Reeves MP Maria Eagle MP Rosie Winterton MP Angela Eagle MP Liz Kendall MP Caroline Flint MP Baroness Jan Royall Yvette Cooper MP

Shadow Ministers Julie Hilling MP Seema Malhotra MP Luciana Berger MP Yvonne Fovargue MP Sharon Hodgson MP Kerry McCarthy MP Nia Griffiths MP

MPs Fiona Mactaggart MP Diane Abbott MP Rushanara Ali MP Tom Watson MP Julie Hilling MP Margaret Hodge MP Liz McInnes MP Tessa Jowell MP Margaret Beckett MP Barbara Keeley MP

Former MPs Sylvia Heal Mike Foster

MEPs Clare Moody MEP, South West Mary Honeyball MEP, London Theresa Griffin MEP, North West Anneliese Dodd MEP, South East Glenys Willmott MEP, East Midlands

Peers Baroness Glenys Thornton Baroness Doreen Lawrence Baroness Oona King Baroness Chris Crawley Baroness Angela Smith

Assembly Members Julie Morgan AM Rebecca Evans AM Joyce Watson AM Joyce Evans AM

Women Trade Unionists The Woman to Woman campaign is building on the close relationship between women in the Labour Party and women in trade unions. The unions have played a key role in supporting the Woman to Woman tour including organising meetings with local women trade union members, arranging workplace visits, and coming out on the #pinkbus.

Appendix

A. Picture gallery

Stevenage, Woman to Woman Stevenage, Woman to Woman Campaign launch Campaign launch, with Gloria De Piero MP & Labour candidate Sharon Taylor

Birmingham Yardley, Liz Kendall MP Birmingham

& Rushanara Ali MP with candidate Jess Phillips

Inside the pink bus with Rachel Finchley & Golders Green, with Reeves MP, Diane Abbott MP & candidate Sarah Sackman & Mary Honeyball MEP Actress Michelle Collins

Harrow East with Diane Abbott MP, Rachel Harrow East, Street Stall Reeves MP & Mary Honeyball MEP, & candidate Uma Kumaran

Bristol West with Baroness Jan Royall, Councillor Kingswood, Clare Moody MEP and Baroness Jan Royall Helen Holland, Kerry McCarthy MP and visit candidate Jo McCarron’s old school for a Q&A with candidates Thangam Debbonaire & Karin Smith female pupils and parents.

South Swindon, with candidate Anne Snelgrove visiting a South Swindon, visiting New College with candidate Anne local Sure Start Centre under threat of closure by local Snelgrove authority

Brentford & Isleworth, younger member at Gloucester, meeting local women with candidate an event with candidate Ruth Cadbury Sophy Gardner

Finchley & Golders Green, Labour candidate Sarah Sackman

Tower Hamlets with Bethnal Green & Bow MP Rushanara Ali

Halesowen & Rowley Regis for a walkabout and discussion with Mary Creagh MP & candidates Natasha Milward & Stephanie Visiting Dudley South for a listening event and Peacock. with Mary Creagh MP & candidates Natasha Milward & Stephanie Peacock.

Cambridge with candidate Daniel Zeichner Bolton West with Julie Hilling MP

Pink bus making a stop at Labour

Women’s Network Conference in Manchester Central

Northampton North, Fiona Northampton North, Luciana Berger MP goes in for a tackle against Mactaggart MP and Luciana Berger Gregory Girls Football Club MP and the #pinkbus team, led by candidate Sally Keeble, take on Gregory Girls FC

Solihull, Gloria De Piero with UNITE Redditch with Gloria De Piero MP & candidate apprentices Rebecca Blake

From the Swindon Advertiser: Harman in the pink as bus rolls into town

Labour Deputy Leader Harriet Harman and Anne Snelgrove at Croft Children’s First published Thursday 5 March 2015 in News Last updated 18:16 Thursday 5 March 2015by Mike Benke, @Michael_Benke LABOUR’S famous pink battle bus rolled into town today, carrying the party’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman.

She was in Swindon to speak to students and staff at New College to try to find out why so many young people and women do not vote.

The bus, which has attracted much media attention because of its garish look, is part of the Woman to Woman tour which Labour is using to encourage more women to vote.

Joined by the parliamentary candidate for South Swindon, Anne Snelgrove, the shadow culture secretary held a question and answer session with more than 100 people.

Mrs Harman, the MP for Camberwell and Peckham, said: “It has been a very dynamic and interesting discussion, with the young people having a lot of clear and confident views but feeling their views are not understood by those in politics.

“Also there was a very big discussion about whether or not the lives of young women are going to be more equal than those of their mothers, which they feel they are.

“I think listening to them has been very important for us today and it’s about us being in tune with what people’s concerns are rather than sitting in Westminster telling people what we think they think.”

Although not everyone in the room was a Labour supporter, Mrs Snelgrove said it was a very helpful afternoon to understand what needs to be done to encourage younger people to engage with politics.

She said: “It was a great mixture of students and the general public. I thought it was fascinating, with lots of passion in the room.

“The election campaign has been a bit lacking in passion for me so it was great to see so much of it in there. The young people in particular are very passionate about making sure there is more information about politics in schools.

“Some of them said they weren’t going to vote because they did not have enough information, which I think is very sad.

“I will take that on board and make sure we do something about that when we’re elected.”

The principal of New College, Graham Taylor, said such events were important in helping to increase knowledge and interest in politics.

He said: “It’s important for all the youngsters, and we have 3,000 of them here, to learn about the political scene.

“The more politicians we have of any political hue who come in and talk politics and look at why youngsters don’t vote is really useful to our learners.”

APPEAL TO SAVE CHILDREN'S CENTRES

While in Swindon, Harriet Harman also met users of the Croft Children’s Centre, which is to close at the end of the month.

The move is being made to save money as the council faces a budget deficit but last week Anne Snelgrove, Labour’s PCC for Swindon, wrote to the council leader calling for them to remain open until after the election, a move supported by her party’s deputy leader.

Mrs Harman said: “It’s really heartbreaking that you’ve got these purpose-built centres which bring together everything children need and then find they are to be mothballed.

“The council should keep them open. If it’s a Labour Government after May we are going to have 25 hours free child care which is going to be paid for by a levy on the banks. This will bring money into children’s services and we want to make sure those centres are still there.”

Council Leader David Renard has replied saying it is not possible to reverse the decision at this late stage and questioned why there was nothing in Labour’s budget.

Speaking earlier in the week, he said: “I am not going to overturn a decision which was passed by full council at the request of someone not on the council. We passed the budget last week, which Labour did not vote against, and there was nothing in their amendments mentioning reversing the decisions.”

The Labour Group has said it did not look to reverse the decision because it was a Conservative budget so they could not put in changes of this size.

From the Lancashire telegraph: Labour's 'big pink bus' tours East Lancashire as Harriet Harman urges women to vote

VISIT: Harriet Harman in Rawtenstall with Will Straw and Liz McInnes

LABOUR’S deputy leader Harriet Harman brought her “big pink bus” to East Lancashire to talk to women about the importance of voting.

The shadow deputy prime minister toured Burnley, Colne and Rawtenstall in a bid to get more women to the polling stations for May’s general election.

She was joined at the school gates of St James-the-Less and St Mary’s primary schools in Rawtenstall by Labour supporters as well as Heywood & Middleton MP Liz McInnes, who lives in the town, and Will Straw, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Rossendale & Darwen.

Mrs Harman said her Woman to Woman tour is aimed at reaching the more than nine million women who did not vote in the last election.

She said: “It has been good to come to East Lancashire and there has been a big emphasis on why people do not vote and giving those people the confidence to vote this year.

“We went to a Sure Start children’s centre and they had done a display about voting, so it is good that this tour is generating that discussion about voting.

“We have got to get out there and talk to people and not just expect them to vote.

“Nine million women did not vote last time and it is down to us to give them that confidence and the feeling that politicians are listening to them so there is a reason. That is why we have been coming to where women are, such as the school gates in Rawtenstall.”

Mrs Harman said she had spoken to a number of women about what their concerns were in the area.

She said: “The main issues are surrounding schools, childcare and the health service as well as pay not going up but the costs of living going up.”

Mr Straw said: “I am delighted that Harriet Harman has come to Rossendale to talk to mums and dads about the issues that face our families and to tell them what we would do.

“These are things like extending free childcare from 15 hours to 25 hours, which is really important, tackling low pay and making further moves to close the pay gap. We had a good reaction and lots of children have been taking home our balloons.”

Ms Harman has been MP for Camberwell & Peckham since 1982. She was first appointed to the cabinet in 1997 as Secretary of State for Social Security and the first Minister for Women.

After holding further cabinet and government positions on two further occasions, she became the leader of the Labour Party, and leader of the opposition, following the resignation of Gordon Brown in May 2010. She held both posts until Ed Miliband won the 2010 Labour leadership election.