‘Tories woo Worcester Woman’ was the headline that appeared on the billboard outside my local newsagent one Sunday morning in 1996. Having read the article which reported on Tory central office’s identification of the mythical voter that is Worcester Woman, I was drawn into the relationship as Labour’s candidate for the marginal seat I lived in. Media attention followed, up to and beyond the 1997 election and the Worcester Woman tag remained etched into political folklore associated with Tony Blair’s historic landslide as ‘Basildon Man’ was associated with the surprise Tory win in 1992.

So when Radio 5live asked me to help in their coverage of the Labour leadership contest and their search for Worcester Woman, I was happy to help. So ahead of the contest closing I went to the Lyppard Hub, a community centre in a newish housing estate, where for 13 years I had held a monthly surgery, to interview mums at a toddlers’ play group. I do not claim the parents interviewed were ‘statistically representative’ of Worcester Women, but they met the description identified by Tory pollsters.

Worcester Woman’s attitude towards politics did not surprise me nor did the indifference towards the leadership contest. My fears about the 2015 election were confirmed and yet, there was still hope for 2020. Let me explain further.

Without exception, those interviewed paid little or no attention to politics on a daily basis. At the time of the evening news they are too busy getting their offspring ready for bed and the routine all parents recognise. For the later news, frankly they are too knackered to pay too much attention. They do not buy a daily paper and even the weekly free sheets do not always get delivered. They felt guilty, recognising they should take more interest, and they all voted in 2015. By and large only as the election got close did they start to pay attention.

The Labour leadership election has simply passed them by. And that should not be a surprise. They were not members, affiliates or even £3 supporters – so why would they be expected to pay attention? It is called an internal election for a reason. On the plus side, all the misgivings and concerns about the process that we might have will equally have passed them by. And that is no bad thing.

Turning towards the general election, all but one of the women interviewed voted Conservative but only one was a life-time Tory voter. What came across, loud and clear, was the impression that Labour offered nothing for them and their families. They acknowledged the bedroom tax did not affect them, but childcare, housing, schools did. And when pressed, the Tory offer trumped Labour’s because it was backed up by the feeling that the Tory management of the economy made it more credible. The accountant, taking a career break with young children, voted Conservative for the first time because of their childcare offer and ‘the deficit’; she saw David Cameron as a prime minister but not Ed Miliband. When pressed, Tony Blair was still held in high esteem, partly because of what her parents had told her (after all he was elected leader over 20 years ago and this is a new generation). All expressed the desire for them and their families to get on – be it to own not rent a house, to have their children go to good schools and maybe university. In political speak, they were aspirational voters.

And finally, the hope. Despite our election defeat, and the travails of the leadership contest, none of those interviewed ruled out voting Labour in 2020. But they want Labour politicians to talk about their hopes and desires; to reflect their aspirations in policy and back it up with the credibility that what is promised will be delivered. Labour won Worcester in 1997 and held the seat until 2010. In 2015, the Tories increased their majority in the seat. The demographics of Worcester make it a microcosm of the UK as a whole – that is why Worcester Woman was identified in the first place and not the alliteration! As a party, we ignore her at our peril.

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Mike Foster was member of parliament for Worcester 1997 – 2010

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The Radio5 live report is due for broadcast on the breakfast show September 9^th

Photo: barnyz