Women as voters

Women's votes are vital to any election result. The majority of voters are women and women's political priorities are different from men's - so it is important all parties address women's concerns.

Over the past four general elections, the successes - or failures - of the parties to win over the female vote have been a key factor in the result.

In 2005, women's votes were key to Labour's victory; 38% of women voted Labour, compared to 34% of men. If only women had voted Labour's majority in the House of Commons would have been around 90, rather than the 66 it won. If only men had voted it would have been a wafer-thin 23.

At the next general election, all parties must try to win women's votes if they want to win power.

Polling updates

Fawcett produces reports on women's voting intentions, which show how women's priorities affect their votes. We have long worked in partnership with the leading market research organisation Ipsos MORI to produce these updates.

On the right hand side you can download the following reports:

A report published in November 2007 by the Fawcett Society and Ipsos MORI exposes a number of myths about women’s votes and challenges the parties to develop more sophisticated strategies for appealing to women voters. The report analyses data since the 1970s and looks behind the headline figures on women and men’s votes.

A report published in February 2007 showed that there are significant differences within the political attitudes of men and women in Britain. It concluded that women prioritise different issues to men, placing greater importance on achieving equality.For details of these differances follow the 'Men & women's views on equality' link in the download box on the right.

A report published in November 2006, showed that the idea that Cameron has a “female touch” is a myth. It found that just 9% of women say Cameron is more honest than most politicians, compared to 16% of men, while 38% of women have yet to make up their mind about the Conservative leader. The polling also reveals that women’s opinion of Gordon Brown is no worse than all leaders. For more information, follow the 'Cameron "female touch" link in related pages on the right.

The previous update, published in September 2006, is downloadable from this page. It shows that although women were more likely than men to vote Labour in 2005, by the time of our update in September 2006 they were deserting Labour further and faster than men. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are picking up in the polls with women. The Liberal Democrats have lost support from women and men over the year, but are still more popular with women.