Abstract
If the Conservative party was out of favour with much of the British electorate during the New Labour years, its failure to appeal to women was also much remarked upon. The Conservative party, long renowned for attracting the votes of women, found itself apparently struggling to attract them. In particular, and in common with other advanced democracies, the party experienced the effects of a new gender-generation gap, whereby younger women gradually shifted to the left of their male counterparts (Inglehart and Norris 2000; Norris 1999b). A strategy of feminization — of presenting the Conservative party as more descriptively representative in Parliament, as well as offering up more attractive policies for women — might be one means of garnering support from these lost women voters who had over the last decade or more turned their backs on the party. Such a strategy was, in our view, an integral part of David Cameron’s wider decontamination process that sought to replace the ‘nasty’ party image with one of ‘compassionate conservatism’.
‘I’ve never voted Tory before’ .… Julie is voting Conservative at the next election because of our plans to help families.1
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 Sarah Childs and Paul Webb
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Childs, S., Webb, P. (2012). The Feminization Strategy and the Electorate. In: Sex, Gender and the Conservative Party. Gender and Politics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230354227_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230354227_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32674-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-35422-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)