A bright pink bus rolled into Stevenage today as the Labour Party launched the next step of their general election campaign – to get more women to use their vote.
Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour Party, was at the first stop of the 70 destination tour at the Asda superstore in the town centre.
She said that in the last general election in 2010 about 9.1 million women had chosen not to vote, with experts reckoning that 850,000 of them being in the eastern region of the country.
Ms Harman said: “I think part of the reason women are so dissatisfied is that they think politicians are only interested in themselves and they don’t know anything about the people living in Stevenage.
“We do know that general dissatisfaction is more prevalent, so we want to offer them a real alternative.”
The Labour big hitter was joined by Stevenage Borough Council leader Sharon Taylor, who will be trying to win back the town for the party in May.
After the initial stop off at the Monkswood Way megastore, the campaign party made its way on to the streets to talk to voters and visited the Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre where Ms Harman made a speech to Labour members.
Speaking to the Comet, Ms Harman said she was very excited to launch the campaign in the town.
She said: “We chose to launch in Stevenage because it is one of those areas where there are a lot of people who want to see their children doing better and their lives going forward.
“We will be going around the whole country talking woman to woman.”
She also showed her support for Councillor Taylor, and said: “Hopefully after the election Sharon will be one of 150 female MPs, we think she will be an excellent member of parliament.”
Ms Harman is the third senior Labour figure to visit the town this year following in the footsteps of leader Ed Miliband and shadow health minister Andy Burnham.
Stevenage is accustomed to seeing a string of high-profile political figures from all the major parties in the run-up to a general election because it’s such a marginal seat.
Mr Milliband was at a People’s Question Time event at the Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre and also toured Lister Hospital.
And shadow health minister Andy Burnham visited a sheltered accommodation unit in York Road two weeks ago to lay out his plans for the future of the NHS and speak to carers.
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