David Cameron may have insisted that his party does not have a “problem with women” at today’s PMQs (as he stood in front of an entirely male frontbench) but the polls tell a different story. The latest YouGov survey gives Labour a three-point lead among men (36-33) but a nine-point lead among women (42-33).
The female vote was once one of the Tories’ greatest electoral assets, with the party consistently attracting more support from women than men, but since 2005 the reverse has been true. In 1992, the female-male gender gap [% Female Con Vote – % Female Lab Vote] minus [% Male Con Vote -% Male Lab Vote] stood at six points in the Tories’ favour but it fell to two points in 1997, to one point in 2001 and to minus six in 2005 (among men, the Tories and Labour were tied on 34 per cent). At the last election, the gender gap stood at minus five and, as I’ve noted, it currently stands at minus six. Here are the numbers in full.
How men and women voted
1979
Men
Conservative 43
Labour 40
Women
Conservative 47
Labour 35
Female-male gender gap: +9
1983
Men
Conservative 42
Labour 30
Women
Conservative 46
Labour 26
Female-male gender gap: +8
1987
Men
Conservative 43
Labour 32
Women
Conservative 43
Labour 32
Female-male gender gap: 0
1992
Men
Conservative 41
Labour 37
Women
Conservative 44
Labour 34
Female-male gender gap: +6
1997
Men
Conservative 31
Labour 45
Women
Conservative 32
Labour 44
Female-male gender gap: +2
2001
Men
Conservative 32
Labour 42
Women
Conservative 33
Labour 42
Female-male gender gap: +1
2005
Men
Conservative 34
Labour 34
Women
Conservative 32
Labour 38
Female-male gender gap: -6
2010
Men
Conservative 38
Labour 28
Women
Conservative 36
Labour 31
Female-male gender gap: -5
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