The Conservatives had a chance to reach millennial women like me. It was their mistake to ignore us
Source: The Star
Do the federal Conservatives have a problem with women? All signs point to yes — but not in the way many progressive voters think. It’s not that they’re afraid of strong women. Rather, it’s that they can’t seem to figure out how to talk to female voters.
Throughout the recent election campaign, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives had perilously low support from women across every age group. In its final poll before voting day, Nanos had Mark Carney’s Liberals ahead among women by 20 points. Angus Reid had them leading by 25 points for women 55-plus,10 points for women 35 to 54 and 22 points for women 18 to 34. Even Abacus, which presented a tighter race than most pollsters, clocked the Liberals at eight points ahead of the Conservatives among women. Apart from the Trump factor, women’s distrust of and distaste for the Conservative Party was its biggest electoral liability.
Unlike Trump, Conservatives’ standing with women is largely within their control. Yet for all their focus on deficits, they stubbornly chose to ignore their deficit among female voters, despite having ample resources and time, as well as favourable issues to play with.
It’s a bad Conservative habit that persists across leaders and elections: ignore the issues and demographics you’re losing on and double down on base support. While this may work sometimes, you can’t simply opt out of appealing to women and expect to win an election, let alone majority government.
When Poilievre enjoyed a 25-point lead and victory seemed assured, perhaps the Conservatives figured they didn’t need to reach out to women. Instead of expanding the big blue tent, they focused on internal battles over which type of conservative deserved to be in it. As they slid in the polls, it became abundantly clear that they should’ve spent less energy on conducting purity tests and more on fixing their women problem.
Read here the full article published by The Star.
Image credits: The Star
Do the federal Conservatives have a problem with women? All signs point to yes — but not in the way many progressive voters think. It’s not that they’re afraid of strong women. Rather, it’s that they can’t seem to figure out how to talk to female voters.
Throughout the recent election campaign, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives had perilously low support from women across every age group. In its final poll before voting day, Nanos had Mark Carney’s Liberals ahead among women by 20 points. Angus Reid had them leading by 25 points for women 55-plus,10 points for women 35 to 54 and 22 points for women 18 to 34. Even Abacus, which presented a tighter race than most pollsters, clocked the Liberals at eight points ahead of the Conservatives among women. Apart from the Trump factor, women’s distrust of and distaste for the Conservative Party was its biggest electoral liability.
Unlike Trump, Conservatives’ standing with women is largely within their control. Yet for all their focus on deficits, they stubbornly chose to ignore their deficit among female voters, despite having ample resources and time, as well as favourable issues to play with.
It’s a bad Conservative habit that persists across leaders and elections: ignore the issues and demographics you’re losing on and double down on base support. While this may work sometimes, you can’t simply opt out of appealing to women and expect to win an election, let alone majority government.
When Poilievre enjoyed a 25-point lead and victory seemed assured, perhaps the Conservatives figured they didn’t need to reach out to women. Instead of expanding the big blue tent, they focused on internal battles over which type of conservative deserved to be in it. As they slid in the polls, it became abundantly clear that they should’ve spent less energy on conducting purity tests and more on fixing their women problem.
Read here the full article published by The Star.
Image credits: The Star