On our podcast that was released on Tuesday the 12th of July, our hosts Ashleigh and Michelle interviewed Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP for Romford and Southampton North and chair of the Women and Equalities Committee
Nokes made her views on the current debate within parliament surrounding the rights of trans people incredibly clear as she strongly condemned Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak for making trans people the butt of jokes and pointed out that big burly trans men with beards in womens loos will not make the anti-trans activists any happier.
She discussed her views on bathrooms, and the “othering” being participated in by the Conservative government. And even said “Any sensible political party are going to look at it and say this isn’t going to work”.
The rest of the interview continued in much the same manner, with Nokes condemning the behaviours of her colleagues and our hosts asking very good questions. Michelle asked Nokes if she were Trans, would she be able to vote for the Conservatives? Nokes said she would, she’d see that people like her were trying. She even said “I may be failing but that doesn’t mean I stopped trying”.
It was a great interview on the part of my colleagues here at What The Trans, and it left me a lot to think about. Especially with the next General Election approaching so rapidly. I’ve yet to figure out who I’m going to vote for, for definite. I have an idea or two, based on what’s gone on since the last one though.
Here’s where I stand so far, the Tories’ removal is long overdue. They couldn’t be less popular if they tried to be. Between the hideous response to Covid, the cost of living crisis, the utter shambles of Brexit, the short tenure of their party leaders, the lockdown party investigations and the attacks on trans people (and that’s only since Boris Johnson), they have utterly ruined any credibility they had in the public eye. The Tory “heartland” as I’ve heard it described, has had a vote share bugger off to the Reform UK party.
This is a graph from Statista. Each of those little circles on the coloured lines is a month. They follow the spikes and dips of public support for political parties. You can see, for this month (July 2023) their number mark Labour at 47% of the vote share and the Conservatives at 22%.
Reform UK (formerly the Brexit Party) are on a steady incline however, going back a few months at this point, with their approval rating currently at 9%.
Additionally, we know from right wing think tank the Policy Exchange that the main 3 things people care about in the UK this year politically, are the NHS, the Cost of Living and immigration. “when asked what people think will give the Government the best chance of winning the next election, Improving the National Health Service comes top, at 44%5 , followed by Reducing Inflation/cost of living (29%) and Reducing immigration/the small boats (26%), with no other option polling above 10%”.
https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/The-Peoples-Priorities.pdf
I understand where Nokes is coming from, but I can’t say I agree. I don’t know who I’ll be voting for, but it’s not those who are using me and my community as a distraction while the party signs the death warrant of its power. I can’t get past that, it’s too bloody evil. They do it because we’re smaller than them, and they can get away with it. Dunno about all of you, but I’m done allowing it.
