Leadership Contest Heats Up: Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss on Women's Issues

Strategic Insights -

As the UK Prime Minister's leadership contest reaches a critical juncture, candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are under scrutiny for their stances on women's issues. A recent survey by YouGov found that 60% of Conservative party members intend to vote for Truss, while 26% support Sunak. The two candidates have been busy pitching themselves to party members, promising various tax cuts and reforms.

Key Takeaways:

  • Rishi Sunak has proposed a new "down-blousing offence" and pledged to create a new taskforce to crack down on grooming gangs. He has also vowed to create a National Crime Agency emergency taskforce to "hunt down" criminal gangs. Sunak described sexual violence against women and girls as a "national emergency".
  • Liz Truss has pledged to introduce a National Domestic Abuse Register, which would help break the cycle of repeat offending by abusive men. She has also vowed to introduce a stand-alone offence for street harassment. Truss has called for increased police training, new offences, and faster processes for rape victims.
  • The End Violence Against Women Coalition has criticized the candidates for lacking a comprehensive plan to address violence against women, including the need for investment in long-term, specialist prevention work.
  • The UK Women's Budget Group has highlighted the disproportionate impact of economic policies on women, with women being "shock absorbers" of poverty and more likely to be in debt. The group has called for recognition of this issue from the candidates.
  • Neither Truss nor Sunak has pledged to increase funding for specialist frontline services for victims and survivors of abuse, especially for those helping people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds.
  • Research has shown that women's jobs are 1.8 times more vulnerable during economic downturns, and women make up most of the public sector employees whose wages are frozen. Women also bear the bulk of unpaid childcare responsibilities.

Statistics:

  • 60% of Conservative party members intend to vote for Truss, according to a YouGov poll (Source: YouGov).
  • 26% of Conservative party members intend to vote for Sunak, according to a YouGov poll (Source: YouGov).
  • Women are 1.8 times more likely to experience job loss during economic downturns, according to a McKinsey & Co report (Source: McKinsey & Co).
  • Women make up 84.4% of public sector employees, where wages have been frozen for most of the last decade (Source: UK Women's Budget Group).
  • Women spend a higher proportion of their expenditure on essential goods, which will disproportionately impact them during the cost-of-living crisis (Source: UK Women's Budget Group).

Sources:

  • YouGov
  • McKinsey & Co
  • UK Women's Budget Group
  • The Independent
  • The End Violence Against Women Coalition