Keir Starmer needs to win over the so-called 'Stevenage Woman' to help secure a Labour victory at the next general election, a report concluded this week.
It is a group of full-time working mothers of two in their early 40s who have become disillusioned with politics.
At the last election, the Stevenage Woman voted Conservative, but is now twice as likely to back Labour.
“She’s not seeking radical or dramatic change, but she is worried about her life today, the state of public services, and life in her town,” the report said.
Think tank Labour Together suggested the party needed to win over this sort of voter to propel Mr Starmer to No10.
The Mirror took a trip to the Hertfordshire town to find out what issues the Stevenage Woman is affected by and what they think of Keir Starmer.
Mum-of-three Natasha Bradshaw
Mum to three teenagers Natasha Bradshaw, 49, a history teacher at a secondary school, said her biggest issue was teachers’ pay.
“I've been teaching for over 20 years and the pay that we get is not acceptable for the work we do.
“And it's not something that's just an issue with this government. It's all of the governments and they keep passing it on and education is becoming less and less important.
“And so what will happen is our education system is going to become just as bad as our NHS.”
Ms Bradshaw, who is an NEU member, said she has been on strike for two days in the recent waves of industrial action over pay and working conditions.
And she said she voted to reject the Government’s pay offer as she said it wasn’t fully funded.
“They want the schools to fund the pay rise. So that means schools are spending money on teachers’ wages and they're not spending money on education or books.
“So if the government is increasing the pay for teachers but making schools pay, it means schools are cutting more corners,” she said.
Second to teachers’ pay, she said the NHS needed attention.
“I had a stroke at the age of 38 and the NHS saved my life. The ambulance was with me in two minutes and I was in the hospital within five minutes and they were sending me to Addenbrooke’s hospital within an hour.
“Addenbrooke's said if you hadn't got to us when you got to us, you wouldn't still be here.
“If I was to have that stroke right now, I don’t think I would be here. I’d be waiting around for ambulances.”
When asked about her thoughts on Mr Starmer, Ms Bradshaw said: “He just hasn't got enough about him, has he? I’d like a politician that's gonna stand up and say this is what I'm gonna do.
“It'd be great if the Lib Dems had a bit more about them to offer an alternative. I think Labour and the Conservatives are becoming more and more similar to each other and they’re too busy trying to put each other down.”
When pressed on what the Labour leader could do to win her over, she said: “Reward those people that work hard. Make sure that you give nurses, teachers, police workers that deserve the pay rises, pay rises.
“And cut loans for higher education, stop saying you’re going to do these things and not do them.”
Mum-of-two Joanne Jarman
Mum-of-two Joanne Jarman, 42, who works in Starbucks, says the biggest issue in her life is “prices”.
“My energy bill went up to I think £378 at Christmas. A couple of years ago, I was spending like £20 a week, something like that.
“There's a lot of issues at the moment since lockdown. We just seem to be paying it all back. Even if you go into the local supermarkets, just for instance, to get poppadoms. They were £1.30, now they’re £2. It's not just a little leap, but I think a lot of single parents like myself are finding it hard, you know, it's quite a struggle.”
Ms Jarman, whose children are 11 and 13, said there were other issues like “everyone going on strike”, or a lack of pay rises.
But she added: “But t I think the main one for me at the moment is literally looking after the kids and paying for everything. We’re struggling to be honest with you.”
Ms Jarman said she doesn’t really have an opinion on Keir Starmer.
“I just don't think he's doing a very good job, but I don't think a lot of people do to be honest with you,” she said.
If she could ask him for anything, if he gets into power, it would be for “more help” for people like her.
“It seems to me at the moment and this is just my personal opinion, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,” she said.
“And get the energy bills down. Put a cap on it, not just until June. Put a proper cap on it, you know, because they're taking the absolute biscuit with that.”
When asked what she thinks about Rishi Sunak and his Government, she said: “I think they just line their own pockets. I know a lot of them are like that.
“When Labour was in, I wasn't struggling at all with my kids. I had spare money now I haven't and obviously that's my major concern.”
Retired Secretary Lorraine Smith
Lorraine Smith, 66, who is a retired secretary, said her biggest issue is “illegal immigration”.
“If people come here illegally, and they're in hotels or nice accommodation and our old people can't eat or heat and they've worked all their lives, that doesn't seem fair to me,” she said.
She said Labour is likely to win, because “the Conservatives have been on the backfoot on a lot of things”.
Ms Smith said she thinks Keir Starmer is “jumped-up”.
“He came from the ordinary, working class and now he seems to look down on them. I think it’s his whole attitude.
“I think he's too interested in digging out the Conservatives. He hasn't got anything major to offer himself, it's things that the Conservatives have failed down on.”
As well as immigration, Ms Smith said Mr Starmer should focus on the NHS and “knocking out the white collar workers and putting more nurses on the wards”.
She said the NHS didn’t used to be full of managers, adding: “You had a matron in control of the wards and you had auxiliary nurses doing a lot of the donkey work that the nurses have to do today like tidying beds, or sorting out water jugs, food, coffee, that sort of thing.
“They do 12-hour shifts. They’re on their feet, they have the responsibility of medication. They’re thumping up and down those wards for 12 hours.”
Care worker Anamika Nath
Anamika Nath, 39, a care worker in a residential home for the elderly, said she and her husband, who is an emergency medicine doctor, are struggling with “inflation” above everything.
“Me and my husband, we both are working, but still it is not enough. We have to work harder and harder but it’s hard to live”.
She also said working in healthcare is difficult because of workforce shortages.
“Because of decreasing salaries, people are not getting enough money, so they are just quitting their jobs. It's very hard to adjust, because inflation means less money and a lower salary.”
“Everything is expensive. It’s hard,” she said. “I’ve just been to Poundland which is usually cheap, but nowadays, it's not even that cheap. It's increasing. Expenditure is high on a daily basis”
Ms Nath said she is putting off having children, adding: “Some of my friends have two or three kids. I don't know how they are managing.”
She said she didn’t know who Keir Starmer was and hadn't voted before but said she recently received a letter asking her to register to vote, adding: “Maybe we’re going to vote soon.”
When asked what she wanted Mr Starmer, or the Government to focus on, she mentioned that her husband said people at his hospital were on strike recently.
She said health workers need to be paid more. “I'm not talking about a very high rise, just a little bit that they can help us.”
Mum-of-two Jennifer Haverson
Mum-of-two Jennifer Haverson, 35, an art teacher, with a focus on special educational needs, said the “health crisis” was the biggest issue for her.
“There aren't enough people available to look after the people that need looking after. The most vulnerable are being absolutely beaten down and they've not got any strings to hold on to. So I'd say that's probably the biggest issue on my mind,” she said.
But she added that education and a “lack of financial aid to go into higher education to learn about things like special educational needs” was also a “horrendous” issue.
“There also isn't any funding whatsoever for mature students who want to go off and re-train,” she said.
“I want to retrain to go into an NHS health professional sort of status but because I'm a mature student, there is no funding and of course, I have two children. I’m a single parent.
“I'm more than willing and happy to go and do these things and have been for the last couple of years. But there is not a single thing arranged for mature students to actually be able to do that training without losing money.
“You get no help and no funding. They will not pay you any Universal Credit to keep you with income.”
When asked what she thought about Keir Starmer, Ms Haverson said: “As an individual, he’s boring as hell. But you know, it's all about policy really, isn't it? At the moment people are angry about the Conservatives and what's happened over the course of their Government.
“With Keir Starmer, while his policies I completely agree with, it's still going to take a number of years to get to where we really need to be. So even if he does the best job ever, it’s likely that it's going to take a couple of years for that to actually really take effect.”
Expanding on her thoughts that Mr Starmer is “terribly boring”, she said: “People won't relate to him.”
However she added: “But since when have you seen a politician you can relate to?”
