The unusual timing of the general election has meant a plethora of early summer, extra-curricular PR opportunities presenting themselves to the major political parties. Where are we with the photo opportunities, two weeks to go? The Tories scored one of their impressive set of own goals around the Euros, when Rishi Sunak tried to gauge a Welsh room on their excitement about the tournament, despite the national team having failed to qualify. Labour’s retort was a very passive, Starmerian picture of their leader in neutral white T-shirt to watch the first England-Serbia fixture, lest he rock the incumbent Scottish vote. That’s a 0-0 draw by any metric.
Glastonbury is off for both. As Jeremy Corbyn’s beloved patch, Keir Starmer is unlikely to touch the event, though a secret DJ set from Angela Rayner at Silver Hayes would be a novel curveball.
This only leaves Pride left to play for. Next weekend is LGBT+ Christmas. Year in, year out since his election as London Mayor, Sadiq Khan has led the parade from the front, despite repeated death threats as a result.
It’s an annual reminder that Khan’s community spirit extends to all corners, celebrating an enclave of London he knows is pivotal to the city’s soft power. Because his predecessor, Boris Johnson, used to joke about “tank-topped bumboys” and once compared gay marriage to that between a man and a dog, the reliability of Khan’s beaming face on the parade is one of the few moments of absolute sincerity left amid the bonhomie. There is never any doubt that he wants to be there. Who else can lay claim to this ongoing and very visible support of LGBT+ equality rights, as the election looms ever closer? On June 3, six days into their campaign — after Titanic-gate, “exit”-gate, Welsh football-gate, but before Farage-gate, D-Day-gate and William Hill-gate — the official Conservative party Twitter account dropped a tweet: “We know what a woman is. Keir Starmer doesn’t.”
It is hardly like the Labour party has bragging rights here either
What was fascinating about this desperate, cheap attempt to reduce transgender lives to pawns on the political battlefield was not how little traction it gathered in the real world, but the slew of responses to the Conservative account’s post. Most of which, backfiring with expediency quite brilliantly schooled, whoever this bright idea was on how much the current Conservative government has done for women. Violence against women and girls, rape convictions, equal pay, child support, the care sector. The record is not great. The list goes on. The tweet was timed to dovetail on announcement day of a freshly incendiary policy by equalities minister Kemi Badenoch. On her grand media tour she failed to explain or even understand her own manifesto pledge on rewriting the definition of sex. Another serious politician striking herself off the Pride guest list. You can’t show up at a celebration of LGBT+ solidarity if the T bit of the acronym isn’t to your taste. Another opportunity to win some friends flushed down the drain.
It is hardly like the Labour party has bragging rights here either. The reason transgender rights have played no part in the election campaign is because the opposition leader has made an aggregated decision to agree with the Tories on everything they say on the subject. Some call this political acumen, pragmatism. From within the LGBT+ community it looks like lily-livered cowardice. Dare he show up at Pride? One can only hope he doesn’t send his gay right arm, Wes Streeting, who only this week was suggesting some mad, middle-England deferring new scheme on how transgender people should be policed in public. Earth to Wes! That ship’s sailed. LGBT+ voters are Middle England now. We’ve all moved on.
The Pride PR opp is as lost for the political heavyweights, one suspects, as the other major public gatherings that bless the dawn of official summer. Which leaves a rather more pressing concern for both parties. This is the first general election in my memory where those invested in LGBT+ equality have been purposefully made to feel politically homeless. There is talk of holding your breath and voting for change.
But change is an esoteric idea to hang your coat on. Unexpected U-turns happen. Is 2024 the election when the Greens become the LGBT+ political party of both inclination and choice?
