Reform UK hopes new group will attract women to party

Despite having two female MPs, a regional mayor and hundreds of women councillors, Reform UK is still battling a perception it is not a party popular with women.

A YouGov poll released in July found a gender gap in voting intentions, with men more likely to choose the party led by Nigel Farage than women.

The other four main parties - Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens -were attracting a higher or equal proportion of women than men.

There have also been several reports of sexist remarks made by Reform councillors, with one councillor saying she left the party because of the way she was treated.

And in recent months, Reform's been criticised by unions for planned changes to the equality act if it forms the next government.

That legislation protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society, enforcing the rule of equal pay for equal work.

The TUC has said women will be worst affected by Reform UK plans to change the Equality Act and employment rights.

The union held a protest outside the conference as it started, saying the party would remove protection for pregnant workers, could allow someone to be refused employment if they are of child-bearing age and allow exploitative zero hours contracts.

The union's General Secretary Paul Novak has said: "Reform has serious questions to answer on whether they will keep the principle of equal pay for equal value work."

At the party's conference in Birmingham this weekend, the party launched Women for Reform, a group designed to show the party is creating policies which help women.

It says it will "support females to take a more active role in politics, public service and community life".

Sarah Hopperton, chair of the Wycombe branch in Buckinghamshire, welcomed the new group.

She said: "Women have unique needs from politics and so it's really important women have a way of communicating with the party leadership on topics that impact us as we continue to expand our policies."

Councillor Emily Strudwick, who is leader of the Reform group on Portsmouth, argued Reform's policies were being "twisted by the left".

Aged 30, she represents the young female demographic where Reform support falls significantly behind Labour and the Greens, according to the British social attitudes survey show.

She said Reform's policies on equality and work were about "protecting the rights of British women at work, we just need to lose the parts of the acts which aren't protecting British people and are being used in the wrong way".

Reform UK announced plans for a Women and Motherhood Protection Act in June, saying it would bring together key protections for women currently scattered across different laws, including equal pay, sex discrimination, employment rights, unfair dismissal and maternity leave.

Strudwick also believes the bond between females in the party "brings people up" adding "there's a lot of women supporting women".

That applies in West Worthing according to Sally Taylor, a branch secretary for Reform UK, who said her group is an "all female crew".

She's one at conference sporting a turquoise blue trouser suit.

"It's nonsense we are not welcoming to women," she said.

"They are powerful women working really hard behind the scenes, we have some fantastic females in this party who maybe don't get spoken about enough but we are evolving all the time and I'm proud of our group".

And it's sometimes the older women who have the time to be the boots on the ground in local areas.

Christine Bourne is an activist from Wimborne - a former Conservative member, but felt the party let her down over Brexit.

Knocking on doors to talk about Reform policies is a regular activity.

"You do get some people who just shut the door in your face, but also lots who are curious and some who say 'good on you' and shake your hand".

And when I asked if the recent questions about donations had made her job harder she was defiant.

"For people like us who believe in Reform, it just makes us more determined, because its obvious the media are out to get us. You have to do what you believe in".