Both parties have much work to do in engaging with the concerns of female voters

The importance of female voters is clearly illustrated by the seat of York Outer, which is estimated to have the highest proportion of women of any seat in Yorkshire.

There are universal issues that affect both men and women such as the cost of living crisis and the state of the NHS. But there are gender specific issues that are not being addressed by the Government.

In fact, it has become so fixated with winning over would-be defectors to Reform, more likely to be male, that it has stopped speaking to female voters.

For example, women are on average more likely to be poor, depend on social security, and less likely to benefit from tax cuts, says Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director of the Women’s Budget Group think tank.

Women hold the key to electoral success. Labour found that with its focus on ‘Worcester Woman’ before securing a landslide in 1997.

It’s not just the Tories who could end up feeling the scorn of female voters. Labour still has work to do as the More in Common group pointed out earlier this year that ‘Whitby Woman’ could prevent it getting a majority.

In Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer there are two men vying for power at the top of government. They need to tune into the concerns of women and not talk at them.

There have been occasions when certain politicians have even been unable to articulate what a woman is. It’s why so many women feel that their rights are at risk.