Labour’s Deputy Leader arrived in Cambridge in her pink minibus on Tuesday, but was interrupted by fathers’ rights activists who branded the event “sexist”.

Harman and her bus are a feature of the nationwide Woman-to-Woman tour, which aims to talk to local women about their involvement in politics. Arriving at Parker’s Piece, she expressed a desire to engage a large sector of apathetic voters this May.

Harman dubbed the fact that 9 million people didn’t vote in the last election in 2010 “a judgement on our politics”. Her hope is that the campaign will be a “genuine attempt to get out there, to engage with women… and show them that there are women in politics standing up for them”.

Flanked by Labour supporters and Daniel Zeichner, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Cambridge, Harman spoke to a number of women from the town and University about domestic violence, as well as on more local matters like the dangers of the A14.

The event on Parkers Piece was unmistakable due to the presence of the large pink minibus, which has caused controversy in the national media over its “patronising” colour, with some describing the campaign as a “gimmick”.

However, Harman continued to back the initiative.

“This has never been done before,” the MP for Camberwell and Peckham stated. “We are focussing on listening to women who might otherwise think politics is a men-only business”. The tour so far has shown that women are “quite intrigued” that there is a campaign aimed at them and their concerns, she claimed.

During Harman’s chat with locals on the Piece, fathers’ rights campaigners halted proceedings and used the opportunity to brand the event “sexist”, calling the MP a “bigot” because of the campaign’s female-centric nature.

After interfering in a photoshoot and refusing to move, the Labour congregation moved elsewhere to continue with the interviews and conversations with the electorate.
Attention then turned to Zeichner, who met up with Harman on her way from Bedford.

He and his local supporters canvassed for his election campaign alongside the event. 

Both later spoke with representatives from Cambridge Women’s Resource Centre, Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre and the Cambridge Women’s Refuge at a meeting held by the Cambridge Family Mediation Service.

Zeichner strongly endorsed the tour: “People are talking about the issues that effect women and families, and that’s a big change in our national politics”.

He also claimed the event will be successful in making Cambridge a ‘white ribbon city’, which would mean “accreditation for the policies we are putting forward to help people” in terms of domestic violence.

Zeichner was also pressed on local issues during people’s conversations with Harman. When asked about how to enthuse the student population to vote, as well as women, he said:

“All the big issues of politics are things that young people are interested in… but particularly women students. [It’s] violence against women, safety on the streets.

“These are important to people”.