Labour Denies Pink Minibus Is 'Patronising'

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Using a bright pink minibus to encourage women to vote is not "patronising", Labour's deputy leader has insisted.

Harriet Harman will head up the "woman-to-woman" campaign, which aims to visit more than 70 constituencies before the General Election.

But she was forced to defend the push at a briefing for journalists after questions were asked about the colour of the 16-seater vehicle.

Ms Harman denied suggestions the campaign was "patronising" to women, and said the colour showed it was "different".

"Is it not magenta or something?" she joked.

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"We wanted to mark that this was something different.

"We wanted it to look conspicuous and therefore a white van was not going to do the job."

She added: "It is a very nice looking bus ... It is the correct colour. This is a One Nation Labour colour."

Conservative MP Caroline Dineage said: "The wheels have come off the Labour bus.

"Getting Harriet Harman to drive around the country in a pink van to try and attract the female vote is as patronising as it gets.

"This is clearly just another divisive gimmick that the electorate will see through."

Ms Harman said at the briefing the party doesn't want women to "give up on politics".

"If you look at the figures, the disaffection that there is with politics is even more pronounced among women," she said.

More than nine million women did not vote at the last election.

"We want women to feel that this is their democracy and politics is for them as well as for men."

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