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Can Labour’s Lee Sherriff become Cumbria’s first female MP? Can Labour’s Lee Sherriff become Cumbria’s first female MP?
(4 days later)
Cumbria has had some interesting MPs over the years. During the Blair era, ex-defence minister John Hutton represented Barrow, one of England’s least accessible constituencies. For decades, the famously snobby Baron Michael Jopling lorded it over Westmorland – he was the aristocrat who once dismissed the then deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine, an upwardly mobile commoner, by saying: “The trouble with Michael is that he had to buy all his furniture.” Currently, Rory Stewart, ex-governor of two Iraq provinces, is installed in a cottage in Penrith and the Borders for the Conservatives, and down in the South Lakes the irrepressible Tim Farron, president of the Lib Dems, is putting a brave face on it all. Cumbria has had some interesting MPs over the years. During the Blair era, ex-defence minister John Hutton represented Barrow, one of England’s least daccessible constituencies. For decades, the famously snobby Baron Michael Jopling lorded it over Westmorland – he was the aristocrat who once dismissed the then deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine, an upwardly mobile commoner, by saying: “The trouble with Michael is that he had to buy all his furniture.” Currently, Rory Stewart, ex-governor of two Iraq provinces, is installed in a cottage in Penrith and the Borders for the Conservatives, and down in the South Lakes the irrepressible Tim Farron, president of the Lib Dems, is putting a brave face on it all.
But one thing Cumbria has never had, in almost 100 years of universal suffrage, is a female MP. It is the only county in England to have never been represented in parliament by a woman – a dubious distinction it shared with Suffolk until Therese Coffey was elected for the Tories there in 2010. The Labour party hopes to change this next year: if all goes according to plan, local lass Lee Sherriff will usurp John Stevenson, the Tory who – to his own obvious surprise – managed to interrupt 45 years of unbroken red rule in Carlisle by getting elected in 2010. But one thing Cumbria has never had, in almost 100 years of universal suffrage, is a female MP. The Labour party hopes to change this next year: if all goes according to plan, local lass Lee Sherriff will usurp John Stevenson, the Tory who – to his own obvious surprise – managed to interrupt 45 years of unbroken red rule in Carlisle by getting elected in 2010.
There is a common refrain when you ask ordinary people about politicians: “They are not like us. They don’t understand.” They often then go on to claim that all MPs are on the take, or have never done a hard day’s work in their life. These are not charges you could level against Sherriff. A 41-year-old single mother of three, she never went to university, let alone Oxbridge, and worked as a shop assistant in Jaeger for 13 years until the Carlisle branch was shut down in the recession in 2012. As she puts it: “I know what it’s like to struggle to pay the bills, to worry about the mortgage, to have to do three jobs to make ends meet.”There is a common refrain when you ask ordinary people about politicians: “They are not like us. They don’t understand.” They often then go on to claim that all MPs are on the take, or have never done a hard day’s work in their life. These are not charges you could level against Sherriff. A 41-year-old single mother of three, she never went to university, let alone Oxbridge, and worked as a shop assistant in Jaeger for 13 years until the Carlisle branch was shut down in the recession in 2012. As she puts it: “I know what it’s like to struggle to pay the bills, to worry about the mortgage, to have to do three jobs to make ends meet.”
Sherriff currently has four jobs, if you count her paid gig as a city councillor. She is also a support worker for a mental health charity, cares for a disabled man and does work for Mencap. Since being selected back in September 2012 she has also been out doorknocking five days a week, and somehow has found time to bring up three children – a daughter, 18, has just gone off to study social work at Teeside University; a son, 16, is about to start sixth form and her youngest, an 11-year-old girl, has just begun secondary school.Sherriff currently has four jobs, if you count her paid gig as a city councillor. She is also a support worker for a mental health charity, cares for a disabled man and does work for Mencap. Since being selected back in September 2012 she has also been out doorknocking five days a week, and somehow has found time to bring up three children – a daughter, 18, has just gone off to study social work at Teeside University; a son, 16, is about to start sixth form and her youngest, an 11-year-old girl, has just begun secondary school.
A lifelong Labour voter, Sherriff says she decided to get involved in politics after the 2010 general election, when the coalition government formed. “I got sick of shouting at the telly and thought, ‘I need to do something’,” she says. Her selection wasn’t without controversy. Locally, noses were put out of joint that a woman with scant experience in politics, and who had only joined the party in May 2010, was suddenly being given a shot at running for parliament. But Labour’s national executive were happy for her to get it, stung after years of criticism for parachuting in special advisers and policy wonks over the heads of local candidates (viz the Brothers Miliband and Barrow’s current MP, John Woodcock, who worked for Gordon Brown in Downing Street).A lifelong Labour voter, Sherriff says she decided to get involved in politics after the 2010 general election, when the coalition government formed. “I got sick of shouting at the telly and thought, ‘I need to do something’,” she says. Her selection wasn’t without controversy. Locally, noses were put out of joint that a woman with scant experience in politics, and who had only joined the party in May 2010, was suddenly being given a shot at running for parliament. But Labour’s national executive were happy for her to get it, stung after years of criticism for parachuting in special advisers and policy wonks over the heads of local candidates (viz the Brothers Miliband and Barrow’s current MP, John Woodcock, who worked for Gordon Brown in Downing Street).
Despite having what counts these days in the Labour party as an exotic background, Sherriff is as on message as any eager spad. Ask her what the number one complaint is on the doorstep and she says “the cost of living crisis” – a phrase everyone in the party has been ordered to parrot until the polls close at 10pm next May. She’s somewhat short on details, saying she will do politics “differently” but then looks stuck when asked how this will manifest itself in practice, saying: “I intend to be myself and be approachable ... it’s about being one of the people.” When pressed for her views on some of the most contentious issues of the day, fracking and immigration, she sits on the fence, giving somewhat woolly answers that never really answer the question.Despite having what counts these days in the Labour party as an exotic background, Sherriff is as on message as any eager spad. Ask her what the number one complaint is on the doorstep and she says “the cost of living crisis” – a phrase everyone in the party has been ordered to parrot until the polls close at 10pm next May. She’s somewhat short on details, saying she will do politics “differently” but then looks stuck when asked how this will manifest itself in practice, saying: “I intend to be myself and be approachable ... it’s about being one of the people.” When pressed for her views on some of the most contentious issues of the day, fracking and immigration, she sits on the fence, giving somewhat woolly answers that never really answer the question.
She looks up to “really strong women” in politics, citing Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary. “Strong women who’ve got families but still warm, personable people,” she says over a coffee in a Carlisle hotel. Andy Burnham is another inspiration, and she says she quite likes Stewart, even though he’s a Tory. “He’s got character and personality. He’s not your stereotypical Tory,” is her assessment.She looks up to “really strong women” in politics, citing Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary. “Strong women who’ve got families but still warm, personable people,” she says over a coffee in a Carlisle hotel. Andy Burnham is another inspiration, and she says she quite likes Stewart, even though he’s a Tory. “He’s got character and personality. He’s not your stereotypical Tory,” is her assessment.
She knows it will be hard juggling her family commitments with parliamentary duties. “I can only consider this now my children are a bit older,” she says. Plus her parents recently moved back to Carlisle from Harrogate, and will be able to help with childcare if she ends up marooned in Westminster during the week.She knows it will be hard juggling her family commitments with parliamentary duties. “I can only consider this now my children are a bit older,” she says. Plus her parents recently moved back to Carlisle from Harrogate, and will be able to help with childcare if she ends up marooned in Westminster during the week.
Yet, come election night next year, the senior Sherriffs will have a difficult choice to make. Their other daughter, 39-year-old Paula, has been selected as Labour’s 2015 candidate in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Both Carlisle and Dewsbury are key Labour targets – the former is number 15 on the party’s hitlist, the latter 21. Lee and Paula, who are not particularly close as sisters, were both elected to their respective councils on the same night in May 2012. “Mum went to see my sister and I got my dad,” says Sherriff. “I think they’ll lock themselves in a cupboard on election night next year.”Yet, come election night next year, the senior Sherriffs will have a difficult choice to make. Their other daughter, 39-year-old Paula, has been selected as Labour’s 2015 candidate in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Both Carlisle and Dewsbury are key Labour targets – the former is number 15 on the party’s hitlist, the latter 21. Lee and Paula, who are not particularly close as sisters, were both elected to their respective councils on the same night in May 2012. “Mum went to see my sister and I got my dad,” says Sherriff. “I think they’ll lock themselves in a cupboard on election night next year.”
Out on the stump in the Castle ward one sunny September afternoon, not all voters want to hear Sherriff promise to solve their cost of living crises. Wearing knee-high boots and a shift dress, she is greeted by one man who opens the door, kicks out the leaflet she has just stuffed through his letterbox and shouts: “You can have that back and all.” As is so often the case these days, those who promise Sherriff her vote look blank when asked why they vote Labour, with many saying simply, “Cos I always do.” Others, when prodded, say Labour is the party of working people.Out on the stump in the Castle ward one sunny September afternoon, not all voters want to hear Sherriff promise to solve their cost of living crises. Wearing knee-high boots and a shift dress, she is greeted by one man who opens the door, kicks out the leaflet she has just stuffed through his letterbox and shouts: “You can have that back and all.” As is so often the case these days, those who promise Sherriff her vote look blank when asked why they vote Labour, with many saying simply, “Cos I always do.” Others, when prodded, say Labour is the party of working people.
John Stevenson may have been more or less invisible in Westminster, but he retains the confidence of a lot of local businesses. Winning Carlisle is not a given. After a boundary change before the last election, the constituency has taken in more rural areas, where Conservatives generally enjoy strong support. But if the election will be won according to who has worn out the most shoe leather pounding Carlisle’s streets, Sherriff, in her suede boots, will triumph.John Stevenson may have been more or less invisible in Westminster, but he retains the confidence of a lot of local businesses. Winning Carlisle is not a given. After a boundary change before the last election, the constituency has taken in more rural areas, where Conservatives generally enjoy strong support. But if the election will be won according to who has worn out the most shoe leather pounding Carlisle’s streets, Sherriff, in her suede boots, will triumph.
• This article was amended on 31 October 2014. An earlier version said that Cumbria “is the only county in England to have never been represented in parliament by a woman – a dubious distinction it shared with Suffolk until Therese Coffey was elected for the Tories there in 2010”. That was incorrect: for example, the Isle of Wight has never had a female MP.