Cameron’s pitch to women voters

David Cameron’s speech today is another reminder of how concerned the Tories are about losing their traditional advantage among female voters. The message that the Tories are cutting so that the country is passed on in a better state to the next generation is a direct response to the fact that the party’s polling has found mothers to be deeply concerned that their children will not have as good a quality of life as they have had.

At the away day for Tory MPs last week, Andrew Cooper — the PM’s chief political strategist — said that talking about deficit reduction in these terms was crucial to winning over female swing voters. Indeed, when I asked one Downing Street source about the timing of today’s speech, it was instantly pointed out to me that next week is International Women’s Week and that Cameron will be doing something to mark International Women’s Day on Thursday.