New polling indicates the persistence of conservative views on trans issues among a substantial proportion of Labour supporters. Almost half (48%) of those polled back the recent Supreme Court ruling which established that the UK Equality Act (2010) did not treat ‘transwomen’ (men) as women for the purposes of law and classified ‘sex’ as biological, in line with reality.
Pollsters Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now also found significant Labour support for keeping men out of women’s sports (48%), women’s prisons (41%), and women’s toilets (38%). Voters identifying with the Conservatives and Reform UK were much more supportive of the Supreme Court decision and its consequences.
The ‘common sense’ effects of the ruling are starting to make an impact, with Barclays bank announcing it will bar trans women from using its female lavatories. This contrasts with the position taken in November 2023, where business group Trans in the City was reassured at the bank’s Canary Wharf office by Barclays that they could use the bathroom of their choice.
For Labour, the apparent division among its supporters reflects its own equivocal approach to the issue. At present the leadership thanked the Court for its guidance before—in the way that Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia—declaring it had always thought that biological ‘women are women.’ Not all Labour MPs are happy with the decision, however: recently leaked WhatsApp messages revealed a group planning to get the decision overturned.
