With two weeks to go until the election, there are just two more election debates, a few hundred more hours for would-be MPs to go door-knocking and plenty of fairs, races and summery fetes for candidates to be canvassing at. This week, Rishi Sunak went on LBC to answer questions – and one allegation of being a “pound shop Farage” – from callers, and Keir Starmer faced criticism from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn over just how allied he used to be to the now-independent candidate. At the time of writing, the Gambling Commission is investigating two Conservative candidates over bets relating to the timing of the election and Nigel Farage is threatening to sue Vetting.com for failing to scrutinise Reform candidates with problematic points of view. Despite being just a six-week campaign, this feels to be the longest part.

In this week’s Answer The Question, Stylist met – via Zoom, while she attended a Ladies’ Day racing event – with the Labour party’s Alex Davies-Jones to discuss her role as shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, the erosion of trust in politics, and what Taylor Swift has got to do with her approach to keeping women safe.

What’s the most pressing issue for women right now and what are you doing about it?

Male perpetrated violence against women and girls. It is an absolute scandal that three women a week are killed at the hands of men in this country and it’s not front-page news every single day. It feels like the country has been desensitised to it. If you look at the charge rates when it comes to sexual violence, it’s 2.6% for rape, so the criminal justice system isn’t working either. Women are dropping out of cases because it’s more painful and traumatic to be a part of them than to just let it go. I spoke to one victim-survivor who told me that she’d been raped. It took years to finally get to trial. And the words that she told me, which will always stay with me, are that it made her “want to die”. We have to make it a political priority. Because for far too long, it hasn’t been.

We’re going to halve violence against women and girls over the course of a decade. It’s ambitious, but we can do it. And I’m really proud that I will be given the task of hoping to achieve that in government. Part of that is in restoring trust again, so that women and girls know that politicians see them, hear them, understand them and take them seriously.

What’s the one thing you want to achieve in your role?

Seeing progress in halving the violence against women and girls, so starting that culture change, whether that’s in schools, in the workplace, in the street – wherever you are. I want you to be able to feel safe. I want women and girls to feel as safe in everyday life as they do at a Taylor Swift concert. And if we can achieve that, then I’ve done my job. The other thing that I really want to achieve, and I’m ambitious for, is to encourage more women and girls into politics, particularly from areas like mine. I’m from a working-class coalfield community in the Valleys, and I went to a comprehensive school. I’m not a nepo baby. I want other women and girls to see me and think, Well, if she can do it… I want them to think that one day they could represent their constituency, their community.

What’s been your most memorable day in politics so far?

It’s been quite a chaotic couple of years. I’ve got two: one for the drama, which was when Liz Truss resigned, just because it was utter chaos and disarray in parliament. Everyone was running around like headless chickens, thinking: Is the government going to come down? Are they going to call an election?

From a pride point of view, it would probably be the only vote [Labour has] ever won [this parliament]. And that was Diana Johnson’s amendment for the infected blood scandal because I had constituents impacted by that. That was parliament coming together at its best, not using a really important issue as political capital.

How do people react when you tell them you’re a politician?

It goes two ways. Some people are really surprised. I can’t tell you the amount of time people think I’m a researcher, a member of staff or I’m there to take the minutes or make the cups of tea. People still have, sadly, this ingrained vision of what a politician should look like, and it’s really depressing.

The other reaction I get is “Oh, my God, how do you do it?” And it is really difficult. I’ve got a little boy who’s five, and he was only eight months old when I was elected. So trying to balance, you know, being a mam and being an MP is difficult. People ask “How do you do it and raise a little boy?” and that angers me, because how many times would they ever ask a man that? I know they mean well, but it does sort of light a fire in me. I want to show my little boy that his mam kicked ass, and his mam can do these things as well. And that it’s not just a man’s job.

Do you have a constituent in mind when you’re standing up in parliament?

I try to think about as many as possible, but I always think about my mam, a 1950s woman from the Valleys who has been through a lot. And I always like to think: is this outside the Westminster bubble? Is this actually what people care about back home? Is this what people in my local working men’s club will be talking about on a Friday night? How does this impact them and matter to them?” As my mam tells me: you always trust your mam.

What piece of criticism as a politician has stuck in your mind?

We get criticism all the time. Women politicians get it more than most, and women of colour have it even worse. Debate me all you want on my policies: what I believe in, what I believe is the right course for the country. But when you get personal, and when you start attacking the way I look, or my weight or my accent, then you’ve lost the argument. That’s why democracy is so important – we need people to stand up for what they believe in, rather than how they look.

What was the last lie you told?

Probably that I’m on my way when I’m not, because I’m always running late. Either that or claiming I’m trying to be really healthy when I’m secretly eating all the Haribos to keep me going on the campaign trail!

How do you keep your brain sharp?

I enjoy walking, so it’s really handy for the campaign trail. I recently did my 10,000 steps a day for the Walk For Autism. My little boy’s got nonverbal ASD so it’s something really close to our heart. I also keep in touch with my friends who are non-political because they’re my north star. I make sure I carve out time to see them at least once a month for a cup of tea or a glass of prosecco. They keep grounded and sane.

Why should a voter trust you?

People trust people who they respect. And I’ve always been very open and honest with people. I’m really proud to be from the community that I represent and I think that that goes really deep in terms of them feeling understood, because I’m one of them. There’s been scandal after scandal in this parliament – not just those around infected blood or Hillsborough or Grenfell or Orgreave or the Post Office Horizon scandal, but also Partygate. It speaks to that wider culture of people covering their backs rather than stepping up and being honest. And that feeds apathy with the public who think: Well, why should I trust you? Why should I vote for you? We hear that lots on the doorstep, and it’s difficult to overcome. That’s why we’re trying to be upfront and realistic about what policies we offer.

What would make you walk away from politics?

I don’t think anything could. I hope to still be campaigning when I’m in my 90s, like some of my party members are because they care passionately about what they believe in. That’ll be me, on my soapbox with my walking stick. Nothing could ever make me step away from it because it’s part of who I am.

What keeps you awake at night?

The fear that something could happen to me, and the threat against us as people in the public eye, as politicians. We’ve had two of our colleagues murdered in the last seven years. People seem to see us as fair game and sadly I’ve been unable to attend the hustings because of a serious threat against me.

When campaigning, we’re used to doors slamming in our faces or people having a go. And I’m here listen to you moan and groan at me. But I always think: Is something else going to happen? Is this the day somebody’s going to cross that line and step too far?

But it’s still the best job in the world, and I still would encourage anyone who wants to stand for politics. Because despite all that crap and despite all that nonsense, I’m hoping that when we get into government – or if we get into government – if we’re lucky enough to serve and we manage to put in place policies on incel ideology, toxic masculinity, trying to transform this culture that has seeped into the public discourse around women or minorities, we can achieve something really, really powerful. So yeah, that’s the big crusade.

Answer The Question is Stylist’s home for all things voting and elections. In the series, we sit down with MPs from across the political spectrum to get to the heart of who they are and, more importantly, why we should trust them with our vote.

Images: Labour party