Labour pink bus: Twitter users blast party's 'patronising' attempt to woo women voters

Labour defends appeal to stop politics being a 'men-only club'

The 'burgundy end of pink' mini-bus which will be used to launch the Woman to Woman campaign

Labour's attempt to woo women voters with a lurid pink campaign bus ahead of the general election appears to have backfired, with Twitter users blasting it as "patronising", "Barbie doll" and more suited to a "hen night".

The party unveiled its eye-watering 'tour bus', which will visit 70 seats touting the first 'women's manifesto' in a bid to win back the support of the 9.1 million women who failed to vote in the last general election, on Tuesday.

Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman and women and equalities spokesperson Gloria De Piero will be joined by other female shadow cabinet ministers on the tour – but at a briefing in Westminster, Ms Harman rejected suggestions that the colour was “patronising” and said it had been picked by a “a collective”.

“Is it not magenta or something?” she said. “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.”

Read more: Labour pink bus: Party criticised for patronising 'Barbie doll' colour as Harriet Harman attempts to appeal to women voters

But Twitter erupted in a fury of disbelief, with some users comparing the brand new battle bus as something more suited to...Barbie.

Twitter users lambasted the move as being like something from a 'Sheilas' Wheels' advert – the unforgettable (and some would say, irritating) ditty for the car insurance brand that targets its insurance products to women.

Many derided the choice of the colour pink – when addressing issues aimed at women – as "patronising".

Harriet Harman was branded a 'Hen night Harriet'...

...and a large number of people compared the bus to Barbie.

While some criticised Labour's commitment to gender issues.

And others just welcomed the opportunity to make fun of the decision altogether.