Dunwoody: London media unable" to understand rest of UK

Labour's longest-serving female backbencher has said the government is not listening to both its own party members and the public.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, Gwyneth Dunwoody, a noted critic of New Labour, said the election campaign was "turning voters off" with its focus on "Islington dinner party issues".

And she said she was more than prepared to take the government on again by re-standing for the transport committee chairmanship that has brought her into conflict with the government on several occasions.

She said the media and opposition parties were also fuelling the campaign's Westminster bias, particularly by focusing on Iraq - something she said is not a major election issue.

"The sad thing about this campaign is that it has shown perhaps more clearly than ever before how terribly divorced the media and some of the politicians are from what's going on in the country," Dunwoody said.

"Those of us who are out on the doorstep feel that we are in a different election campaign. The Islington dinner party circuit issues don't play very well in Crewe."

Criticising the government's "presidential" leadership style, she added: "I think that the Labour Party has always benefited from listening to those of its members and the public who may have different ideas from those in power.

"This whole campaign is a classic example of it. That is what we need to return and what the media need to return to."

Women voters

Dunwoody, who at the dissolution of parliament was Labour's longest-serving female MP, agreed that the female vote would be crucial to a Labour victory and said she had been encouraged by how willing they were to look beyond Iraq.

"Women are very practical and know what they have to deal with," she said.

"I've been surprised by how many women have made the connection between what's happening to them and our policy commitments.

"In one case recently I had a husband speaking to me who was very angry about the war in Iraq, and his wife let him talk for a while and then said: 'Ignore him, I'll still be voting for you and so will he eventually in the end.'"

Roads and railways ignored

Dunwoody also said she was unhappy with the lack of focus on transport issues in the general election campaign, saying there were pressing problems facing the country that were not being addressed.

"There are a lot of major decisions to be taken in transport," she said.

"The railways are a very interesting case study in privatisation, where the taxpayer pays a fortune and gets extremely little in return.

"The challenges is quite straightforward: it's about ensuring we get value for money. That's a slogan they should have used in their election campaign, and it's one people can connect to."

Dunwoody said she welcomed the government's commitment to reintroduce the Road Safety Bill if elected, but said she was concerned over the proposals for more flexibility in speed limits.

She also defended the increasing use of speed cameras, saying there were few alternatives for making roads safer.

"People are still driving extraordinarily fast  and ignoring all the rules. I have discussions on the use of speed humps, where I say 'if you want the humps removed, are you prepared to have speed cameras instead to enforce the limits?' and I get a long silence in response.

"People want the right to drive at the speed they like wherever they like, and frankly that's fine if you have a racetrack to yourself, but not otherwise."