Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.12
Object Name
Beer mat
Title
'Go to bed with Charlie... wake up with Howard. A vote for the Lib Dems will let Tory hate back in'
Place
UK
People
LGBT Labour, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Conservative Party, Michael Howard, Charles Kennedy, GMB (Union)
Events
Elections, 2005 General Election
Description
A beer mat. The front is split in two - yellow half has a picture of Charles Kennedy, blue half has a picture of Michael Howard. Text reads: 'Go to bed with Charlie... wake up with Howard. A vote for the Lib Dems will let Tory hate back in'
The reverse is black with red and white text. There is a checklist of pro-LGBT policies Labour had introduced, and policies they promise to introduce with the message 'Only Labour can delivery equality'.
This beer mat was produced by LGBT Labour for the 2005 general election, urging voters not to vote Liberal Democrat, suggesting that as the Lib Dems and Labour had similar values, splitting the vote would lead to a Conservative Party victory. The reverse shows the list of policies that benefit LGBTQIA+ people Labour had introduced since 1997 including repealing Section 28, equalising the age of consent, introducing civil partnerships, gender recognition certificates for trans people and allowing same gender couples to adopt.
They promise to introduce an equality act condensing anti-discrimination legislation against all protected groups into a single law if re-elected, and to outlaw homophobic bullying in schools. The latter did not happen when Labour won the election, but the Equality Act 2010 was introduced. The inclusion of trans rights as a point of pride for Labour on this leaflet is interesting to note, demonstrating how some political policies are not core to a party's identity, as Labour in 2025 has reversed their stance on trans rights.
Multimedia
