WHEN will women make up their minds, the opinion polls cry. The latest research indicates that one in three women still have not decided how they are going to vote, compared with 25 per cent of male voters. Yet it is not just a sense of indecisiveness. "Not a bit of it"' say the women of Wimbledon, a comfortable south London suburb. It seems many of them are considering issues affecting the family far more seriously than in 1992, and there is much to play for.
When the Tories launched their manifesto with a scheme to transfer unused personal allowances from one half of a married couple who wants to stay at home to look after children or a relative, to the other spouse, families were told the tax break would mean up to £17.50 extra a week in their pockets. A definite vote-winner? A bribe for women voters?
"Well, it definitely made me think twice," says Caroline Travis, a married mother of two children who has chosen to stay at home. But there is a sting in the tail. "Taking into account everything else the Conservatives have done I couldn't vote for them. They've ruined the education system. This tax break smacks of desperation."
In Wimbledon Park, John Moyes, an engineer, isn't fooled by the Conservatives, he says. "But I would rather stay with the devil I know than the devil I don't. Despite some of the tax rises under the Conservatives, my family has done very well."
John's wife, Patricia, says the "high-powered female" image is not for her: "Some of us do want to stay at home and look after the children. I don't feel as if I'm letting the side down. I've always voted Conservative, their support of the family is good news. But thank God the family values idea has faded into the background, that was a farce.
Whatever the parties' policies one the economy, employment and constitutional reform, the majority of families in Wimbledon are concerned about the education of their children. Pensions, security in housing and homelessness are way, down the list of their priorities. Several parents are seriously thinking of voting Liberal Democrat because they have pledged to spend more money on schools.
Many are "extremely upset" by the Nursery Vouchers Scheme "because it is so costly and it's not true that every four-year-old is guaranteed a nursery place."
But with little chance of the Liberal Democrats forming a government they will "plump for the Conservatives again".
The Conservatives have a substantial majority of 14,761 in Wimbledon and the Labour Party is given short shrift here. They may have pledged more rights for part-time workers and limited unpaid parental leave, but in middle-class Wimbledon their biggest problem is perception.
Angela and Tom are one example of how seriously new families view the outcome. They say their decision on whether to start a family is, in part dependent on who wins the election. "We're Tory voters, always have been," says Tom, "but it looks like they are going to get whipped. New Labour doesn't have a clue how to run a country, and I don't want to let them try. Some of their MPs are just outrageous.