If your local MP is a Tory who still hasn’t signed the MPs’ Letter of Support please send them this.

No More Page 3 supporter Lizzy Woodfield wrote this amazing letter to her local Conservative MP, to send to him on International Women’s Day.

If your local MP is a Tory who still hasn’t signed the MPs’ Letter of Support, please, please copy and paste this template letter and send it to her or him.

Thanks.

Dear MP,

I’m writing to update you on some troubling and exciting developments for the No More Page 3 campaign – which, you will remember, is asking editor David Dinsmore to drop topless models from the newspaper (rather than asking government to support a ban or press censorship).

You may be aware that on the Sun has launched a joint 6-month-long campaign with the breast cancer charity ‘CoppaFeel!’ The campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of detecting the early signs of cancer, especially for young women (and men) through self-checking.

This would have been a very welcome shift in the Sun’s attitude towards women, and representation of them. Unfortunately, as you may have seen, the Sun has strongly linked the campaign to its topless Page 3 feature.

As you can imagine, this has been hugely upsetting for many women, in particular survivors of breast cancer, those who have undergone mastectomies or reconstructive surgeries, and their family and friends.

Many commentators have noted that the headline on the front page (alongside a full page image of topless model wearing just her knickers) ‘Page 3 vs Cancer’ was highly provocative, unnecessarily confrontational, and an attempt to reframe the public debate to suggest that if you are anti-Page 3, you must be pro-breast cancer.

Clearly this is not the case.

Indeed, some breast cancer charities have released statements condemning the insensitivity of the campaign, and the sexualisation of breast cancer.

You may also have noticed the overwhelming negative response to the Sun’s campaign from both national media, including the Telegraph, the Independent, the Guardian and the New Statesman, and social media platforms such as Mumsnet (who have recently announced public support for the No More Page 3 campaign), as well as across local and national TV and radio.

If you have a spare moment I would urge you to read No More Page 3’s statement on the Sun’s ‘Page 3 vs Cancer’ campaign.

I suspect the Sun’s motives – unlike CoppaFeel’s which I am convinced, though perhaps misguided, were nothing but altruistic – were not entirely noble! It seems to me that they are attempting to leverage public support for the ailing Page 3 feature by co-opting breast cancer awareness.

Unfortunately for David Dinsmore this has backfired rather spectacularly.

- Since ‘check ‘em Tuesday’ the No More Page 3 campaign has seen an unprecedented and sharp rise in signatures – over 19,000 signatures have been added since Tuesday. - At the time of writing to you the petition has reached almost 156,000 signatures.

You may be able to confirm this, but I understand No More Page 3 supporters now outnumber the Conservative Party membership.

Several Conservative MPs have signed a letter of support for the No More Page 3 campaign:

Amber Rudd, Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye Andrea Leadsom, Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North Claire Perry, Conservative MP for Devizes Fiona Bruce, Conservative MP for Congleton Gary Streeter, Conservative MP for South West Devon Jane Ellison, Conservative MP for Battersea Julian Brazier, Conservative MP for Canterbury and Whitstable Margot James, Conservative MP for Stourbridge Mike Freer, Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire Nicola Blackwood, Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Sarah Wollaston, Conservative MP for Totnes

While this is great, you may be interested to know that of all the main parties, Conservatives lag behind in their support of the NMP3 campaign. 13 Conservative MPs have signed the letter of support, compared to 112 Labour MPs.

The decision to voice support for No More Page 3 is of course a personal one, and I wouldn’t want any of your Conservative colleagues to sign the petition if they didn’t agree that Page 3 is sexist and Britain would be better off without it.

I do wonder, though, if there is a connection between the Tories’ ‘women problem’ and their apparent relative lack of interest in campaigns such as No More Page 3. I’m concerned that you have underestimated the strength of feeling on this particular issue.

I hope you don’t mind me saying that I’m afraid I probably won’t be voting for you come election day. I feel incredibly disconnected from your party, and although I think you’ve achieved some good things for equality during this government, it comes across to me that the Conservatives don’t care all that much about women.

I’d be interested to hear more about your position on the fair representation of women in public life, and I hope to see a stronger commitment from your party about what it will be doing to address its own problem of women’s underrepresentation.

Kind regards,

Constituent.

If you would like to sign the No More Page 3 petition you can find it here.

If you would like to add your support by signing the letter, you can find details here.