Working class deserting Tories in droves under Rishi Sunak, poll finds

New polling suggests working-class people, who helped vote the Tories into power in 2019, are deserting the party in droves under the current Conservative leader PM Rishi Sunak. 

Only 44% of working-class voters who voted for the Conservatives in 2019 say they will back the party next time, according to research by YouGov. 

A report by the thinktank Progressive Policy Institute, which commissioned the findings, said Labour’s lead was much narrower with working-class voters than the wider electorate. 

This would include placing a “relentless focus” on raising wages for those on low to middle incomes and opening up housing to younger people, according to the report authored by Claire Ainsley, a former policy director to Starmer.