Working class voters turning away from Tory party as cost of living crisis mounts, new report warns

A new leader will be announced today to guide the country through the current crisis, as Boris Johnson stands down and amid mounting pressures with rising inflation and energy bills that look set to top £3,500 this winter for the average household.

Leadership favourite Liz Truss has pledged "immediate" action to tackle the crisis were she to enter Number 10 tomorrow, while rival Rishi Sunak said he would target further payments at the poorest.

He also said he couldn't rule out the prospect of blackouts over the winter to ration supplies, as the situation was "serious" and "every tool in the toolbox" would be needed.

Now a new report, from the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and policy research agency Public First, maps changes to the ‘New Majority’ that delivered Boris Johnson’s landslide victory back in 2019.

This majority is fracturing as living costs rocket and less affluent voters begin to believe the Conservatives have "let them down", report authors outline.

It also warns that shoring up working-class voters' support must be the party's overwhelming priority.

Less affluent voters make up some 40 per cent of the Tory vote. They have been left "seething" at a perceived failure from the Government to get to grips with the crisis, it warns, with 42 per cent of all Tory voters believing the party has chosen not to reduce costs.

The report is based on extensive polling and focus groups with author James Frayne.

He said: "Not only are poorer voters the ones who are peeling off in the largest numbers right now, but the attention required to maintain their support and deal with the cost of living challenge will not irritate or alienate the other parts of the electoral coalition.

"For the new Prime Minister, the result is an extraordinary challenge - but also, potentially, an extraordinary opportunity."

While the Conservatives have been steadily dropping in the polls since the winter, the report outlines, it is the less affluent, working-class voters who have peeled away in greatest numbers, with roughly a quarter saying they will no longer vote Conservative.

Almost 60 per cent of all voters now blame the Government for the cost of living crisis, it added.

The Conservatives' new majority depends on the party's ability to help people through the cost of living crisis, the report argues, and then to deliver on fair economic policies.

Some who are struggling still need to be convinced the party is on their side - starting with a "suitable" response to the cost of living crisis.

On the economy, the survey found voters strongly support tax cuts to ease pressures, while working-class Conservatives felt those worst affected should be prioritised.

Robert Colvile, director of the CPS, said: "Conservative voters want to see the economy work for ordinary families.

"They understand the case for tax cuts, particularly to help them through this crisis, and want a government that focuses on and delivers on their priorities."

Mr Johnson's successor is set to be announced today, taking over as Prime Minister tomorrow.

The new leader inherits what veteran Tory MP David Davis labelled as "probably the second most difficult brief" facing any post-war prime minister.

The former minister, speaking on Sky News, urged the next leader to put ideology to one side to meet the scale of the crisis.

"The only person with a worse brief coming in was Margaret Thatcher," he said.