Voters ‘tougher on immigration than any of the parties’
SUPPORTERS of all the main political parties back policies that are often seen as the preserve of the Right, polling suggests.
A survey of more than 13,000 adults found that almost two-thirds want more restrictions on immigration, including slim majorities of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters.
More than half of those questioned said they favoured a ban on children changing their gender or pronouns without parental consent, a tougher line than ministers have taken.
And half oppose the Government’s current plan to phase out petrol cars by 2035 – including one in four Green Party supporters.
Pollsters Whitestone Insight said the findings suggested that the centre ground of British politics is further to the Right than party leaders think.
Founder Andrew Hawkins said: ‘It is the parties themselves, including the Conservatives, which have moved more Leftwards, while many voters have not been carried with them. It is clear from the poll that voters want to keep the option of buying a petrol or diesel car, know what a woman is, and want the Government to protect Britain’s borders.
‘It is not difficult to discern that Conservative voters are not where their leadership is on many of the issues that their voter base holds dear. Even around four in ten Labour voters take a “conservative” position on these issues.’
And Tory donor Lady McAlpine, who commissioned the poll, said: ‘ A tougher approach to trans issues, and a softening of net zero policies both poll well with Tory loyalists and the general public.
‘But the game- changing issue for the [Conservative] party is immigration. The first step to avoiding electoral wipeout is to slash immigration.’
She added, however, that this would require the Tories to ‘ find the Churchillian quantities of courage’ to stand up for voters ‘no matter how loud the Establishment screams’.
The poll questioned 13,534 British adults about three contentious policy areas.
Overall, 62 per cent said they strongly or somewhat supported ‘ reducing total
‘Need quantities of courage’
migration to the UK’. This rose to 89 per cent among Tories but was also favoured by 46 per cent of Labour voters, compared with 43 per cent who opposed it.
Asked if they supported ‘ banning children from changing gender or using alternative pronouns without parental consent’, 54 per cent overall said they did. Among Labour voters the split was 43 per cent on each side, with the remaining 14 per cent unsure.