Whatever happened to the Tory heartlands?
Labour is teaming up with the Countryside Alliance with the aim of winning new support in the shires
The stereotype of the toff in his tweeds, stomping about the bucolic English countryside, gun in hand, dog at his side, has long been associated with the Conservative Party, for good or ill. The countryside, by extension, if one can heap all its acres into one cosy box, has gone with it. The Tories even, some perceived, had their own rural pressure group: the Countryside Alliance was set up during the Blair years to back the rural vote. Since its formation in 1997, it has campaigned for issues considered by some to be typically “Conservative” – fox hunting, deer stalking and the popularising of game meat. Even the issues that were about more than hunting – such as the campaign against closure of rural Post Offices – have been the epitome of the Conservative, big and small “c”, ethos.
But today sees the publication of a joint report between the Countryside Alliance and the Fabian Society, examining how Labour can attract more rural voters.
Let’s cut to the chase: if the Countryside Alliance is cosying up to Labour, that’s a blow for the Tories, whatever Liam Stokes, its director of shooting, might say. Stokes claims that “there shouldn’t be anything surprising about a well-supported countryside organisation teaming up with Labour… that’s the very problem we want to address”.
As yet, there is no problem with the Conservative country vote. The report shows that rural areas are still, by and large, full of firm Tory voters: data from a Yougov/fabian poll in November shows that the Tories lead Labour by 54 to 31 per cent in rural England and Wales; in the most dispersed rural areas, they lead by 57 per cent to 27 per cent.
Still, they had better be careful. The Tories might have a competent Defra secretary in Michael Gove, but his choices of hobby horse have not necessarily been flattering for the traditional countryside Tory vote. Since his appointment in June, Gove has jumped on a number of issues: ivory sales, plastic bottles and CCTV in slaughterhouses. But, worthy as they are, these pledges are not necessarily those that will win over rural communities. Indeed, some would argue that Gove, courting the green lobby, has parked his (low carbon, electric) tanks on Labour’s lawn. In fact, last week the House of Lords recommended that the department be stripped of its responsibility for rural communities. Lord Cameron of Dillington argued that: “Defra seems to regularly ignore the needs of 93 per cent of its constituents.”
The green lobby isn’t enough for country bumpkins, who might fairly feel left behind. The issues that rural communities really need help with are those relevant to everyday life. While the Conservatives appear to be making in-roads as far as urban housing is concerned, rural housing still remains a critical issue. And while London commuters complain about how the Wifi signal is patchy on the Underground and worry about Uber’s deregulation, in some shires villages, even with superfast broadband there’s still no hope of working from home.
The report gives a similar impression, with the research showing that 24 per cent of those living in rural areas felt that the Conservatives “don’t share many or any of their values”. The Alliance and the Fabians conclude that a “significant proportion of the Conservative vote is soft”. As Tobias Phibbs of the Fabians puts it: “Conservatives have assumed that the rural vote was theirs, so they didn’t have to do a huge lot about it. But they seem to have forgotten about the countryside.”
There is a glimmer of hope for the Tories, however, and it lies in the rural youth vote. As yet, Corbyn-mania hasn’t spread to the shires. After speaking to rural Labour candidates, Stokes suggests that the evidence points to those young people who actually live in the countryside voting Conservative. “Rural young voters tend to be working in land-based industries, and if you are a land-based worker you are incredibly unlikely to vote Labour.”
Unlike Labour, the Tories have struggled to harness the youth vote nationwide. But they shouldn’t rest on their rural laurels just yet. Unless they start implementing policies that have an impact on those living in both town and country, the party’s country credentials could be toast.