More than half of voters want a brand new party

Only one in six trusts Labour – and it’s almost as bad for Tories

MORE than half of all voters now feel no natural affinity with any of the main parties – paving the way for new movements to rise from the rubble of the current system.

Exclusive research given to The Mail on Sunday has found that fewer than one in five voters now identifies with the Conservative Party, while barely one in six feels represented by Labour.

The analysis, conducted by former Conservative Deputy Chairman Lord Ashcroft, suggests that the main parties’ divisions over Brexit have led to a permanent rupture with their natural supporters, who are now casting around for a new home for their votes.

The survey found that, when asked which parties they felt ‘an affinity’ with, just 19 per cent cited the Tories, 15 per cent mentioned Labour and three per cent said the Liberal Democrats. A whopping 54 per cent answered ‘none of them’. Lord Ashcroft’s research also identified persistent ‘branding’ problems for the main parties.

When voters were asked which words they most associated with Labour, they chose ‘untrustworthy’, ‘dangerous’, ‘confused’ and ‘weak’; the images they selected were of a ‘benefits scrounger’ and a League Two football club.

But the situation was little better for the Tories, with voters plumping for the words ‘out of touch’, ‘untrustworthy’, ‘for themselves’, ‘confused’ and ‘selfish’; the images they selected were of a prosperous-looking man, a Jaguar car and an aristocratic family outside a large house.

The first attempt to remodel the party system was made last month when eight Labour and three Tory MPs broke away to form The Independent Group.

Lord Ashcroft’s polling also indicated that the most electorally popular new party would be one which aimed to reduce immigration, took a tougher line on law and order, slashed the international aid budget, cut most ties to the EU after Brexit, and believes that the threat of climate change has been exaggerated.

The peer concluded that this party would take 27 per cent of the vote.

A total of 8,146 adults were interviewed online between February 22 and 26. A further 6,241 adults were interviewed online between March 8 and 13.