EXPERT HUB – RESEARCH: VOTER ATTITUDE INSIGHTS

By Lucy Bannister, Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager, Joseph Roundtree Foundation

Insights on poverty and hardship

I’m writing to share our latest voter attitude insights on poverty and hardship, which was published on our website this summer and can be accessed here: https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/swing-voter-views-hardship-ahead-next-election

We focused on financially insecure 2019 Conservative voters in swing seats, all of which were undecided on who they would vote for at the next election – a critical group for both Labour and Conservatives.

We found that concern about levels of deep hardship and people going without essentials among this group is very high. They feel addressing these issues should be a top priority, but that politicians are not taking the issues seriously enough.

Most voters saw very little distinction between Labour and the Conservatives on this agenda, with neither party demonstrating compassion and some feeling Labour have lost touch with their core values.

We found that there is a visceral power to talking about the issues of deep hardship and harnessing this agenda presents an opportunity for the parties to demonstrate they are listening to and in touch with the real issues people are concerned about.

You can download the Op Ed here: