New poll finds only privileged people will vote for Labour - but why?

One of the challenges in public decisions is that not everyone fully understands the realities of leadership and managing change. Whether in industry, public service, education, or small business, there are some consistent truths about effective leadership.

Leaders who inherit broken systems as Labour have, rarely see immediate results. Meaningful change often takes years before positive outcomes are fully felt. During that process, resistance to change is inevitable, particularly when difficult decisions must be made. Strong leaders also recognise that it is impossible to please everyone all of the time. Instead, they rely on evidence, data, budgets/funding limitations, professional expertise, relationship-building, diplomacy, and long-term thinking to guide their decisions.

Often, the first leader willing to confront deep-rooted problems is the one who absorbs the criticism and “takes the flack.” Later leaders are then able to build on those difficult foundations, frequently benefiting from progress that has already been made.

In my own experience turning around failing and inadequate schools, I have seen first-hand how essential leadership is in difficult circumstances. Real improvement requires resilience, consistency, and the willingness to make unpopular decisions in pursuit of long-term outcomes.

Keir Starmer demonstrates many strong leadership qualities during an exceptionally challenging period. Whether people agree with every decision or not, leadership should be judged not only by immediate popularity, but by the ability to navigate complexity, make difficult choices, and work towards sustainable long-term change. You can’t please everyone all of the time!

Do the general population of the UK really understand the strong leadership required of anyone running the country (or any other organisation)?

Wow you really do jump to the far extreme don’t you op. That’s not what I said in my post at all. Plus there are numerous polls that a very quick search would reveal that identify educational level and voting preference. The reasons for that correlation are varied and nuanced.

Heres one such report:

https://natcen.ac.uk/news/educational-experience-primary-driver-uks-divide-immigration-and-politics

There are many others.

I’m asking because that was a key policy of NF Brexit campaign. It’s obviously never happened so my question is this: why would anyone with more than an ounce of intelligence vote for him?
He is obviously a liar.
That’s not to say other politicians don’t lie and that is one of the problems.
We need politicians who lay out their policy and how that will be achieved.
So I have no problem at all with for example, saying I will cut income tax by 3% and I will achieve that by increasing VAT on fuel so that certain sectors of society benefit.
What I do have an issue with is those who vote for this, then cry when their bloody gas bill goes up. Doh it’s not rocket science!
Pick your battles.
You want free services then someone has to pay for it.
Problem is nobody seems to want to pay yet everyone wants the benefits.
You want council tax slashing then what services are you prepared to do without?
Personally I’d be happy for some services to be cut but I don’t get a choice in that.

Such basic analysis and sweeping generalisations from the OP, which is in keeping with her regular Labour bashing threads. It’s always so polarising too, like there aren’t any connections between these groups.

I’m a long-term Labour voter, as our many of my friends who have been on a similar path - working class background (Red Wall for me), did well at a state school with lots of challenges, went to uni, now a professional raising a family, paying a mortgage, etc. - doing ok, but no safety net of wealthy parents or inheritance. My experience is that most people who’ve done well through education and opportunity in the state system will lean left.

I’d say most of the people who come from financial privilege (unlike me) and live in my middle class area voted Green at the last election. They also seem to have a different concept of what is ‘comfortable’ to me, likely because of our backgrounds.

I’m also very closely connected still to my working class family, community, etc. and definitely not in a bubble of privilege like some seem to suggest. And while I despise Reform, I recognise what’s happening in those areas like my hometown and how we’ve got here. What I also see are the local campaigners and loudest voices on local social media for Reform are ex-UKIP and BNP - something that people seem to what to pretend isn’t the case. They’ve never been Labour (or Tory), but Reform have now given them credibility and a platform - no matter how much spin or money Reform throw at rebranding, that’s who a proportion of their party are and always have been.

A quote from a friend ‘it’s nice to be rich enough to afford to vote labour ‘

Op- who is saying that people with less money than them are stupid?
And again, answer the question about the £350 million this country will spend extra per week on the NHS.
Where is it?

Yes - Greenpeace on Sunaks family home.

Are activists protesting on MPs roofs ?

Do you mean Greenpeace on Sunaks roof ?

No idea. If they prove to be more of the same, we really are circling the drain.
We need to find a way of getting better elected representatives standing for parliament..but I can understand why no one of any quality would want to stand. We need to protect and support our MP's and never let what happened to Jo Cox and Sir David Amess ever occur again. Why would you want to stand as an MP if activists think they can come to your family home and protest on your roof!

And yet how many are former Tories?

They are more of the same, they lie.

They might, they might not. But they are not more of the same. The 'push emergency button' last resort.

I think it's as simple as voters are fed up

I agree & a large reason why we had Brexit. I’m fed up!

But Reform are not going to improve anything

Absolutely!

There is also a general lack of understanding about government, councils and funding. Lack of critical thinking allows for misinformation spread by political parties.

A local council is lead by Reform. The leader, interviewed on local TV, claims he will save the local people “millions, no billions each year” in council spending.

Critical thinking and google.
1 The council budget, a public document, shows that the council DO NOT have a budget of BILLIONS.
2 Even if it had, why would local people want the budget saved to that extent. No public services…no lighting, no road fixing, no care and safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults, no schools, no early years, no libraries, etc etc etc. That is the only way he can save the billions (that aren’t there…😆🙄)

Checking out information is a first step.

Sadly government employees form their own strata of privileged class and vote accordingly

@RedTagAlan I was responded to the context of the post I replied to.

And I agree education is not the same as intelligence, my mum left school young & my dad had to leave uni to earn, moved to London & earned well in the city. But I can still question why poorer people think Reform will solve their problems.

I think it's as simple as voters are fed up. Both the Labour and Conservative Governments have been such disappointments.
Too much in fighting, u turns and little progress on matters important to voters.
It's not that Reform inspire - it's just they are not more of the same.

They don’t understand that we are in a decline and because our political parties are all incapable of dealing with that or even talking about it, in general people don’t understand why they can’t have all the things all the time

But do people want to hear it? Reform had mooted changing the triple lock but quickly rowed back.

Except the poll does not use the word "privileged". It is based on self reported financial wellbeing. I have clipped the poll for % for who based on financial wellbeing. The tories are pretty level, reform and the greens sort of shadow each other, both gaining as financial wellbeing drops. "others" rise though. I suspect indys for locals.

Labour support drops as well being drops. That drop being split between reform, greens, and others.

No mention of privilege anywhere.

Interestingly if you look at economic performance under labour & tory governments there isn’t a much difference. In reality the socialist/capitalist polarisation gives way to practical centralist economical policies.

My question is why do people think Reform is offering something new? Simply because they say so? Did Brexit teach us to believe Farage? Do the Reform controlled councils show evidence of competence? Is Trump proof that taking a punt is a good idea?

Core voters have become split because society is split

The privileged dismissing the concerns of those less well off AND calling them uneducated. I’d like to know how many of them live in run down areas.

i think it’s too simplistic to think like this though. My parents are immigrants, I grew up in a part of London that was immigrant heavy & very deprived/unsafe. That area has gentrified beyond belief & I would likely be classed as privileged now.

No, I'm saying the major parties are no longer appealing to their core voters anymore. They aren't seeing any party representing their views. Along comes a new party, with no record of failure, promising changes they might not be able to deliver on - who knows? Reform are unknowns in Government - they have no track record. They might be dreadful, but they offer something different.

I'm a firm believer that Reform would never have got the support it does if Labour and the Tories actually had better quality MP's offering something the electorate wants.

Are you saying Reform MPs are more competent? Based on what? Plus aren’t many of them from other parties?

None of the parties are anything to write home about at the moment and they only have themselves to blame. Lots of people love a grifter and Nigel Farage is King of the Grift, I’d love to see a psychological study around why lots of people seem to be drawn to putting people in charge who say what they want to hear but have nothing to back it up.

Most people in this country, regardless of income, still believe that we are somehow ‘better’ than nearly all other places. They don’t understand that we are in a decline and because our political parties are all incapable of dealing with that or even talking about it, in general people don’t understand why they can’t have all the things all the time. They look to immigrants or people on benefits or small landlords or higher rate tax payers and blame those groups for the lack of resource when really there isn’t enough to go round and the country is being bled dry by companies buying up anything that can be asset stripped or sold back to the state at a profit.

Politics rewards people who do as they are told and put self interest above that of the country so whoever you vote for is never going to do anything for you unless it does something for them too. Maybe it’s always been like that though.

Indeed, both the previous Tory Government and current Labour Government haven't shown competence. It's evident to everyone that there is no stand out candidate to replace Starmer if he goes. I think back to the Blair Gov - the likes of Straw, Brown, Cook and Mowlam. What talent compared to whst we are faced with now.