Why do poor/middle-class people vote for the Conservatives?

[moneymoneymoneymakestheworldgoround]

When the Conservatives protect privileged interests, why would anyone not particularly rich vote for them?
The conservatives are now uncapping bankers' bonuses ffs

Don't tease us. What was the country?

What misery did it bring?

winter if discontent- which would be a fecking walk in the flower garden compared to now

torys are assets stripping Britain, they’ll be nothing left and they probably won’t care if they don’t get voted back in. They’ll have made there millions and be living the life elsewhere.

the £ has fallen which will have made substantial profits for many who purchased dollars jyst a few years ago at $1.50

@RedWingBoots We have a Tory MP here in Windsor who is so invisible he has a webpage and twitter dedicated to his 'invisibility' called 'absent Adam' -- A very smooth looking guy of west African heritage . At the moment he's subject to bankruptcy hearings due to dodgy business and owing HMRC vast amounts. An absolute treasure to have as your MP !! (Good job we are moving away)

I voted for Boris at the last election because he understands the concerns that I have mostly that this country has been overrun by foreigners ho come over here sponging of benefits and taking our jobs.

Some friends of mine did meet our Tory MP a few years ago. They were marshalling at a local race, which meant the road he had to drive down was closed. He was abusive to them in front of their children.

sponging of benefits and taking our jobs.

😂😂 yeah life on the dole is hard work

The coalition of Labour voters was not homogenous. It comprised progressives, liberals and small c conservatives who disliked the tories for historical and eventually generational reasons.

A lot of the latter were what we are now calling Red Wall tories. Anti immigration, anti internationalist, pro workers rights but limited to a form of nativism. It’s this group that has peeled off recently, and a lot of that is due to Brexit.

There were of course poor and/or working class people who voted Tory before that, otherwise Thatcher would never have won, but the big shift has been since 2016.

The tories are now gambling in losing them though, and feel their new leadership doesn’t speak to that cadre like Johnson did (how you can think that Johnson relates to you if poor is a question for another day, but people did). This mini budget is about getting back the wealthier people the tories lost to Brexit, many of whom vote Lib Dem now and were the cause of the Lib Dems’ massive by-election win in Chesham.

Which brings me to the other point - a lot of people here seem to be assuming a) poor people should be socialists and b) socialism is inherently progressive. In both cases - not necessarily, be careful about those assumptions.

@jgw1 -- you forgot to put the smiley icon! (And check your spelling) Because you can't possibly be serious.

Because we basically have a choice of 2 parties to represent our views. But we all have completely different views, coloured by all our individual backgrounds and experiences and so we have to shoe horn all our different policy opinions into one of those 2 parties. Will they represent each of our individuals views entirely- not a chance! I have very centerist views on average but some are very left wing and some very right, some neutral. So ultimately I vote Tory. I don’t agree with all their policies- some are outright baffling, some I radically disagree with but then I look at the labour manifesto and think I can’t align with most it. For instance, I could be persuaded to vote labour but I send my kids to private school and labour have suggested abolishing them so why would I even look any further at their other policies.

people vote conservative because labour are worse. what’s your problem with bankers bonuses? why should they be capped? you do realise that they attract income tax, which is higher than corporation tax? so if banks pay bonuses then the treasury makes more money than if the money was kept as profit? bankers buy houses, cars, art, personal services etc etc. do you have a problem with wealth? why?

If I were a billionaire, I would not vote Tory. Despicable creatures.

How much do the people who clean the banks offices get paid? Do they get a bonus too?

@Crikeyalmighty I am always serious.

But Jeremy Corbyn.

It's because of the right wing press they consume. It makes them believe the biggest threat to this country are immigrants, the EU etc. So they vote Conservative to stamp down on these "threats".

I wrote my thesis on this..!

It’s called ‘voter dealiagnment’ and it’s complicated

I can put it onto Dropbox if anyone wants 6,000 words to bore themselves senseless..!

OP, please define "poor" and "middle-class" 🙂

Because the tories are the party most aligned with their views? I would love a party that

*Prioritises - NHS, education, emergency services, social care and the army. What is left after these bills are paid can be used for benefits.
*Brings in mandatory work policies so that if you don't have a job you have a volunteer role which gets you your benefits. This could be things like street cleaning, animals care, veg picking etc
*Cuts taxes
*Generates growth in high pay sectors like engineer, programming, finance etc
*Makes us a true super power

No party aligns with these view completely however the conservatives are to me the most low tax, high pay with good growth focus so they get my vote.

Northern town, decent income and 1 child family.

@jgw I'm not Jeremy Corbyns biggest fan and I thoroughly disliked some of the people in his last cabinet but if I'm honest there wasn't much I didn't agree with- I just didn't much like the messenger - and felt he promoted only those who 100% were in his mould.

I voted Lib Dem but was very much in a Lib Dem constituency.

I think the problem is a lot of people who vote Tory just focus on one thing be it 'wokeness' or immigration or a sudden dislike of the EU- whereas before they really hadn't given it a single thought. The big issue is our voting system which means you often have to vote for extremes.

The Daily Mail is largely responsible. They indoctrinate vulnerable groups into seeing the left as a malign threat

I think there's also a number of working class voters that subscribe to traditional 'king and country' loyalist ideas, which are supported by Tory principles of societal hierarchy and order. Certainly in the West of Scotland there's a 'faction' that are diehard Tory voters for this reason

@Grumpybutfunny Currently we have the highest taxes in most of our lifetimes. Do you know which party has been in power for the last 12 years, raising the taxes we pay during that time?

@ChopSueEI think that is a really good point, never underestimate a local MP that works hard for their constituents and shows compassion, regardless of their party

Indeed, a family member works for Centrica in a senior role his bonus is six figures and that's just his bonus, basic is 2 x that.

They tried to lower his teans bonuses and half of them left to work elsewhere and it was difficult to replace them. That's why they get these obscene bonuses- centrica just can't lose them.

Pure market forces

Until there is a realistic alternative then people will continue to vote Conservatives. Labour is the non-working class, not for the working class they seem to think they represent. I would then rather see benefit to those that work hard than those who never work.
I think Liz Truss is a disaster and we needed Rishi in place - unfortunately this obviously hasn't happened.
Liz truss could be the end of Conservatives if Labour actually came out with something voting for (and it needs to be good to stop people putting Labour=Corbin together)

Perhaps because the Tories, unlike Labour, LibDems and the Greens, actually seem to give a shit about women's rights. People hate 'woke' bullying and BS.

And Bankers represent such a small proportion of the country, such an odd thing for people to focus on.