Where are all of the Labour voters in real life?!

[PBEEBIES]

I grew up on a council estate. I would say the majority of the people here were very “I’m happy for people to come to this country, but those who come over and don’t work/don’t assimilate are unwelcome” as their main political belief. Despite being a poor area with the majority of people on some form of benefit, they believed that people who work shouldn’t have to pay super high levels of tax and people should be able to keep what they earn etc.

I went to university and associated with “posher” people for the first time. I would say the political beliefs held by these people were very similar to those held by the people I grew up around. I met a few people that were stronger to the left and right here, but to generalise, the majority were all pretty middle of the road/right leaning in the same way that they were on my council estate.

I now have a well paid professional job and live in quite a “posh” area. The people here again, generally hold the same views as everybody at my university and the council estate I grew up on. Probably slightly more right leaning, but all pretty similar on their thoughts on immigration, taxation, government spending priorities etc. We’ve recently completed a house renovation and if ever the topic of politics came up with the tradesmen we were using (eg. If the news was on when we were in the same room), the general consensus was still the same. I have also noticed that 99% of people I have spoken to all seem to be anti Covid vaccine/think that there was some kind of government conspiracy with hiding the negative effects of the vaccine - this is ranging from the drs I know, to the tradesmen, shop assistants, students etc (not just a small section of society).

I’m suprised that considering I’ve lived in multiple cities in both rich and poor areas, socialised with and have friends in professional careers as well as tradesmen, students, across all ages… most people I encounter seem to all hold the same political views.

I have genuinely only ever met a few truly left wing people in my life, in real life. For example, I’ve never met anyone in real life who has stood up and said “I think that we should take asylum seekers as they’re at risk in their own countries” even though this isn’t extreme! I’ve never met anyone who has said “I think that our taxes should be raised so that we can improve public services”, or “I think it’s really important that we spend on making our country more energy efficient as this is important for eradicating climate change”. How is this possible?! Everyone I’ve ever discussed politics with across a wide range of social classes , careers, ages, locations has always been centre/right.

Please don’t focus on the fact that I’ve used immigration as an example throughout this, it was just one of the stronger examples that I can think of! Another example would be the trans issue - I’ve never met anyone who thinks anything other than “trans people are free to do whatever they like, but sex is a biological fact that you cannot change”.

I'm surprised you've never met anyone racist.
I know quite a few, in my extended family and acquaintances rather than friends.

Do you think that people who have experienced racism haven't really experienced it or that it just happens outside of all the people you know?

And I don't just call people racist for opposing mass immigration.
I also don't think I know anyone who thinks general mass immigration is a good thing. I do support asylum seeking and skilled immigration.

I grew up on an East London council estate. Single parent household. Mum never voted in her life. I didn't go to uni, as back then the path was leave school, get a job. So that's what I did. Civil service in various roles. Met DH moved to SE London. Had kids, but married (I'm that order(. Both DC sent to uni, and both are in professional roles. We're all Labour voters in the main. Sometimes vote Lib Dem, never ever Tory. I don't know how my friends vote because it's a subject I actively avoid. My feeling is, that they're mainly right leaning.

I think the idea that people are happy to pay more tax to support those less fortunate is purely a MN thing, I don’t know anyone who really believes that.

Agree. Usually it’s posters wanting someone else to pay more tax anyway.

I would say that despite living in lots of areas, I haven’t ever really been properly “in” a community with lots of different cultures. I’ve always been in predominately white areas.

I have black British friends who say themselves that they’ve never really encountered lots of racism. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they are British and have no other cultural affiliations really.

I’ve never encountered the types of racist who dislike somebody purely for the fact that they aren’t British/aren’t white. Thinking about it, the only types of this kind of blatant racism that I’ve seen/heard in real life is by a group of Pakistanis towards a group of white girls.

We had a very similar upbringing! But the vast majority of people I know would vote conservative/lib dem/reform. Growing up there would have been a few Labour voters voting Labour as they thought that they’d get more benefits with them. But overall, definitely more right leaning than left.

Do you know many people who work in education or social care? IME people who work in these professions do tend to be more left-leaning.

Im not convinced you are sharing the full truth of what has been said by those you’ve met in the medical profession though - I imagine it’s more nuanced, eg yes the vaccines have caused harm to some people, but not as much harm as others have experienced from Covid itself. And it not being worthwhile having the Covid jab now is probably true for young healthy adults, but that’s not the case for older adults and those with underlying health issues, and there were many people under that category who weren’t entitled to it on NHS last year.

This is a difficult one, because I actually agree with you. I am a net contributor, I am self employed. I pay my tax, not to support the less fortunate, I pay my tax because it is a duty as a UK citizen. What the government do with it is down to party policy. The health service, schools, roads, defence, local councils, running the machine of government and obviously a welfare system for who those genuinely cannot work.

@PBEEBIES “I haven’t ever really been properly “in” a community with lots of different cultures. I’ve always been in predominately white areas.”

colour and culture are not the same thing at all.

I know a lot of people who work for the NHS.

Yes, kind of similar to what you’ve wrote. I know a lot who regret getting the vaccine themselves and say that they believe lots of younger people are seeing long lasting effects of the vaccine.

Definitely not wanting this thread to turn into a vaccine debate! But it’s just an example of how the general population that I encounter all seem to be different to what the media portrays as the general consensus.

This is 100% a piss take.

I have also noticed that 99% of people I have spoken to all seem to be anti Covid vaccine/think that there was some kind of government conspiracy with hiding the negative effects of the vaccine - this is ranging from the drs I know, to the tradesmen, shop assistants, students etc (not just a small section of society). Really? Because 95% of the people I come into contact with are pro vaccine. And the only individuals I've met who are anti are 5G reform voting nutters.

I have genuinely only ever met a few truly left wing people in my life, in real life. For example, I’ve never met anyone in real life who has stood up and said “I think that we should take asylum seekers as they’re at risk in their own countries” Again, really? I have asylum seeker friends. I cannot imagine anyone wanting them to be returned to almost certain death. They're now productive tax paying members of society (unlike many native Brits who are happy to exist on benefits).

“I think that our taxes should be raised so that we can improve public services” Really? No one thinks education or the NHS need improving and we can contribute to that through slightly higher taxes? Have you watched your elderly parents suffer in A&E because there are no beds and be cared for by non-Brits (see point 2 above).

“I think it’s really important that we spend on making our country more energy efficient as this is important for eradicating climate change”. Even if they weren't saying it before this summer, I bet a lot of them are now. I don't live in a hotter part of the UK but even I'm considering a move to Scotland.

Take your Reform voting propaganda elsewhere. OR learn to be a LOT more subtle in your approach. The sledgehammer only helps with flag w*nkers and roundabout painters.

I support paying higher taxes. I imagine the reason most don’t is that they just can’t afford to lose any more off their pay.

You are right that I think more should come from the super rich and that loopholes should be closed so that companies and the super rich stop getting away with tax avoidance.

Where I live I don't know any right wing people! Not even centre right. Literally everyone I know in my city is left wing or centre left. (That doesn't mean they are pro unchecked immigration though, I'd say that's not a clear cut left or right issue.)

London is very obviously majority Labour and I think Birmingham and Oxford are typically more left wing too so so I imagine it's more to do with the job you do and areas in which you live eg suburbs vs city centre.

Why people feel worse off is because of escalating utility bills and council tax as well. Both of which are a necessity to pay for and have increased dramatically over the years. It’s always tax that’s mentioned, but these haven’t helped. A lot of my friends children are moving to places where they don’t pay income tax on wages To work. They can’t see a future in the uk. So many reasons we don’t have any growth and not too many incentives to work hard in the uk ( higher home prices too )

I’ve lived in multicultural areas (Birmingham!), but always lived in a predominantly British community. Eg. In areas where even those who weren’t born here, are still very much ‘British’ in their outlook and culture.

I’ve worked in the health sector in the NW for over a decade and don’t know any healthcare professionals that hold these views, even off the record.

More generally, I’ve met people from every end of the political spectrum. Even within my family, there’s a lot of diversity in views - we’ve had to ban politics from one of my family group chats because some of my cousins are Reform voters which has led to arguments with others who vote Green/Labour.

My close friends hold similar views to me which I guess is to be expected really as we live in the same area and have similar interests, etc.

Or don’t flip out when you see views that are not yours. The thread is just people discussing stuff calmly.

This is exactly what I mean 😂. Where do people who are as rude as this about other people’s political opinions actually exist in real life?! As I’ve genuinely never met any!

I’m going to say peoole don’t always express their true political views in public.
Rather they go with the majority to avoid conflict and ‘political disagreements’.
I certainly have done so eg with tradesmen.

Also culturally in tge U.K., saying that ‘I welcome any asylum seeker because theyre feeing their country’ has never been an acceptable view point.
And that’s wo talking about the change in meaning of asylum seekers from real asylum seekers to immigrants (and tge ither way around)

Same with increasing taxes. And there is this underlying idea that private is always better, is more efficient, can give you better service for less money.

So none of the things you mentioned would be ‘allowed’ in general conversations because it would be seen as extreme, communist etc…

The OP was inflammatory.

Saying she's never met a Labour voter yet they were voted into government. And everyone she's ever spoken to is anti covid vax? The vax isn't mandatory. Yet the majority still get it.

QED.

It’s just strange as I’ve worked in lower qualified jobs eg. Retail, admin, been a student, and now have a highly qualified job, and have lived in cities and rural communities! So I would say I’ve had quite a wide range of experiences with a wide variety of people and in different areas. But I’ve always found this.

I have also noticed that 99% of people I have spoken to all seem to be anti Covid vaccine/think that there was some kind of government conspiracy with hiding the negative effects of the vaccine - this is ranging from the drs I know, to the tradesmen, shop assistants, students etc (not just a small section of society)

So which way did all these people vote in 2024 @PBEEBIES ? Presumably not Tory?

How is any of that inflammatory?! I didn’t say opposing opinions were wrong.

You live in a bubble then. Admitting you're anti vax while the majority get them. Admitting to a Reform belief system would not go down well with educated individuals in real life.

You're fake.

I think Tory and reform.