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

[ProudAmberTurtle]

This is a new IPSOS poll. It finds that among the least well off in society, support for Labour has collapsed - it's now just 10%.

Even among people who are 'just about coping' financially, they're a distant fourth in the polls, and would be wiped out if it was just them voting.

But - here's what might be surprising - among wealthy people they are first in the polls, in fact their lead is so big that if only rich people could vote, it would be a landslide for Labour.

Any thoughts as to why it is now that only the most privileged people in society are voting Labour?

https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2026-04/Ipsos%20Apr%202026_Political%20Monitor%20charts_Public.pdf

Completely disagree. I am definitely not privileged and who said I was financially stable?

Nail on the head there. Working people in general are being screwed like never before by the current Government. Even more so the workers who aren't in the heavily unionised sectors who aren't even benefitting from the way that Labour are falling over themselves to try to retain their union backers' support.

You are viewing the end of a long process of change voting patterns, and one replicated across Europe.

Read up on the shift from left -> right and from right -> left between 'classes' (crude/oversimplistic term).

(edited to make my sentence clearer!)

Nah. University can mean big student loans to pay off.

The study uses the term " comfortably off". That could be someone on average wage in a council flat. It's subjective. You are using emotive words here to replace what the poll uses.

I can’t afford to vote Labour.

LMAO that comfortably off means an average wage and not a home owner!

Comfortably off means above average income, and likely some wealth.

Labour have got to work out who their core base of voters are now. As pointed out in PP, it was traditionally the working class in manual jobs, often heavily unionised - the miners, steelworkers, ship builders etc. Those jobs have long gone, there is no red wall anymore, why should ex miners from the NE vote labour? Do they feel the same affinity for Raynor and Lammy as they did for the likes of Scargill or Skinner?

The poll description is :

"Living comfortably on their household’s income nowadays and are not very or not at all worried about their household’s financial situation."

The key word there is worried . And that is subjective.

The poll description makes no mention of income nor housing.

Quite.

Comfortably off means typically a higher earner or someone with assets, who can afford holidays, dining out, savings and unexpected bills without stress. Low day-to-day financial anxiety.

There are not many people living in a council flat on an average wage who this applies to.

Who is living comfortably these days?

Very, very few people on average income.

Maybe you haven't noticed the cost of living crisis?

Ever since its foundation the Labour Party has been an alliance between middle-class left-wingers (Fabians) and working class people (Trade Unionists). Since the turn of this century that alliance has pretty much fallen apart. Now Labour has lost or is about to lose a lot of working class votes (eg in the so-called Red Wall, also in Wales, Scotland went years ago), while it has strengthened its position among the middle class (see its continuing success in university cities). It has also been able to count on the votes of first- and second-generation immigrants. The poll in the OP is the most recent evidence of a trend that has been going on for years, and is replicated in other countries, the best example being the Democrats in the USA. If you are: university educated, work in the public sector, live in a university town, are under 45, and have university-educated parents then odds-on you will be a Labour voter.

Did you ask them ?

A pensioner "in the system" might feel no worry financially. But someone in a 2 mill quid house just diagnosed with dementia might be really worried. It's subjective.

Can you afford to vote Reform?

No

Because, once upon a time people voted on economics. That was it. Which party will make them better off.

now it is economics and social issues and all parties are struggling with it. Many working class might be left wing economically but actually right wing conservatives (small c) socially.
many well off people are centre ish economically but left wing socially, particularly the young.

it is actually hard these days to find a true political home that represents everyone’s views. I am naturally (small c) conservative but my economic views go from quite left wing to very right wing depending on the subject matter.

Oh for goodness' sake!

We know from extensive polling who is worried about money.

The lower your income, the more worried you are. This is because the lower your income, the harder it is to buy things.

Yes someone on a high income who is overextended may ALSO be worried, but everyone who can do basic maths understands that those on average or below average wages are most likely to have financial concerns.

I’m a typical north London hipster type who usually votes Labour.

I vote for them because I think the continuation of the welfare state is good, social liberalism is good but without many of the completely batshit policies of the Greens.

My parents and grandparents voted Labour. My parents were able to take advantage of the social mobility of the previous decades and so I’m privileged now.

If a British libertarian party existed that’s a right wing party I would consider, but would probably feel too guilty about the lack of welfare to vote for them.

Conservatives have some smart people and good ideas. Reform have neither imo.

That’s the mind of a privileged Labour voter!

I think Libertarians are interesting. Do you mean US style libertarians as in jet packs instead of publicly funded roads, or libertarian as in no rules and a sort of free for all?

The former is just daft I reckon, but the latter has positives for sure.

Goodness sake indeed. For goodness sake, why did the OP change the wording of the poll ?

Note the description in the poll posted:" We’ve identified five financial conditions based on people’s self-reported financial situation and concerns about their finances People can move in and out of these conditions as their financial situation and/or their outlook change. Ipsos in the UK have been tracking these segments since 2022."

Self reported. Nothing to do with income.

If you claim polls show it is about income, then post those polls.

I know it's pedantic. But that is the nature of polls.

It isn't pedantry, it's pointless hairsplitting.

I just wonder why the OP changed the wording, that is all.

I work with “poor” people in various parts of the country actually. The main reasons they tell me they are planing to vote reform are:

We see people getting off the boats. They get council houses and phones.
I can’t really ascertain why this affects them in particular, since they too have council houses and phones.

The other point that people have made to me is that we’re ashamed to be English. Why can’t we celebrate St George?! When I point out that the flag of St George has come to represent the far right and racism, therefore if they fly that flag, other than at sporting events, then that is the message they are portraying - gets me an “well Im not racist! That’s not why I’m flying the flag. No answer to the fact that St George wasn't English either.

Another argument I have had against Labour is about their support for clean energy - this person was a mechanic and said electric cars will put him out of business - not sure why he can’t train up to be able to fix electric cars(?)

When I ask people why they vote how they do, I’m not trying to change their minds, as I don’t think I will. I’m genuinely interested in what they think.

I do think the crap pumped out by the likes of the daily mail and the sun is a big issue here.

I do sometimes explain why I think reform are damaging and that I don’t think multi millionaires give a shit about their lives. I also ask them if clean air for their kids to breathe is important and tell them that personally I would hate to make people afraid to walk around their neighbourhood because of my right to put up a flag. We tend to agree to disagree.

So no, not saying “poor” people are thick - I think they need to be listened to and their problems addressed. Then they might feel less insecure about “people in boats” being treated kindly and electric cars.

I feel politically homeless at the moment. I felt most at home when voting for Blair then Brown. I do not feel that the current Labour government represents my views or even seems to be made up of the same type of people. If these elections are a disaster and Starmer steps down, it will be a contest between Angela Raynor and Wes Streeting and I don’t really feel represented by either of them. I am educated to post grad level and work in a professional field and I want my PM to be cleverer than me and better educated than me. I admire what AR has achieved in her life but I don’t want her representing me on the world stage. Nor do I want careerist, WS. Neither has gravitas or statesmanship qualities. I’d rather have a steady pair of hand grey man such at Starmer or Major than either of those two.

What I’d really like to see is the emergence of a genuine new social democratic option that has a steady grasp on the economy whilst being sympathetic to the social issues that I care about such as the safety net of the welfare state and adequate funding for the NHS and state education. That can be bold enough to tackle the real issues surrounding immigration such as the need for increased funding of local amenities and the ability to develop a Goebbles level talent for getting the message across so they can explain to people what a shitshow Brexit has been and how we are better off in the EU. I hate that Starmer knows it was a catastrophe yet doesn’t feel able to say so out loud.

So, for now, I’ll just remain in the political wilderness and rant away about how my country’s political landscape has been taken over by populist bullshit with the racist self serving tossers of Reform on the right and Fairyland, ‘let’s get rid of prisons and rehabilitate through talk’ Greens on the left. 😔

it's is also some crazy ideas from labour make people buy more expensive tumble dryers if you can barely afford to live a party that proposes changes that make life even harder on the bais of being better for planet, lots of these changes disproportional affect the poorest. If a poorer person needs a car for work or because they start work at 5am before public transport starts they are most likely to have an older car which is not ULEZ it will have higher road tax etc, the recent increases in fuel prices will be hitting them harder as a proportion of overstretched budget, when your budget is already down to the last pound per moth finding an extra fiver here and there is hard, Other green charges affect the poor more,
Immigration in certain areas affect poor more the already OFSTED satisfactory school will get more pupils with FSM and English as second language so TA's are more stretched ,
Whether it is true or not the perception is that on the low skilled jobs end immigrants are the competition for these jobs the social housing school places etc, generally ancedotes weigh much heavier that statistics

if you look at two running threads on cleaners and one asking to be paid cash and another thinking charging £20 an hour self employed is outrageous you can see how out of touch lacking in understanding people are towards the actual poor who are working, the assumptions that people can afford to not charge adult children rent because losing child benefit and a part of housing benefit is no biggie when actually you could easily be £500 a month worse off so you need to charge your 19year old apprentice child rent or board etc just to survive and pay bills

Sorry, but this doesn't sound like you were having conversations with these poor people - more talking down to them.

Why didn't you ask the mechanic why he can't train to fix electric cars? Why didn't you ask the people in council houses why they're bothered about others getting council houses when they've already got one?