Britons worst hit by the cost-of-living crisis are increasingly more likely to vote Labour, a poll shows.
People who fell into YouGov’s “worried and suffering” category favour Keir Starmer ’s party by 58% to 11% over the Conservatives.
It is an increase from 2019 when people in a similar position backed the party by 46% to 36% over the Tories.
YouGov found the majority of constituencies - 396 - saw the biggest proportion of people fall into the “squeezed but coping” category, while 129 saw “worried and suffering” as their top group.
This was followed by 89 seats where most people fell into the “calm and comfortable” group. Those in that category - the least hit by the crisis - were more likely to vote Conservative - with 47% leaning towards Rishi Sunak ’s party compared with 26% for Labour.
Out of the seats held by Conservatives, those that will be hardest to defend at the next election have a greater proportion of people worst hit by the cost of living crisis than those with a larger Tory majority.
It comes as more than a dozen Tory MPs are to step down at the next general election, with the party staring down the barrel of a Labour victory.
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock is one top Tory who has announced he is standing down, while others include former Cabinet Minister Sajid Javid who has twice stood to be party leader.
Mr Starmer’s party currently has a 17pt lead over the Conservatives, according to the latest poll by Savanta.
The poll of 2,000 adults, which was conducted last weekend, shows Labour on 45% of the vote and the Conservatives on 28%.
Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta, said: “What is interesting is the stability of Labour's lead; every Savanta poll, excepting one clear outlier, has given Labour a lead of 16 points or higher, with Sunak unable to reduce that throughout his premiership so far.
“It's remarkably similar, in some respects, to the final days of Johnson's reign, where the Labour lead was incredibly stable. The major difference this time, though, is that the Labour lead is several points higher, pointing instead to a comfortable majority as opposed to a hung parliament."
