Voters in the so-called 'Red Wall' who backed Boris Johnson at the 2019 General Election will be the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis, research warned today.
Less than a quarter of those living in areas including Burnley, Blackpool and Wolverhampton will receive the most benefit from the Government’s council tax rebate.
Lisa Nandy, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, said: “This new research reveals the inadequacy of the Government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis facing families.
"We need to get money back into people’s pockets.
“Many of the places being hit hardest are in the North and Midlands. This is the opposite of levelling up.
"You can only level up if people have money to spend in their local communities.”
It means more than 50% of local authority areas set to be worst hit by the cost of living crisis contain Red Wall seats.
Tory-held coastal towns including Hastings, Thanet and Dover are also at risk of being pushed into poverty, the Centre for Progressive Policy think-tank revealed.
The CPP recommends the Government provides better financial support to those who need it most, with an uplift in Universal Credit payments to cover the April rise in the energy price cap.
Ben Franklin, Director at CPP, said: “Voters on low pay, experiencing food and fuel poverty or pushed out of work altogether, are on the margins of extreme vulnerability - but they are also in many of our most marginal seats.
"That adds political saliency to the urgent moral case for addressing the cost of living crisis.
“Levelling up slogans will be dead on arrival at the next election unless the Government reconsiders its policy options."
