Self-employed workers are turning to Labour over the Tories, poll finds

Self-employed Brits are turning to Labour over the Tories, new polling claims today.

Some 31% of self-employed people would now back Keir Starmer ’s party with just 25% voting Tory, according to a survey by Opinium.

In the same group of people, 36% had voted Conservative and 25% backed Labour in the 2019 election.

It shows the challenge facing Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as he unveils a tax-cutting mini-Budget on Friday, ahead of Labour’s annual conference on Sunday.

Despite his vow to be “unashamedly pro-growth”, the 34% of those polled thought a Labour government would be better at growing the economy – compared to 33% who picked the Tories.

Just 21% of those polled said the government will be best at protecting self-employed workers’ rights – compared to 46% who said Labour would be best.

And asked which party in government would be the most supportive to self-employed people, 27% said the Conservatives and 36% said Labour.

Priya Minhas, Political Researcher at Opinium, said: “Our polling shows some interesting movement in self-employed workers, from voting Conservative in 2019 to backing Labour now.

“Labour is ahead on protecting self-employed people’s rights and supporting during sickness.

“But they are also ahead on areas you would expect the Conservatives to do better, such as supporting entrepreneurs and growing the economy.”

Friday’s mini-Budget could tear up a string of tax rates to fuel growth in the economy, lower Stamp Duty on house purchases, and lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses.

Benefit claimants will also have to take part in intensive work searches until they’re on at least 15 hours a week, or face a sanction. The current threshold is nine hours.

PM Liz Truss told business leaders in New York this week: “We want lower, simpler taxes in the UK to incentivise investment, to get more businesses going in the UK.”

The poll of 507 self-employed workers between August 24 and September 5 – weighted by age and gender – was commissioned by Community, a trade union affiliated to the Labour Party.

Community head of research Kate Dearden said ”millions of self-employed people” had “lost trust in the Conservatives and their ability to run our economy”.

She added: “The Tories may like to present themselves as the natural home for entrepreneurs, but the truth is that under their leadership more people are leaving self-employment altogether.”

A separate poll by Ipsos on Thursday found Liz Truss has not yet seen a new leader “bounce” in the polls – with the Tories steady on 30%. Labour was on 40%, 10 points ahead but four short of where they were in July.

But the Ipsos poll found that among all voters, 42% trust the Tories the most to grow the economy while only 26% chose Labour.