Cost of residing disaster prime concern for voters in key election battleground seats
The value of residing is the highest concern in battleground seats key for a Labour victory on the subsequent election, new evaluation exhibits.
In 138 out of an inventory of Keir Starmer’s doable 150 goal seats – at the moment held by the Tories or the SNP – strain on households’ budgets is the principle concern. In 9 of the constituencies the NHS was ranked first whereas value of residing and the well being providers have been tied in three remaining areas.
The evaluation by the Stop the Squeeze comes as Jeremy Hunt faces strain to assist cash-strapped households on the Budget this week. The coalition of NGOs and unions has argued that events providing daring options on the cost-of-living disaster are “likely to win at the polls”.
But final month the Chancellor stated the Government “won’t be able to relieve pressure on families” till the Bank of England meets its 2% inflation goal.
Megan Davies from Stop the Squeeze stated: “This Budget is the last significant opportunity the Government has ahead of the general election to make a real difference to people’s lives on the cost of living crisis. The cost of living may be slipping off the radar of politicians, but for the public this is clearly a cost of living election”.
The evaluation of Labour’s goal seats relies on polling from November 2023 by Survation for Lodestone Communications’ Election Hub.
Today the Joseph Rowntree Foundation additionally warns the 2020s may additionally change into a “second lost decade of living standards in a row”. The anti-poverty charity’s evaluation claims that by 2029 working households might be £1,900 worse off on common in actual phrases than initially of the last decade.
Chief Economist on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Alfie Stirling stated: “As an economy, as a society and as a country, we simply can’t afford this to happen. The organisation’s own poll by YouGov also found the cost of essentials was ranked the number one concern by 64% of the public.
