Don’t you dare contact our Council Tax, voters warn Sir Keir

More than half of voters are against revaluing council tax bands, according to a new poll by Lord Ashcroft.

Labour has sown confusion over its plans for council tax – with senior party figures giving different answers when asked whether they will overhaul the system.

Council tax banding in England has not changed since 1991, and has been criticised for not reflecting how house prices have changed around the country.

But 52 per cent of voters believe revaluing council tax bands to base them on current property prices would ‘just be an excuse to charge more’, according to the Ashcroft research, shared exclusively with the Mail. Only 30 per cent think a revaluation would make council tax fairer.

With two weeks until the election, Lord Ashcroft’s poll also gives Labour a 25-point lead, and puts the Tories and Reform UK neck-and-neck on 18 points.

Sir Keir Starmer continues to lead Rishi Sunak when voters were asked who would make the best prime minister, by 38 per cent to 17 per cent.

And 39 per cent believe the Labour leader would do a better job at running the economy, compared to 24 per cent who back the Prime Minister.

The poll, carried out from June 13 to 17, with a sample size of 5,187, also found almost half of voters who are dissatisfied with the current Tory Government have little faith in Labour.

Some 46 per cent said that Sir Keir and his party ‘probably won’t do a good job but they can hardly be worse than the Government we have now’.

However the poll found that while Tory policies are popular, the party is not. Pledges such as the Help to Buy scheme, the ‘triple-lock plus’ on pensions and reducing legal migration had more support from voters when the party proposing it was not named.

Lord Ashcroft, writing in the Mail, said that was ‘especially bad news for the Tories, since it reveals how little they can do to change their fortunes’.

He writes: ‘As the day of reckoning approaches the Tories will be tempted to turn their fire on Labour and Keir Starmer.

‘Voters will not take the Conservatives’ word about anything, let alone the qualities of their opponents, but they already have plenty of doubts about the likely new regime.

Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) continues to lead Rishi Sunak when voters were asked who would make the best prime minister, by 38 per cent to 17 per cent

Rishi Sunak is given a tour of a nuclear power facility in Sizewell on June 19

Lord Ashcroft (pictured) said that was ‘especially bad news for the Tories, since it reveals how little they can do to change their fortunes’

‘Only one in three expect Labour to bring more stability and competence in government, lower NHS waiting times or improved public services; fewer than three in ten anticipate more jobs, opportunity and prosperity or more manageable living costs; and fewer than one in six think there will be stricter immigration controls or a tougher approach to crime.’

Among voters who backed the Tories in 2019 but say they are unlikely to vote for the party this time, 41 per cent say the Conservatives need a ‘huge defeat so they get the message’.

But 40 per cent say that if Labour are going to win, they want there to be ‘enough Conservative MPs left to form a strong Opposition and hold the new government to account’.

However, 44 per cent of voters are worried that a Labour government might spend too much and get Britain into debt and 40 per cent fear they might put up taxes.

Sir Keir’s plan to charge private schools 20 per cent VAT is popular among voters, with only 27 per cent saying it will punish aspirational families and create extra pressure on state schools.

The raid on private school fees is one of a handful of taxes Labour has said it will raise to pay for its spending plans.

But the party has been in a muddle over its plans for council tax, with different shadow ministers making different promises over recent days.

Rachel Reeves said Labour was not ‘planning to reform council tax’ in an interview with Sky News, but did not completely rule it out. The Shadow Chancellor also told the BBC that she was ‘not in the business of tinkering with tax rates’ and said ‘no’ when she was asked if she would re-evaluate council tax bands.

But on Tuesday, Sir Keir refused to rule out council tax band revaluation. He said he would not ‘write the budgets for the next five years’ during a radio phone-in on LBC, but claimed ‘none of our plans require a tax rise’.

Rachel Reeves (pictured) said Labour was not ‘planning to reform council tax’

But on Tuesday, Sir Keir (pictured) refused to rule out council tax band revaluation

The Mail revealed that a bombshell dossier put forward by an influential group of Labour MPs – including Sir Keir – proposed reforming council tax to make it ‘fairer’. 

The plan by the Tribune group of Opposition MPs was one of six tax raids suggested to raise £60 billion.

A party spokesman said the submission was rejected at an early stage in the manifesto process.