Gareth Fuller/PA
As few as five per cent of farmers plan to vote for the Conservatives at the next election, a poll released by Farmers Weekly suggests.
The remarkable change in fortunes for Rishi Sunak’s party in their traditional heartlands comes as similar polling shows support for the Conservatives among England’s rural voters has collapsed since 2019.
Country Land and Business Association (CLA) found Conservative support had fallen by 25 points since the 2019 election, with just 34 per cent of voters in the 100 most rural constituencies in England saying they would vote for the party.
Labour support has risen over the same period, going from 20 per cent in 2019 to 37 per cent at the start of this year – giving the party a narrow lead in what has traditionally been considered Conservative territory.
The results have come to light after a farmer with first-hand knowledge of the troubles Brexit has caused gave Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg a first-rate schooling on his own GB News show.
Changes to subsidies since the UK left the European Union has seen support for some farms fall by 37 per cent, jeopardising home-grown produce that was supposed to be elevated outside of the single market.
And new border checks are likely to add insult to injury.
Commenting on his clash with Rees-Mogg, David Catt said: “I’m not going to be told by some pompous prick how things are… I’m not going to let him lie to me”.
Watch the clip in full below:
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