The Labour Party has taken a shock lead in the polls following a disastrous week for the Conservatives.
Boris Johnson’s manifesto-busting £12 billion tax raid has seen support for the Tories plummet by five points to 33 per cent while Labour’s share increased by one point to 35 per cent, putting Sir Keir Starmer’s party ahead for the first time since January.
Six in ten voters said they did not believe Mr Johnson or the Conservatives cared about keeping taxes low compared with around two in ten who believed that they do care, The Times reported.
The poll also found that more than three-quarters of all Tory voters believe the party does not support low taxation, while one per cent of voters think the plans to fund an overhaul of social care will leave them better off.
The YouGov survey suggests the Government’s plans to hike National Insurance and increase dividend taxes, apparently to plug a funding shortfall in the NHS and properly finance social care, has backfired among voters.
The result are likely to set alarm bells off among Tory MPs and in Downing Street ahead of the party conference next month.
Anthony Wells, political research director at YouGov, said: “It looks as if the Government may have sacrificed their reputation for low taxes amongst Tory voters without actually getting much credit for helping the NHS.”
Mr Johnson’s dramatic move to bail out the NHS and overhaul social care with an eye-watering hike in national insurance sailed through the Commons by 319 to 248.
Threats of a major Conservative revolt melted away after Downing Street hinted at a reshuffle and made some minor tweaks to the policy.
In the end only Esther McVey, John Redwood, Christopher Chope, Philip Davies and Neil Hudson opposed the government. Another 37 Tories did not vote, including a number of ‘Red Wall’ MPs who have been deeply concerned about the proposals.
Related: UK no longer one of Germany’s top 10 trading partners
