Tories should worry about ‘Rent Wall’ voters goin...

The man behind a new survey of tenants’ voting intentions claims the Conservatives need to worry about losing support amongst young renters.

Aaron Iftikhar is director of Stack Data Strategy, which has recently conducted a voting intention survey for campaigning charity Shelter.

The polling of more than 10,000 adults shows what Shelter calls a growing “rent wall” in 38 key constituencies where private tenants could in theory be decisive at the ballot box.

Iftikhar says: “This work shows that the Conservatives haven’t only got ‘red wall’ seats to worry about, they also need to address a growing ‘rent wall’ in the Conservative heartlands, where voters who rent privately are disillusioned with the party.

“One in three private renters who voted Conservative in 2019 wouldn't vote for them today, but the most interesting thing is that they haven't found a political home yet.3.9 million private renters have made very clear that tackling their housing problems is key to winning their vote.

“It’s obvious that no political party can afford to ignore private renters if they want to win the next General Election.”

His polling projection suggests no political party is currently on course to win a majority - quite unlike almost all other recent polls, which show a very substantial Labour lead.

Under the Shelter poll the Conservative Party is predicted to win 266 seats and Labour 298 seats – 55 and 23 seats short of a majority respectively.

The charity goes on to say that the cost of living crisis means the majority of the electorate think it is urgent to fix the country’s housing problems.

Half say that housing policies will influence which party they vote for at the next General Election. This figure apparently rises to two thirds of private renters.

Shelter chief executive Polly Neate says: “Private renters are sick of hollow promises, they want politicians to hurry up and fix renting. This poll should be a loud wake-up call for every party.

“Millions of private renters are fed up of paying through the nose to live in insecure and dangerous homes. Now the cost of living crisis is making the cracks in our broken rental system wider.

“Yet tenants are powerless to challenge conditions or unfair rent hikes for fear of no-fault evictions.

“Private renting voters will be critical at the next General Election, but they feel let down by politicians who haven’t done enough on housing.

“By getting the long-promised Renters’ Reform Bill across the line, politicians can show millions of renters and their families that they care. Politicians must act to make private renting safer and fairer before voters get to the ballot box.”