Why it’s wrong to claim the Conservatives are now the party of the working class

Boris Johnson bagged a 15-point lead among the lowest-earning voters – but it’s more complicated than that, writes Rob Merrick

(AP)

The Conservatives are now the party of the working class which, a panicky Keir Starmer confessed, has “lost trust” in Labour – or so the story goes.

It appears to be an unstoppable narrative, in the wake of blue-collar Hartlepool turning blue while leafy Chipping Norton and Cambridgeshire swung red on the same landmark weekend last month.

The switch is said to have been accelerating since Boris Johnson won his general election landslide in 2019, when he claimed an astonishing 15-point lead among the lowest-earning fifth of voters.