People who voted for Boris Johnson want government to raise taxes for the wealthy, poll finds

The new generation of conservative voters who won Boris Johnson's overwhelming victory wants the government to raise taxes for the wealthy, according to a new poll.

The poll found a high level of support among 2019 conservative voters for a range of policies not traditionally linked to the party, including government intervention in the economy and the direction of investments in less-favored areas Midlands and North.

A few days before a budget that will set the tone for Mr. Johnsons 'first full term, the Portland Communications survey found that Conservative voters' priorities contradict business views that the party has historically supported .

Portlands UK President George Pascoe-Watson said the results reveal the dilemma facing Johnson: does he deliver for conservative voters or business leaders ?

The survey, carried out by Portland Communications, found that the interests of the new generation of Conservative voters who supported the Johnsons party in December diverge strongly from the business community that the Conservatives traditionally support.

Conservative voters were much more enthusiastic than business leaders for government intervention in the economy, higher taxes for the wealthy and public service spending, and much more opposed to immigration.

And the research contradicted the widely held belief that the views of conservative voters in the so-called Red Wall seats in the Midlands and the North won for the first time by the Labor Party in December would be very different from the attitudes of long-established conservative strongholds. in the green suburbs and rural villages of the South.

Far from detecting a clash between voters starting from the new Conservative Bolsover and the Beaconsfield Conservatives supporting the rest, Portland instead found a new gap between Conservative voters and captains of industry.

Some 49 percent of Conservatives on leave and 47 percent in Rest constituencies said government should intervene more in the economy, compared to only 18 percent of corporate decision makers surveyed.

More than half of Conservative voters – 59% in leave seats and 53% in the remaining regions – thought those who earned more than 80,000 should pay more taxes, compared to only 39% of chiefs of chiefs. ;business.

There was more enthusiasm among supporters of Mr. Johnsons party for government policy of leveling different regions by shifting investments to underdeveloped areas – 60% in vacations and 59% in remaining seats – only among business leaders (45%).

Barely 24% of business leaders considered increasing public service spending a top priority, compared to 43% of Conservative voters on vacations and 39% in remaining seats.

And some 50% of the business community were opposed to measures to reduce low-skilled immigration, like the point system promised by Interior Minister Priti Patel, against 33% of conservative voters in the remaining seats and 15% in the holiday zones. .

Pascoe-Watson said: The common view is that there is a chasm between pro-vacationers in new conservative northern seats like Bolsover and the remaining conservatives in Beaconsfield.

But the results of our detailed work revealed a new and very real schism that could have an impact on the economy. The analysis highlights the dilemmas facing not only ministers and their advisers, but also the business community as it seeks to dialogue with the Johnson administration.

– Portland interviewed 500 senior business leaders in large corporations and 500 conservative voters in Leave-backing ridings and 500 in those who supported Rest between February 28 and March 1.