Exclusive: Poll shows cost of living worries voters more than tax hike fears

A poll suggests voters are far more likely to be worried about the cost of living crisis than potential tax hikes, in news that may come as a relief to some in Labour worried about continual Tory scare-mongering over Labour’s tax plans.

The survey by YouGov for the campaign group Stop the Squeeze, seen exclusively by LabourList, found 43% of voters reporting being more concerned over the cost-of-living than by potential tax rises. Only 16% said they were more worried about tax rises – though 36% said they were worried about both.

Promisingly for Labour, voters were more likely to say they had heard it discussing plans to tackle the cost of living, with 44% reporting they had, versus only 30% for the Conservatives. Some 43% said they had not heard either party talking about their plans, however.

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The cost of living ranked as one of the top two the issues voters said they wanted parties to address alongside the NHS, picked by  53%, whereas just 12% picked tax.

Megan Davies, from the Stop the Squeeze campaign, said families struggling to put food on the table and pay their energy bills were “desperate to see measures that will boost their living standards now and protect them in the future”.

But she claimed the cost of living was “seemingly absent from the election campaign”.

“People know that this crisis won’t be fixed by wishing and waiting. We need bold policies – like guaranteed affordable and clean energy, and higher taxes on the super-rich – that address the root causes of falling living standards.”

READ MORE: Labour party manifesto 2024: ’12 great policies you may never have heard of’

Labour’s manifesto and campaign has included pledges aimed at tackling “sky-rocketing bills” and Keir Starmer recently vowed voters would feel “better off” at the end of a Labour government’s first term, however.

A page about Labour’s cost-of-living plans on its website highlights its New Deal reforms to upgrade workers’ rights, plans for a National Wealth Fund it hopes will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, a home insulation drive, and the promise of the “biggest boost to affordable, social and council housing for a generation”.

The Conservatives have continually made dubious claims Labour will hike taxes to fill an alleged £2,000 gap in its spending plans, with the opposition disputing the statistics, as well as arguing the Conservatives have already raised taxes to their highest levels in decades.

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