What do low-income voters in deprived areas want post-Brexit? How can political parties unlock opportunities for people on low incomes?
Three years after the EU Referendum in 2016, our political system is experiencing a crisis of confidence. Recent ComRes research reveals that nearly four in five British adults agreethat Parliament is out of touch with the British public and MPs seem to ignore the wishes of voters and push their own agendas (77% and 78% respectively)[1].
As a result, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) commissioned ComRes to conduct a series of qualitative workshops with low-income voters living in nine deprived areas across the UK to find out what their priorities are post-Brexit. Research from JRF[2]and others has shown that people from poorer households were disproportionately likely to vote to leave the EU and therefore placing their interests and concerns at the forefront of any Brexit settlement will be crucial. There is also an electoral advantage to amplifying the views of people on low incomes as their loyalty to political parties weakens, their votes are very much up for grabs. With the possibility of an early general election increasing, government and policy makers had best pay attention.
Across the workshops, priorities for change were varied and despite a breadth of political opinion, there were issues and priorities that bridged the Brexit divide:
