Poll of 500 farmers does not find a single one planning to vote Labour
Farmers are not exactly the bedrock of the Labour party's support, and were not before the election of the present government.
However, there have in the past been farmers not merely voting for a range of political parties but willing to openly declare that support, as the presence in fields at election time of posters for candidates of all the major parties used to demonstrate.
However, if you see a poster in a field these days it will almost certainly say something along the lines of "End the Family Farm Tax."
A poll of 500 members by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) did not find a single one who was planning to vote Labour.
They did include a few caveats. A survey, for instance, of members of the Tenant Farmers Association's members might not have shown quite such a complete drop in Labour support (though I'd be willing to bet it would still have shown one.)
As the Countryside Alliance point out,
"The 0% figure is, however, a stark reminder of how low Labour’s stock has fallen within at least a section of the farming community.
There is no figure from before the last election for comparison, but the assumption is that the support that Labour did have amongst farmers was lost with the announcement that inheritance tax would be applied to agricultural property. The political beneficiaries are the Conservatives who poll 38% of farmers and Reform who pick up 36%."
Tim Bonner's piece on this poll can be found on the Countryside Alliance website at
Tim Bonner: Not a single farmer plans to vote Labour - poll...
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