Interesting from a Tory perspective: Sunak’s u-turn on net zero will probably be slightly negative overall for the Cosnervative’s election prospects.
My grandad is a hardcore Tory. There’s no changing the guy, he’s 83 and stuck in his ways - and ridiculously rich.
However - he did say one thing this week, which is he disagrees with this policy change. He has no idea why we are now moving backwards when everyone else is moving forwards. I mean, it’s not a unique issue when it comes to the Tories but cars is finally one he can understand on a personal level
I increasingly get the feeling that even hardcore Tories are sick of this government! I guess your grandad will still vote for them (mine was much the same) but I doubt there are enough of that kind of guy to get them over the line. Thankfully.
Actually, he’s not voting at all. He’s abstaining with the view of 'theyre all the same now". Which makes no sense, but it’s better than a Tory vote in my mind.
My other grandparents are, oddly enough, labour voters despite being even richer, and even donators from what I last heard. It’s a weird place to be in, between both extremes.
This is my feeling too. I had an interesting conversation with my dad last October. We don’t tend to talk politics much anymore, as we… disagree vehemently on 90% of issues. But on this occasion, he told me that he’d cancelled his membership of the Conservative Party because he was so angry with their lack of competence - after being a member for 40 years. He’s also now in favour proportional representation.
I’m kind of hoping that he’s not the only lifelong Tory who feels this way.
He isn’t.
Anecdotally, EVERY Tory voter I know in my life has now switched or given up. That is my parents, family, close friends, and my friend’s dad who used to be head of a large conservative council here in the UK in the 90s.
It’s actually kind of surprising that the polling still puts around 25% of the population as voting Tory. Where are these people? It’s all anecdotal of course, but I’ve not encountered a single person that was pro-Conservative in the last 12 months. Maybe they’re just being really, really quiet about it, while all the people that have given up on them are all too happy to talk about it (even with complete strangers - I seem to have resting “please tell me your views on politics” face 😀 )
It definitely feels like they ended up in a bit of a feedback loop.
Some discontent over ULEZ quietened down once people actually started looking at it, but the right-wing papers fanning the flames (for whatever reason) persuaded them to walkback other things. But enough of their voters are definitely having a “wait, are we the bad guys?” moment.
