A major poll has revealed the extent of voter disappointment after Jeremy Hunt’s Budget failed to offer older voters any meaningful pre-election boost.
The survey of over 2,000 UK adults, conducted in the days after last Wednesday’s major fiscal event, suggests pensioners have been left the worst off by Mr Hunt.
Those polled were asked: “Do you think each of the following groups will be better off, worse off or about the same, as a result of the measures announced in the budget this week”.
Pensioners came out worse off, according to voters, with a net worse-off score of -37 points.
Older voters beat ‘People like me’, which scored -34 points, and ‘young people’ on -18.
Meanwhile ‘Big businesses’ came out on top with the public giving them a score of +28, followed by ‘Middle-class people’ on +10.
Voters aged 75+, a core Tory target group, were particularly critical of their offer in the Budget, with 60 percent saying they will be worse off as a result.
Asked whether Mr Hunt made the right decisions for the country, 24 percent said he had compared to just over one in three who said he had not.
Labour came off equally poorly despite their large national poll lead. Just 28 percent of voters said Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves would have done a better job than the Tories, with a similar amount saying a Labour budget would have done “roughly the same job”.
Responding to the stark findings, Luke Tryl, UK director of More in Common, warned: “It’s rare for pensioners to be perceived as losers emerging from a Conservative budget – and for good reason, pensioners’ votes are vital to the Tories electoral prospects”.
“The Government will have to hope that the significant triple lock rise coming in April helps to assuage concerns that pensioners have been left behind in a critical election year.”
Last week Mr Hunt was warned he and 38 fellow Tory MPs could lose their seats if angry pensioner constituents turn and vote them out as a result of the Budget.
Analysis found that Mr Hunt’s 8,817 majority could be easily overcome by the 15,000 pensioners in his South West Surrey seat.
Mr Hunt hit back that he’s done “an enormous amount for pensioners”.
He added: “This Government introduced the triple lock… we have really prioritised pensioners”.
However Silver Voices director Dennis Reed warned: “If this was a pitch to floating voters it failed miserably in respect of senior citizens.
“The Budget was a blank page for 12 million older voters. In appealing for the votes of working families, the Chancellor has taken older voters for granted.
“The Conservatives will have to do a lot better than this in their election manifesto if they want to appeal to the Silver Vote.”
