But 25% of Labour voters see the Conservatives and Labour as similar, double the number who said so in the aftermath of the election
Not for the first time, Labour have found themselves accused of borrowing clothes from the Conservatives. Cuts to welfare benefits, international aid and winter fuel allowances, alongside promising a ‘bonfire’ of quangos and pursuing a friendly relationship with the Trump administration are among the policies to receive criticism from the left and sometimes praise from the right. This has led to some asking the question of whether Labour are now more similar than different to the Tories.
Overall, the British public tend not to agree that the two are kindred spirits, with six in ten Britons (58%) saying the Conservatives and Labour are different, roughly double the 30% who say they are similar.
This is, though, an increase on the 25% of Britons who said the two parties were similar last August, shortly after Labour took office. What’s more is that the increase is stronger among Labour voters, a quarter of whom (25%) now say the Conservatives and Labour are similar, up from 13% last August.
Belief the Conservatives and Labour are alike has similarly risen among Reform UK and Green voters, with just over half (51-53%) now saying they are similar, up from around four in ten (37-41%) last August.
Britons are more likely to see Labour as being similar to the Liberal Democrats, with four in ten (39%) seeing the two as close, effectively unchanged from the 40% who said so last August. A quarter of Britons (24%) also see Labour and the Greens as similar, also about the same as it was last year.
Of the five largest UK parties, the pair most seen as similar are the Conservatives and Reform UK, with 48% of Britons seeing the two right-wing parties as comparable. Reform UK voters, though, continue to be the most likely to see the two as distinct, with 64% saying the party they voted for is different from the Conservatives.
Just 7% of Britons see Labour and Reform UK as similar.
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Photo: Getty
