Any traces of David Cameron’s ‘modernisation’ project, aimed at moving the party on from Thatcherism, and towards more compassionate and constructive Conservatism, have long disappeared.
A YouGov tracker study has uncovered some interesting findings about people’s perceptions of today’s political parties in Britain. It asked Britons whether they consider a party to be slightly, fairly, or very left-wing, right-wing, or centrist.
Responses are given a score ranging from -3 for “very left wing” to +3 for “very right wing” and then averaged for each party.
It found that any traces of David Cameron’s ‘modernisation’ project, aimed at moving the party on from Thatcherism, and towards more compassionate and constructive Conservatism, have long disappeared. The tracker study found that during his time as opposition leader, Cameron had dragged perceptions of the party significantly to the centre. However, as prime minister, ratings of the Conservatives lurched further to the right.
Under Theresa May, the Tories were regarded as even more right-wing, the study found. When Boris Johnson was prime minister, Britons regarded the Tory party as more right-wing still, and during Liz Truss’s short tenure, perceptions of the ruling party moved further to the right.
The YouGov tracker has found views regarding the current prime minister’s right-wing position are similar to that of Theresa May, with Sunak averaging rating of +54 during his time in office so far.
Matthew Smith, head of data journalism for YouGov, explained the Tories’ rightward shift.
“Part of the upshot of this rightwards shift is that since 2019 the Conservatives have been seen as being about as right-wing as UKIP used to be. In five polls from summer 2014 to summer 2016, UKIP averaged a right-wing score of +60. Nigel Farage’s own score matched, at +59.
“Perceptions of UKIP and its spiritual successor Reform UK have drifted rightwards since that point – polls in 2017 and 2019 had UKIP on +67 and +69 respectively, while an October 2023 poll had Reform UK on +68 and Farage on the same – notably to the right of the current Conservatives,” Smith continued.
When it comes to Labour, the results show that the leftward shift in public perception of the party under Jeremy Corbyn has not been fully reversed by Keir Starmer.
The first poll conducted by YouGov with Keir Starmer as leader saw Labour’s score shift substantially more towards the centre, at -61, compared to the Corbyn years. It has been slowly shifting more centre-wards since, averaging -48 over the course of 2023.
But public perception of the party continues to be further to the left of where it was under Ed Miliband, the research found, despite Starmer himself being regarded as about as left-wing as Ed Miliband.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats are seen as being more to the left than they were when YouGov first tracked the party in 2006. Current perceptions of the party under Ed Davey are somewhere between Gordon Brown’s Labour and Ed Miliband’s Labour, according to the study.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.