New polling: are the Tories struggling in the marginals?

Recent polling showing that fewer and fewer voters think Jeremy Corbyn is the best person to be Prime Minister will have reassured the Conservatives.

But do they have a bigger problem on their hands?

Exclusive polling commissioned by Prospect magazine and carried out by Delta Omnibus has found that many voters in Tory-held marginals have doubts about the party.

In Conservative-held seats where the Tories have a majority of less than 10 per cent, polling found voters were unsure about the party’s efficiency and ability in a crisis, and said the party doesn’t know what it stands for.

The poll, which surveyed 1906 people, found that 52 per cent of people in those marginal seats agreed that the Conservative party is “bad in a crisis” (only 34 per cent believed it was “good in a crisis,” with 14 per cent saying they didn’t know).

Similarly, 55 per cent agreed that the Tory party “has forgotten what it stands for”—and 61 per cent agreed that the party is ineffective.

Only 28 per cent of voters in Tory marginals believe that the party knows what it stands for. 25 per cent believe the party gets things done.

The numbers come alongside other findings suggesting that voters are more likely to believe the Conservatives stand for bankers and billionaires than housewives or small business owners.

One result which will particularly worry May’s team found that 55 per cent of people in Tory-held marginals said that the Conservative party was “not concerned with promoting the interests of British-born workers who want to better themselves.”

Voters also did not believe that the party was concerned with promoting the interests of pensioners.

61 per cent of all respondents said the Conservatives are “not concerned,” rising to 67 per cent among over 65s—and 58 per cent in those marginals (as opposed to, respectively, 25 per cent, 24 per cent and 32 per cent).

The polling did find, however, that a majority of people in marginal seats do agree that the party is concerned with promoting the interests of middle-class professionals like GPs, headmasters and accountants.

With the next election years away, and boundary changes to come, it's important not to read too much into these results.

Nevertheless, they may be a sign that voters who previously just about supporters the Conservatives are starting to have doubts.