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Just one in eight voters believes the working class will do best under Boris Johnson , according to a poll for a Tory think tank.

By comparison 44% of people think the richest in society will do best under the new Conservative Government, the Opinium survey for Bright Blue revealed.

And seven in 10 voters fear poverty, crime and inequality will either stay the same or worsen under this Prime Minister.

The results of the online poll of 2,003 voters underline the scale of the challenge facing Mr Johnson, who rode to election victory on the backs of traditional Labour supporters.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Opinium research manager James Crouch said: “The December general election saw the Conservatives win over a large number of Labour voters who had never previously voted for the party.

"But Boris Johnson will need to work hard to win and maintain the trust of the new northern working class voters that elected him to office.

“Everyone expects the Government’s main priority to be passing the Brexit legislation, but beyond that there isn’t a clear understanding what the Conservatives will do.

(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

“After such an extraordinary election result, the party needs to take stock and truly listen to what voters in the ‘left-behind areas’ and working class communities want from Boris Johnson and his Government over the next five years.”

The vast majority of those quizzed - 68% - do not expect the Conservatives to deliver their promise to end rough sleeping by 2024.

Electors are also sceptical of Tory pledges for a complete rollout of fibre broadband, with 54% not expecting it to be met, while 51% do not believe the party will recruit 50,000 more nurses, as pledged in its manifesto.

Despite the PM’s attempt to present the Conservatives as the “People’s Government”, voters have a different view of the party.

The description most used by the public is “a Brexit party”, picked by 39%.

The next most common descriptions are “an elitist party” on 27%, and “a far-right party”, chosen by a fifth of voters.

Just 16% opted for a “One Nation party”, while only 13% plumped for a “people’s party”.

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Bright Blue director Ryan Shorthouse said: “The Prime Minister is right to say that first-time Conservative voters have lent their support to him.

“He now needs to earn their trust. To keep them on side in the long-term, the Government needs to deliver more than just Brexit.

“There needs to be a laser-like focus on reducing their cost of living, improving their public services, and enhancing their local infrastructure and amenities.

“The UK public are most likely to think that incentivising businesses to move into so-called ‘left-behind areas’ and greater investment in key public services, especially the NHS and social care, will best support those on low and middle incomes.

“The British public are sceptical that the Conservative Government can deliver for those on modest incomes.

“He has defied expectations before, securing a revised Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

“He should now be preoccupied with developing and implementing a domestic reform agenda that defies expectations too.”

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, who is backing Lisa Nandy for the party leadership, said: “On the doorstep many Labour candidates heard voters tell us that they didn’t want to vote for Boris Johnson but would do so whilst ‘holding their nose’ in order to ‘get Brexit done’, and because of the state of Labour’s leadership.

(Image: Getty Images)

“This new research reflects that only 13% of people trust Boris to deliver for working class communities, while the vast majority believe that negative trends including poverty, crime, national debt, and inequality will stay the same or get worse during his tenure.

“Johnson won because he was trusted on the major issue of the day – Brexit – but on pretty much everything else the public recognise him as a snake-oil salesman.”