Swing voters see Labour as party of ‘quinoa not casseroles’, finds poll

Liz Bates

Labour is seen as the party of quinoa and student protests rather than casseroles and bingo, a new poll has revealed.



According to the research by consultancy firm Britain Thinks, voters view Jeremy Corbyn’s party as having moved away from its traditional working class roots.

The poll sought the opinions of swing voters in two key marginal constituencies - Crewe and Thurrock – as well as speaking to a further 2,000 people across the UK.

Britain Thinks director, Deborah Mattinson, said: “It was so striking that what people said to us was: Labour used to be working class, it used to be a pie and a pint – it’s now a protesting student.

“It used to be someone playing the bingo; now it’s someone going on a demo.”

Associations with the increasingly popular grain, quinoa, arose repeatedly among voters in Crewe and Thurrock.

One Crewe participant commented: “I think they’re trying to appeal to literally anyone now”.

Ms Mattinson added: “These qualitative workshops with carefully selected swing voters in target seats give us a unique insight into the views that lie behind the numbers.

“We used extended sessions so we could really understand the emotions that are driving voter behaviour.”

Findings from the wider nationwide polling suggested that the party could be losing touch with its working class base, with only 17% saying it was good at representing “traditional Labour voters”.

On whether the party did a good job of representing the working class, 25% agreed.