One interesting nugget from last week’s local elections was Labour’s progress with Leave voters. Analysis from Sky found that Labour’s vote share increased by around 6 percentage points in areas where a majority voted for Brexit. Compare that to the 2019 general election – the low point of Labour electoral strategy – when 40 per cent of Labour voters who supported Leave defected to the Conservatives.
There are two possible interpretations. Either the importance of Brexit as an issue has diminished, or Labour is managing to appeal to Leavers to whom it is still important. It’s a bit of both.
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