Voters see tractor tax as more damaging for Labour than Partygate for the Tories, poll reveals
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Three of the prime minister’s most controversial decisions since taking office are seen as more toxic than the scandal of lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street during lockdowns, according to a new poll. Sir Keir Starmer’s tax raid on family farms and his decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners are worse for Labour than Partygate was for the Conservatives, voters think.
![[Voters believe three of Labour’s early moves have been more damaging than Partygate was for the Conservatives]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/08/21/eadfe93667882e09bb3a27d7aaa248a1Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzMxMTg3NjIw-2.71473626.jpg)
Three of the prime minister’s most controversial decisions since taking office are seen as more toxic than the scandal of lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street during lockdowns, according to a new poll. A majority (51 per cent) believe Sir Keir’s winter fuel cuts have been more damaging for Labour than Partygate was for the Tories, according to think tank More in Common. Just 16 per cent said Partygate was worse.
More than a third of voters said the family farm tax, dubbed the tractor tax, was more politically harmful to Labour than Partygate, with 24 per cent saying Partygate had a bigger impact. And the PM’s decision to rule out compensation to women affected by changes to the state pension age was also seen as more harmful to Labour than Partygate, by a margin of 31 per cent to 22 per cent.
The poll, conducted for LBC, also found that a quarter of voters regret backing Sir Keir in July’s general election, when Labour won a landslide Commons majority. The poll is the latest evidence of how the “tough decisions” being pursued by Labour since coming to power have harmed the party’s poll rating.
