Surge in support for ReformThe Conservatives' core vote is leaking away in the run-up to the election with just a quarter of pensioners planning to back the party, a new poll suggests.
Just 26 per cent of over-65s say they plan to vote for the Tories at the next election, according to a super-poll of 5,000 people by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.
This is down from an estimated 60 per cent who backed the party under Boris Johnson at the 2019 election.
Some 32 per cent of pensioners now plan to vote Labour, giving Sir Keir a lead over Rishi Sunak in every age group of eligible voters.
But in a sign that is likely to cause more concern at CCHQ, there was a marked surge in support among pensioner for the Reform Party when he sacked Suella Braverman as Home Secretary last year.
It suggests that a sizeable chunk of right-leaning pensioners are drifting away from the Tories, with the small boats crisis and deportation flights to Rwanda the latest trigger. The party has not had the support of more than 50 per cent of pensioners since the resignation of Owen Paterson over lobbying in 2021.