Rural support for the Conservative Party has plummeted with Labour now taking the lead, according to new YouGov polling.
The rural community’s voting intention has shifted dramatically within the last few months, fresh data shows.
During the summer, it was predicted that 43% of people living in the countryside would vote Conservative, with 24% voting Labour.
Now those predictions are showing a complete reverse. Patrick English, associate director of YouGov, has unveiled that the Tories now hold 28% of the rural vote against Labour’s 41%.
He announced the voter intention data at the Conservative Party Conference during the NFU's fringe event, led by the union's president Minette Batters.
The session also brought together speakers including Farming Minister Mark Spencer MP and EFRA Committee Chair Sir Robert Goodwill MP.
When looking at issues around food security, Mr English observed that fair treatment of British farmers polled very positively with the public.
“The public want to see British farmers treated fairly," he said, "When looking at polls on people’s priorities for trade deals, anything that is perceived as putting British farmers at a disadvantage polls very badly.”
He suggested two core reasons for this, centred on ideas of environmentalism and community.
“To buy locally is seen as part of measures to combat climate change, and people would much rather see that, than see farmers being undercut and undersold with foreign markets.
“The second reason can be viewed from a fairness point, that supporting British farmers is a societal good, and that we should be prioritising those in our own communities.
"Ensuring British farmers are treated fairly is perceived as part of a wider movement towards sustainability.”
Any compromise on the food safety standards as part of international trade deals also proved unpopular. “People don’t want to see food standards cut,” he said at the fringe event.
“There is a worry around wanting food and animal welfare standards to be kept up. Any lowering of these also doesn’t poll well.”
NFU President Minette Batters emphasised the need for a new approach to immigration as well as calls for farmers to receive fair returns in the marketplace.
She ended the session by calling on government to produce a plan for UK food production, as well as repeated calls for clarity and detail on future schemes for the industry, and mechanisms in place to support and deal with market failure.
“There needs to be an end to the adversarial nature of conversations with government. We have to come together, and work together to form a plan we can build in partnership."
