Distaste for Cameron ‘at heart of Tory Northern woe’

Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, said people in the North are “significantly more likely” to say the Prime Minister is “out of touch” and “lacks clear principles” than those in the South.

The Tories have spent many years agonising over their so-called “Northern problem”, with support for the party still significantly stronger across the South as a whole. Many of the key marginals which the Conservatives must secure to win a majority at the next election are in West Yorkshire and the North West.

Mr Kellner said polling showed Northerners are not inherently more left-wing than their southern counterparts, but have a serious issue with the Tory “brand”.

“Northerners dislike David Cameron,” he wrote. “They are significantly more likely to say he is out of touch and lacks clear principles, and much less likely to say he is doing well as Prime Minister.

“And despite the comparable living standards and levels of optimism, Northerners are much more likely to think the coalition is ‘bad for people like you’.”

Polling data published by YouGov showed almost three quarters of people in the North agreed with the statement that “Conservatives care more about the rich and affluent than ordinary people” – 11 per cent more than in the South.

Nearly half said the Prime Minister was “out of touch” and has “no clear principles”.

“The Tories’ problems did not start with Cameron, but neither have they lessened under his leadership,” Mr Kellner wrote. “Rather, he reminds many Northerners just why they dislike the Tory Party. They are losing the North because they are seen increasingly as a southern party.”

Earlier this year a new group within the Tory party, Renewal, launched with the aim of winning more support in the North. It has called for a focus on regional policies such as mass devolution of powers to England’s largest cities.

Mr Cameron, however, has so far rejected the need for specific policies targeted at the North.

He told the Yorkshire Post last year: “I think we’ve made some progress in the North of England. I think the last election, particularly in the North West and West Yorkshire, was pretty positive. I don’t see our problem particularly as a north-south problem.”