Labour is losing support to Reform in countryside over farm tax, CLA poll finds
Labour is quickly losing support to Reform UK in the countryside, a new poll has found, with supporters turning their back on the party over the inheritance tax changes.
In the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that farmers would be liable to pay inheritance tax on assets over £1 million.
This provoked huge protests across the country, with 13,000 people turning up in Westminster.
While the Government continues to claim that only hundreds of people will be affected, farmers say this could be the end of the intergenerational family farm, as chunks of land may have to be sold off to pay a tax bill.
Now a new poll, commissioned by the County Land and Business Association, has shown this policy is impacting Labour’s support in the countryside.
Survation quizzed more than 1,000 people in England’s most rural constituencies, which include swathes of North and East Yorkshire, and found opposition to the inheritance tax hike stands at 58 per cent, with less than a quarter in support.
Even among Labour voters in rural areas, 44 per cent are against, while only 37 per cent are in favour.
The poll found that twice as many voters say Labour doesn’t “understand or respect rural communities”, up from 33 per cent before the election.
In July, Labour won a swathe of rural seats - including in places like Ossett and Denby Dale and Rother Valley.
But now nearly a quarter of Labour voters from July are “unhappy” with their vote.
As a result, Labour has dropped into third place across England’s most rural constituencies, behind the Conservatives at 34 per cent and Reform UK on 21 per cent.
The polling also shows deepening fears over Labour’s rural agenda, with 60 per cent saying it’s already broken its pledge to reverse countryside decline, and 70 per cent doubting its ability to boost the rural economy.
Victoria Vyvyan, CLA president, commented: “The Budget threatens business viability and the future of our rural communities.
“The government promised growth, and to be the ‘party of the countryside’, but you can’t tax your way to prosperity.
“Trust, once lost, is hard to win back. Can Labour regain it?
“Only with a sincere apology, real action, and a clear commitment to the rural economy. Anything less, and the damage could be irreversible.
“Rural communities aren’t here to be taxed and forgotten. We’re here to drive growth, to feed the nation, and to fuel the economy.
“All we want is a government that matches our ambition.”
The polling ahead of a vote on the inheritance tax changes in Parliament today, brought forward by the Conservatives in an opposition day motion.
Shadow environment secretary, Victoria Atikins, asked rural Labour MPs: “Will they vote to axe the tax and save the family farm?
“Or will they turn their backs on rural communities and back the Budget of broken promises?”
At the CLA conference last month, the Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, said he understood farmers’ “anguish”.
But he also warned the country “can’t go on the way that it was” and Budget decisions on tax and spending were made to restore economic stability, and to support public services such as the NHS the elderly relied on.