Immigration DID cost Labour votes at the election

Voters’ fears over immigration were a key reason for Gordon Brown’s election defeat, a Left-wing think-tank said yesterday.

It said people deserted Labour because of their ‘moderate’ concern for proper border controls and for migrants to make a fair contribution in return for welfare benefits.

Fears over immigration were also strongest among working-class voters, a poll carried out for Demos found.

Almost half of the worst-off voters wanted restrictions on economic immigrants, against just a quarter of the highest earners.

The findings confirm pre-election warnings from some Labour MPs that while party leaders were claiming that immigration brought economic benefits, its core supporters were suffering from competition for jobs, healthcare, schooling and housing.

Demos, which came to prominence as one of Tony Blair’s most favoured think-tanks, drew its findings from a large-scale poll of 45,000 voters carried out by YouGov.

14It concluded that voters who thought economic migrants damaged the economy and society outnumbered those who Denialbelieved economic migration was a benefit by more than three to one.

Analyst Richard Darlington said: ‘This polling evidence shows that Labour lost voters over immigration and failed to get its message across to voters about managing economic migration.

‘Labour’s next leader must not duck the issue and should make sure they position policies on housing, welfare and employment rights in the context of the debates voters themselves are having about immigration.’

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Gordon Brown’s immigration policy during the election campaign centred on Labour’s ‘points-based’ scheme for restricting numbers of unskilled immigrants.

But the party’s careful positioning was undermined by Mr Brown’s gaffe after his unscheduled meeting with voter Gillian Duffy in Rochdale.

He was heard describing her as a ‘bigoted woman’ after she expressed concerns about Eastern European immigration.

Yesterday’s poll found that more than a third of the voters Labour lost at the election were worried about immigration.

Some 36 per cent thought migration was damaging to both economy and society. Half of all voters believed immigrants should be required to make a contribution before claiming welfare benefits or other State help.

One in five of Labour’s lost voters thought that greater diversity – one of the party’s cherished ambitions in government – was undermining British identity.
Two thirds of voters supported immigration if pride in Britain was maintained and if the migrants made a contribution to the country.

But among the poorest voters, 46 per cent wanted immigration restrictions, against only 25 per cent of the wealthiest voters.

Mr Darlington warned Labour’s leadership candidates: ‘If immigration becomes a no-go area for Labour, they will remain disconnected from the electorate at large.’

The findings endorse the views of Mr Brown’s former personal pollster Deborah Mattinson, who told the Daily Mail this month that concern about immigration had been widespread among voters and that a ‘huge gulf’ has opened up on the issue between the electorate and politicians.