BRITAIN’S VOTERS
Red Shift Segmentation
In 2023, in partnership with YouGov, Labour Together developed a segmentation of all voters in England and Wales. This segmentation explores where we are united, and how we are divided, by our views of the world. Such an approach also ensures a degree of durability. While our circumstances or voting behaviour may change rapidly, our values evolve at a more glacial pace. A segmentation defined by values holds true even in a world as volatile as ours.
Two axes inform our analysis: voters’ attitudes to societal and economic issues. On societal issues, we evaluated whether voters have attitudes that tend towards 'conservatism', with a bias towards tradition, or towards 'liberalism', preferring to promote individual freedom. On economic issues, we divided voters whose attitudes are to the ‘left’, desiring a more active state, or to the ‘right’, preferring a less regulated free market.
01
Disillusioned Suburbans
Disillusioned Suburbans are the largest of our segments, particularly well represented in the East of England, in London’s suburbs, and in the North East and West. They are young, economically insecure, worried about their finances, and unlikely to own their own home.
02
The Patriotic Left
The Patriotic Left are an older voter, most highly represented in the West Midlands, Yorkshire, the North West and Wales. They are particularly prevalent in the seats branded the “Red Wall” at the 2019 election. They tend to not be university educated and they are the most likely segment to not be in work.
03
Centrist Liberals
The wealthiest of our segments, the Centrist Liberals are also most likely to have completed university degrees. They are often metropolitan and are highly concentrated in the south of England. A little to the left in their economic attitudes, they are socially liberal on social and cultural issues.
04
The Activist Left
The Activist Left are one of our youngest segments: a large majority have a university degree, and they are the most likely to be in full-time work. Concentrated in cities and university towns, many live in safe Labour seats or in Conservative and Liberal Democrat marginals.
05
English Traditionalists
English Traditionalists are the oldest of our segments, with most of the segment from the 'boomer' generation. They are, unsurprisingly, the most likely to be retired. Alongside the Patriotic Left, they are the least likely to be university educated.
06
The Rural Right
The Rural Right are older voters, a third of whom are retired. They live primarily in rural areas across England, particularly in the North East, South East, and Yorkshire and the Humber. Over a third of them are retired and they are economically secure, likely to own their own home outright. Our smallest segment, they represent 10.6 percent of the electorate in England & Wales.
“When we were at our lowest, Labour Together stepped up to bring our party together, and chart a path back to power. Now, under Josh Simons’s leadership, Labour Together is developing the big ideas to change Britain for the better.”
— Lucy Powell MP
Member of Parliament for Manchester Central and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
