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Labour losing support among British Indians, says new poll
Large sections of the community, particularly the young, aspirational and upwardly mobile second and third generation British Indians, have gravitated towards the Conservative party in recent years, aided by the focus on India and Indians by former leader David Cameron.
A new opinion poll has confirmed perceptions and election trends in recent years that Labour --- for long the natural party of British Indians --- has been haemorrhaging support in the increasingly assertive 1.5 million strong Indian community in the UK.
Conducted ahead of the December 12 election, the poll by London-based media group India Inc. and data analytics firm Optimus released on Wednesday shows a decline of 12 points for Labour among British Indians since the 2017 mid-term election.
Large sections of the community, particularly the young, aspirational and upwardly mobile second and third generation British Indians, have gravitated towards the Conservative party in recent years, aided by the focus on India and Indians by former leader David Cameron.
The poll covering a range of political questions between November 13 and November 18 suggests that a majority of British Indians dislike both Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Conservative leader (and Prime Minister) Boris Johnson.
More British Indians believe that UK-India relations would worsen under Corbyn than under Johnson, it says, adding that 47 per cent of British Indians believe that the UK should do more to improve trade & investment with India.
Labour has incurred the wrath of many in the community after incidents of violence outside the Indian high commission on August 15 and September 3, when some of its leaders joined a Kashmir protest demonstration. A resolution on Kashmir at its conference added to the ennui.
The poll also concludes that an overwhelming majority of British Indians prefer to remain in the European Union and do not support leaving the EU without an agreement (the no-deal Brexit option). In terms of voting on December 12, 18 per cent respondents are undecided.
Manoj Ladwa of India Inc. said: “The staggering finding is the extent to which Indians are deserting Labour. This will certainly worry Labour campaign managers. The poll demonstrates British Indians can no longer be treated as a ‘block vote’ that can be taken for granted by any political party”.
“They have become a much more discerning electoral group prioritising mainstream UK economic and political issues. But at the same time British Indians want to see more improved ties between the UK and India, and greater focus on trade and investment.”
The British Indian vote is considered significant in 15 constituencies in which Asians, including Indians, constitute over 40 per cent of the population, 46 constituencies in which they constitute over 20 per cent, and 122 constituencies in which they constitute over 10 per cent.
Asked which party they would likely support, 34% of British Indians report they plan to support Labour, down 12 percentage points from the 46% who voted Labour in the 2017 general election. Conservatives polled 24%, down only 4 points from 2017.
More British Indians (28%) think that if Corbyn became prime minister, UK-India relations would “get worse” than if Johnson remained in Downing Street (25%). Similar numbers think Johnson would “improve” relations (17%) compared to Corbyn (18%).
Regardless of who is in power, 47 per cent of British Indians agree that the UK should be doing more to increase trade and investment between the United Kingdom and India, compared to only 19% who say the UK is doing enough or too much.
