Sir Keir Starmer has found himself at odds with his party’s core voter base after a bombshell poll reveals young people are more in favour of the death penalty for people found guilty of child rape as part of the grooming gang scandal than their older counterparts.
This puts the Prime Minister in a tight spot as he’s been a consistent critic of capital punishment throughout his professional life, and yet, his party depends on the young voters.
In 2019, the then Shadow Secretary of State tweeted: “I spent 20 years of my life fighting against the death penalty in other countries. I never thought that in the 21st century I would see a Home Secretary of the United Kingdom who believes in capital punishment.”
Starmer was referring to Priti Patel’s record of supporting capital punishment following her appointment as Home Secretary under Boris Johnson.
Poll reveals young people are more in favour of the death penalty for grooming gang rapists than older people
Getty Images/Friderichs Advisory and JL Partners
Given the PM’s past comments and attempts to woo young voters, which include plans to lower the voting age, new polling has thrown up an inconvenient insight.
Pollsters from Friderichs Advisory and JL Partners asked respondents aged 18 to 65+ what penalty people found guilty of child rape as part of a grooming gang should face.
Surprisingly, 33 per cent of 18-24 year-olds favoured the death penalty, whereas only 29 per cent of 55-64 year-olds came out in support of capital punishment.
The gap widened further for older voters, with those aged 65 and over even less likely to favour the death penalty (22 per cent) and much more likely to support life imprisonment than their younger compatriots, polling at 38 and 56 per cent respectively.
The polling also found black and ethnic minorities are more likely to come out in favour of the death penalty than white voters, a further headache for Starmer as his party has traditionally performed well among these demographics.
This is not the only issue that puts him at odds with his voter base. When respondents were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: I have become more sceptical about multiculturalism since hearing about the grooming gangs scandal.
Thirteen per cent of Labour voters strongly agreed with this statement, while 23 per cent somewhat agreed. This amounts to more than one in three red voters.
This is a surprising result given that Labour has traditionally been seen as the progressive party, more open to immigration and multiculturalism.
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The gap widened further for older voters, with those aged 65 and over even less likely to favour the death penalty
Friderichs Advisory and JL Partners
The poll also found Reform UK voters had become most sceptical in the wake of the grooming gangs scandal, while Conservative voters trailed closely behind the insurgent party.
The Friderichs Advisory and JL Partners polling found the public is generally concerned about potential cultural tensions and almost half of the British voters (44 per cent) have lost trust in the Government since the grooming gangs scandal resurfaced.
The polling also found the majority of Britons still want a new national inquiry, with 73 per cent in favour and 14 per cent opposed.
In a further blow to the PM, voters placed greater ‘trust’ in Nigel Farage and Reform to handle a national inquiry.