Woke wars ‘will escalate’: Study finds deepening divide as 81% of Tories believe UK is nation of ‘equality and freedom’ – but half of Labour backers say it is ‘racist and discriminatory’
- Leading pollster says UK culture war and ‘wokeism’ rows will become worse
- Frank Luntz worked with the US Republican Party for almost three decades
- He said that the culture war will become biggest dividing line in British politics
The culture war and rows over ‘wokeism’ will become the biggest battlefields in British politics as voters are increasingly split on the issues, a prominent pollster has suggested.
Frank Luntz, who helped the US Republican Party with its messaging for almost 30 years, conducted a major examination of UK voter attitudes.
He said he saw things ‘that you are going to see six months to a year from now’ as he predicted UK divisions will soon be on a par with the situation in the US.
Mr Luntz said the culture war and cancel culture had ‘already done significant damage to our system in the United States’ and the UK is on the same path, with many voters split along party lines.
Frank Luntz, who helped the US Republican Party with its messaging for almost 30 years, conducted a major examination of UK voter attitudes
The pollster joined the Centre for Policy Studies think tank in May and his research revealed that ‘wokeism’ is a top-three cause of concern among voters.
Mr Luntz found that ‘woke’ versus ‘non-woke’ was a greater dividing line among voters than things like north versus south and young versus old.
He found that the overwhelming majority of Tory voters – 81 per cent – believe that the UK is a country of ‘equality and freedom’ while 19 per cent said they believe it is ‘institutionally racist and discriminatory’.
The numbers were significantly different for Labour voters, with 52 per cent agreeing with the ‘equality and freedom’ statement and 48 per cent agreeing with the ‘institutionally racist and discriminatory’ statement.
There was also a clear dividing line on the question of whether financial success is earned.
Some 68 per cent of Tory voters agreed, compared with 42 per cent of Labour supporters.
In comments reported by The Times, Mr Luntz said: ‘The divide in Britain is on everything. Culturally, Labour prioritises British identity, the Conservatives prioritise British tradition.
‘Economically Labour prioritises equality and the Conservatives prioritise hard work. On just about every single issue there is a chasm within the country.”
Mr Luntz said the culture war and cancel culture had ‘already done significant damage to our system in the United States’ and the UK is on the same path, with many voters split along party lines
He said ‘the problem with woke and with cancel culture is that it is never done’ and that the divisions ‘never end’.
He added: ‘I’m seeing things that you are going to see six months to a year from now. It’s already done significant damage to our system in the United States.
‘It prioritises equality over meritocracy. We’re becoming intolerant of tolerance.’
Mr Luntz said that the two sides of the culture war are ‘writing each other off’, creating an ‘awful’ chasm resulting in ‘less cooperation, less compromise, more negativity’.