Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is losing support from voters (Image: Getty)
Labour’s decision to axe winter fuel payments for most pensioners is the main reason voters are abandoning the party, new polling shows.
The YouGov survey found that 35% of respondents who backed Labour in July but do not plan to at the next election blamed the controversial policy.
Some 33% said they had ditched Sir ‘s party because it had not brought down the , while 26% said it had not improved public services such as the NHS.
One in four said Labour had broken too many promises, while 18% pointed to the tax-hiking Budget and 18% also criticised the handling of the economy in general.
Some 18% said they would not vote Labour now because the party has failed to control immigration.
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The poll found winter fuel payments is the main reason voters won’t back Labour at the next election (Image: PERSUASION)
Across all voters, 36% said they would not back Sir Keir at the next election – due by 2029 – because of the winter fuel changes.
The poll, commissioned by research group Persuasion UK, asked 3,000 people to choose up to three reasons they would not vote Labour.
It comes as the Government has faced an ongoing backlash for restricting the previously universal winter fuel allowance to only those on pension credit.
Ministers blamed a £22 billion black hole in the public finances left by the , which they deny.
It means around 10 million older people will miss out and is expected to save the Treasury up to £1.5 billion a year.
But it has sparked widespread condemnation from opposition parties, charities and unions.
The Daily Express is campaigning for the lifeline to be reinstated for all pensioners.