Just one in seven rural people think Labour cares about the countryside, according to polling.
A survey found that only 15 per cent of those living in rural areas agree that the party cares about the people who live and work there.
Some 43 per cent also feel the Government has ‘waged war on the countryside’.
The survey by ORB International for the Countryside Alliance also revealed that one in four rural residents (28 per cent) would be more likely to vote Labour if it reset its relationship with them.
It comes on the eve of the launch of the group’s new Campaign for the Countryside in Westminster today at which Labour grandee Lord Blunkett will speak alongside ex-Tory prime minister Lord Cameron.
The Countryside Alliance is calling on Andy Burnham to reset the Government’s relationship with the countryside, after Sir Keir Starmer‘s disastrous family farm tax sparked mass protests and led to a U-turn.
The Countryside Alliance is calling on Andy Burnham to reset the Government’s relationship with the countryside
Members of the Countryside Alliance, an organisation which works to protect rural traditions, gathered with working dogs at Parliament Square on Sunday
Tim Bonner, alliance chief executive, said: ‘These findings are powerful because they show not only how crucial it is for the Government to undo the mistakes of the past, but also the opportunity which a rural reset could bring.
‘The poll is a warning of the dangers for the Government on focusing on issues that don’t actually matter to the public, as well as clear encouragement to drop or change damaging policies and re-engage with rural communities.’
Lord Blunkett, whom Mr Burnham has described as his ‘truest mentor’, is calling on the new Prime Minister to drop his predecessor’s proposed ban on trail hunting.
The former home secretary said yesterday: ‘I know that all the opinion polls show those living in the countryside demonstrate much greater dissatisfaction with policies of successive governments and the services they receive.’
He said a ‘reset’ was ‘so necessary’, including a move to ‘set aside’ the plan to ban trail hunting, where a pack of hounds follows an artificial scent rather than a live fox.
‘It is not possible to turn the clock back on the mistakes made on family-owned farms and inheritance tax, but it is possible to learn that what might seem logical and rational to an official brought up in a town and living out their life in London can have devastating consequences in the real world for those who contribute to our food security, our leisure time and relaxation.’
