UK Tories ‘lose 1/3 of voter support’

A new poll shows that the Conservatives in the UK have lost a third of their support, as Britons are worried of more Tory austerity measures if they win next year’s general elections.

The poll conducted by former Conservative donor Michael Ashcroft and presented on Sunday showed that just 63 percent of the Britons who voted for the Tories in 2010 are considering supporting the party in next May’s elections.

In addition, Ashcroft said that half of those who have turned away from the Conservative say they are planning to vote for the eurosceptic UKIP party.

Ashcroft said the findings showed that Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives are facing a “very uphill struggle” and the opposition Labour party is on the course to win a “comfortable” majority.

Accordi ng to Ashcroft, the Conservatives must not lose more than 22 seats to Labour if they want to remain the largest party in the House of Commons.

However, the poll’s findings revealed that the Tories are already behind in 24 seats, which would put the Labour party on top if elections were held now.

Ashcroft said one of the reasons why British voters are planning not to vote for the Conservatives is that they are concerned of more austerity measures under a Tory-led government.

British voters are also worried about the future of the National Health Service (NHS), amid massive cuts by the Tory-led coalition government in recent years.

Over 7,000 NHS clinical staff members, including doctors and nurses, have been made redundant since 2010, when the government started spending cuts to contain the deepening budget shortfall.

CAH/HJL/HRB