Frank Luntz is a political communications consultant and pollster, and a Visiting Academic Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies.
For Conservatives, freedom is at the core of their political philosophy. It’s the value that united Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It’s what I have lived and breathed and championed throughout my career in politics across the globe.
This week, I attended a London conference hosted by the International Democrat Union, an alliance of centre-right parties founded by Lady Thatcher 40 years ago. Its slogan? “Connecting Freedom”.
But does freedom actually matter to voters anymore?
Three years ago, following a health scare that I still live with every day, I decided to engage in and advocate for only those causes I most deeply believe in: the protection of freedom and the passionate pursuit of the truth.
Having watched the abandoning of truth and the decay of democracy in the US, I have made the UK my home for several months each year, working with the Centre for Policy Studies think tank.
Back in the US, we still think of ourselves as a nation that champions freedom. The sweet land of liberty. But here in the UK, I was told that Britons had different set of values. That what really drove them was fairness, not freedom. In the US, the best way to talk about free-market ideas – of the kind that the CPS was set up by Margaret Thatcher and Keith Joseph to champion – is to talk about “economic freedom”. In the UK, that phrase doesn’t resound at all.
So we carried out a major polling exercise, mapping out which of the Big Six values Britain prioritises – freedom, fairness, security, equality, prosperity and opportunity. And asking what exactly freedom means to people in the UK.
First, the good news. People in Britain really do value freedom. They see it as real and tangible. Some 86 per cent of voters said freedom was very important to them personally. By a margin of 73-27, they believe more freedom will be better for them than more government.
To be clear, for British voters, freedom is not something philosophical or theoretical. It’s not a national value – though they do see the UK as the freest country in the world (and America only as fifth, a damning reputational indictment of my homeland). It’s something they want for themselves and in their own lives – to control their own fate and be free to make their own choices.
But here’s the bad news for the Tories…
First, voters no longer see the Conservative Party as champions of freedom. In fact, more people (28 per cent to 20 per cent) associate that value with Labour.
And while 52 per cent of people believe national government should take the lead in protecting their freedoms, only 27 per cent believe it is likely to do so.
On economics, voters still believe that capitalism is a better system than socialism – but not by much. And only one-third (35 per cent) feel capitalism is the economic system is most likely to make them richer (half see no difference at all). It’s not that UK voters embrace socialism – they don’t. But capitalism doesn’t excite them, either.
In fact, one of the key findings of the survey is that British politics is hugely polarised not just issues but also by values.
We asked people which of our Big Six values mattered most for them personally, and mattered least – and then which they thought was most important for the future and success of the country, and the least important.
When we asked which value was most important to them personally, by far the most popular answers for Tory voters were freedom (28 per cent) and security (30 per cent). But for Labour voters, it was fairness (26 per cent) and equality (24 per cent).
To be clear, the party divides in the UK are, in some cases, just as severe as in the United States. To Labour voters, nothing matters more to the country’s future than equality. To Conservatives, nothing matters less. Similarly, Conservatives prioritise security in their own lives, yet Labour ranks it behind fairness, equality and freedom. Every way you look at it, the public sees these crucial priorities not just as different sides of the same coin but as different coins altogether.
That’s why political and business leaders face an impossible task in speaking effectively to the whole country, because our research shows their priorities and values are diverging geographically and demographically, not just politically.
It’s not just that people’s priorities are different depending on their political loyalties. This difference in values means that the words and images that work best to speak to those audiences diverge sharply as well.
For example, when we asked people what threatened their freedom, Tories tended to feel their freedom was most at threat from crime, antisocial behaviour and migration. Labour supporters chose politicians and government bureaucrats. Tory voters were also much more likely to trust the country’s leaders and institutions, and to believe the Government tends to give freedom (63 per cent) rather than taking it away (37 per cent). For Labour voters, the proportion was almost exactly the reverse.
And whereas 62 per cent of Tories trusted those in charge of the UK to do the right thing, the figure was only 48 per cent for Labour voters.
In other words, for those of us who believe in freedom – both personal and economic – these results are as challenging as they are encouraging.
Yes, voters believe freedom is a good thing. And it is frequently seen as a positive force. Some 71 per cent of voters told us that building homes so people have the freedom to live where they want was more important than the freedom to prevent building in their community (29 per cent).
But alarmingly, 36 per cent said prosperity should be the least important value for the UK – catastrophic given the country’s desperate need for growth. Similarly, few voters on either side identified opportunity as the Number #1 priority value – even though politicians of all stripes talk about it incessantly. There are too many people in the UK who have come to believe that opportunity is for someone else, not them.
Having conducted similar surveys in the US, it’s remarkable how different our views are towards government. A large majority – 65 per cent to 35 per cent – told us that it was government’s job to protect most people against most risk, rather than to act as a safety net when people need it the most.
All of which is terrible news if you want to argue against bailouts for mortgage-holders, or indeed for tax cuts and a smaller state. We even found that Tories are more likely than Labour voters to associate government spending with investment in public services, rather than government wasting your money – and indeed that the public’s overall priority when it comes to “economic freedom” is better public services rather than lower taxes or less regulation.
And our survey also shows that while voters still back capitalism over socialism, there are millions who either do not, or can’t see the difference between them.
The UK is still a country that prioritises freedom. But its citizens are far more deferential to government than their American cousins – and the language of freedom is far less ideological and far more personal.
Frank Luntz is a political communications consultant and pollster, and a Visiting Academic Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies.
For Conservatives, freedom is at the core of their political philosophy. It’s the value that united Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. It’s what I have lived and breathed and championed throughout my career in politics across the globe.
This week, I attended a London conference hosted by the International Democrat Union, an alliance of centre-right parties founded by Lady Thatcher 40 years ago. Its slogan? “Connecting Freedom”.
But does freedom actually matter to voters anymore?
Three years ago, following a health scare that I still live with every day, I decided to engage in and advocate for only those causes I most deeply believe in: the protection of freedom and the passionate pursuit of the truth.
Having watched the abandoning of truth and the decay of democracy in the US, I have made the UK my home for several months each year, working with the Centre for Policy Studies think tank.
Back in the US, we still think of ourselves as a nation that champions freedom. The sweet land of liberty. But here in the UK, I was told that Britons had different set of values. That what really drove them was fairness, not freedom. In the US, the best way to talk about free-market ideas – of the kind that the CPS was set up by Margaret Thatcher and Keith Joseph to champion – is to talk about “economic freedom”. In the UK, that phrase doesn’t resound at all.
So we carried out a major polling exercise, mapping out which of the Big Six values Britain prioritises – freedom, fairness, security, equality, prosperity and opportunity. And asking what exactly freedom means to people in the UK.
First, the good news. People in Britain really do value freedom. They see it as real and tangible. Some 86 per cent of voters said freedom was very important to them personally. By a margin of 73-27, they believe more freedom will be better for them than more government.
To be clear, for British voters, freedom is not something philosophical or theoretical. It’s not a national value – though they do see the UK as the freest country in the world (and America only as fifth, a damning reputational indictment of my homeland). It’s something they want for themselves and in their own lives – to control their own fate and be free to make their own choices.
But here’s the bad news for the Tories…
First, voters no longer see the Conservative Party as champions of freedom. In fact, more people (28 per cent to 20 per cent) associate that value with Labour.
And while 52 per cent of people believe national government should take the lead in protecting their freedoms, only 27 per cent believe it is likely to do so.
On economics, voters still believe that capitalism is a better system than socialism – but not by much. And only one-third (35 per cent) feel capitalism is the economic system is most likely to make them richer (half see no difference at all). It’s not that UK voters embrace socialism – they don’t. But capitalism doesn’t excite them, either.
In fact, one of the key findings of the survey is that British politics is hugely polarised not just issues but also by values.
We asked people which of our Big Six values mattered most for them personally, and mattered least – and then which they thought was most important for the future and success of the country, and the least important.
When we asked which value was most important to them personally, by far the most popular answers for Tory voters were freedom (28 per cent) and security (30 per cent). But for Labour voters, it was fairness (26 per cent) and equality (24 per cent).
To be clear, the party divides in the UK are, in some cases, just as severe as in the United States. To Labour voters, nothing matters more to the country’s future than equality. To Conservatives, nothing matters less. Similarly, Conservatives prioritise security in their own lives, yet Labour ranks it behind fairness, equality and freedom. Every way you look at it, the public sees these crucial priorities not just as different sides of the same coin but as different coins altogether.
That’s why political and business leaders face an impossible task in speaking effectively to the whole country, because our research shows their priorities and values are diverging geographically and demographically, not just politically.
It’s not just that people’s priorities are different depending on their political loyalties. This difference in values means that the words and images that work best to speak to those audiences diverge sharply as well.
For example, when we asked people what threatened their freedom, Tories tended to feel their freedom was most at threat from crime, antisocial behaviour and migration. Labour supporters chose politicians and government bureaucrats. Tory voters were also much more likely to trust the country’s leaders and institutions, and to believe the Government tends to give freedom (63 per cent) rather than taking it away (37 per cent). For Labour voters, the proportion was almost exactly the reverse.
And whereas 62 per cent of Tories trusted those in charge of the UK to do the right thing, the figure was only 48 per cent for Labour voters.
In other words, for those of us who believe in freedom – both personal and economic – these results are as challenging as they are encouraging.
Yes, voters believe freedom is a good thing. And it is frequently seen as a positive force. Some 71 per cent of voters told us that building homes so people have the freedom to live where they want was more important than the freedom to prevent building in their community (29 per cent).
But alarmingly, 36 per cent said prosperity should be the least important value for the UK – catastrophic given the country’s desperate need for growth. Similarly, few voters on either side identified opportunity as the Number #1 priority value – even though politicians of all stripes talk about it incessantly. There are too many people in the UK who have come to believe that opportunity is for someone else, not them.
Having conducted similar surveys in the US, it’s remarkable how different our views are towards government. A large majority – 65 per cent to 35 per cent – told us that it was government’s job to protect most people against most risk, rather than to act as a safety net when people need it the most.
All of which is terrible news if you want to argue against bailouts for mortgage-holders, or indeed for tax cuts and a smaller state. We even found that Tories are more likely than Labour voters to associate government spending with investment in public services, rather than government wasting your money – and indeed that the public’s overall priority when it comes to “economic freedom” is better public services rather than lower taxes or less regulation.
And our survey also shows that while voters still back capitalism over socialism, there are millions who either do not, or can’t see the difference between them.
The UK is still a country that prioritises freedom. But its citizens are far more deferential to government than their American cousins – and the language of freedom is far less ideological and far more personal.