My latest focus groups took place in the North-East, where we heard from regular Labour voters in Newcastle East and Wallsend who might be tempted elsewhere, and from people in Bishop Auckland who switched from the Conservatives to Labour at the last election.
Most participants felt that recent political news had been dominated by the Iran conflict, the causes of which remained opaque to many. Explanations included a Trumpian need to project power, a desire to control oil supplies, a response to the murder of protesters by the Iranian regime, and an attempt to stop Iran building nuclear weapons – the last of which some accepted as the right and reasonable explanation, though a few said they were reminded of claims about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
DOWNLOAD PDF
