TUC: ‘Huge support’ for Government’s plan to make work pay

The landmark Employment Rights Bill is ‘vote winner’

Voters in every constituency overwhelmingly support key measures to strengthen workers’ rights, according to new polling published by the TUC and Hope Not Hate today.

In recent months, there has been criticism of the Bill from Conservative and Reform politicians and parts of the business lobby.

But this polling decisively proves that those opponents are a world away from the views of the British public.

The public wants stronger worker protections

The poll of over 21,000 people reveals huge backing across the country and across the political spectrum –  including with Reform and Conservative voters – for key policies in the Bill. The poll shows:  

• Banning zero hours contracts by giving workers a contract that reflects their regular hours: More than 7 in 10 (72%) of UK voters support a ban on zero hours contracts – including 2 in 3 Reform (65%) and Conservative (63%) voters from the 2024 general election support banning zero hours contracts. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (65%) and Reform (67%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 15% oppose the policy.  
• Giving all workers statutory sick pay from day one: 3 in 4 (74%) voters support giving all workers the right to statutory sick pay, and ensuring it is paid from the first day – including 2 in 3 Reform (64%) and Conservative (62%) voters from the 2024 general election. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (65%) and Reform (66%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 14 % oppose the policy.
• Giving all workers protection from unfair dismissal from day one: 3 in 4 (73%) voters support giving all workers protection from unfair dismissal from the first day in the job – including 2 in 3 Reform (62%) and Conservative (62%) voters from the 2024 general election. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (65%) and Reform (64%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 14% oppose the policy.  
• Making it easier for people to have flexibility in their patterns or hours of work: 3 in 4 (74%) voters support making it easier to work flexibly – including 2 in 3 Reform (63%) and Conservative (64%) voters from the 2024 general election. The figure is even higher with those saying they would vote Conservative (67%) and Reform (65%) if there was a general election held tomorrow. Just 12% oppose the policy. 

Break down by constituency level 

The poll breaks down to constituency level – and reveals that voters in every single constituency are behind the Bill’s flagship policies.

Click on the interactive map below to see how each constituency voted. Use the search field to find your constituency, and the drop-down menu at the top to view data for each policy.

https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/21515919/embed?auto=1

A Flourish map

Reform is defying its own voters on workers’ rights

Interestingly, the new poll shows the measures the government is taking through Parliament are hugely popular with Reform voters from 2024 as well as Reform-leaning voters (those who would vote Reform if there was an election tomorrow).

In every Reform-held constituency, including in Reform leader Nigel Farage’s seat, there is significant support for banning zero hours contracts and giving sick pay to everyone from day one.  

And yet Reform MPs have voted against the Bill at every stage. The party are defying their own voters and constituents on workers’ rights. This proves beyond doubt that Nigel Farage and Reform aren’t on the side of working people – they’re on the side of bad bosses, zero hours contracts and fire and rehire.

Labour, Conservative, Green and Lib Dem voters also significantly back the policies. It’s clear that the Employment Rights Bill is that rare thing –  a policy which is genuinely popular across traditional party lines.

Time for change

After the failed Conservative era of a low-rights, low-pay, and low-growth economy, voters can see the importance of making work pay and ending the scourge of insecure work.

That’s why the government must ignore the noise and deliver the Employment Rights Bill in full.  

Improving job quality and putting more money into people’s pockets is an urgent national mission and a key plank of the government’s wider plan to grow the economy. Those who defend the broken status quo are simply putting their own vested interests above working people.

Voters across the political spectrum want work to pay and to feel secure and respected in their jobs. The government has a historic opportunity – and an electoral mandate – to make work pay. The plan to make work pay is hugely popular, and this poll should give ministers the confidence to deliver it in full.