Move over ‘Mondeo Man’ and ‘Worcester Woman’… Labour is now targeting ‘middle-aged mortgage man’ as Keir Starmer bids to woo voters suffering from the spike in interest rates ahead of the next general election

• Labour’s bid to win power will see the party target ‘middle-aged mortgage man’
• Sir Keir Starmer’s team said to believe key demographic holds key to success 
• It follows battles over ‘Mondeo Man’ and ‘Worcester Woman’ at past elections

Sir Keir Starmer’s bid to win power at the next general election will see Labour target a group of voters known as ‘middle-aged mortgage man’, it has emerged.

After battles over ‘Mondeo Man’ and ‘Worcester Woman’ at previous elections, Labour is said to have settled on a new key demographic.

The party is reportedly focusing efforts on those who have previously lost faith with Labour but have been stung by the rise in interest rates following Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget.

And, according to the Guardian, Sir Keir’s team believe ‘middle-aged mortgage man’ holds the key to success at the next election.

One strategist in the Labour leader’s office told the newspaper: ‘For a long time every time we talked to the public we were trying to talk to four, five different groups of people.

‘Going into the next election, we’ve got to have this one person in our minds whenever we’re doing media appearances or advertising. That’s how we will win.’

Sir Keir Starmer’s team is said to believe ‘middle-aged mortgage man’ holds the key to Labour’s success at the next general election

A poll conducted last month by Redfield & Wilton Strategies showed that Labour led the Tories by 23 percentage points among ‘Red Wall’ voters

After Labour’s humiliating defeat at the 2019 general election, Sir Keir is hoping he can win back those voters who deserted the party under the leadership of his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.

A poll conducted last month by Redfield & Wilton Strategies showed that Labour led the Tories by 23 percentage points among ‘Red Wall’ voters – those who live in 40 constituencies that were previously Labour heartlands but have recently elected a Conservative MP. 

Rob Ford, a professor of political science at Manchester University, described ‘middle-aged mortgage man’ as being 50 years old, without a university degree but with a good job in the private sector, a homeowner with a mortgage, and someone who almost certainly voted for Brexit.

He said: ‘In 2019, Labour desperately wanted Leave voters in Scunthorpe to hear a different message from Remain voters in south London, but that strategy didn’t work.

‘What they need to do this time is find a median voter… that is middle-aged mortgage man.’

Ahead of the 1997 general election, then Labour leader Tony Blair targeted ‘Mondeo Man’ as the type of 30-something middle income homeowner that his party needed to win over from the Tories.

He once described such a voter as someone who ‘was not rich but he was doing better than he did, and as far as he was concerned, being better off meant being Tory too’.

‘Worcester Woman’ has also been a term used to describe a group of female swing voters in recent elections, with the Worcester constituency having traditionally been a crucial marginal seat.

They were identified by Tory strategists ahead of the 1997 election as a key voter who had helped John Major win, against expectations, in 1992

They are described as being working class, married with two children and who worry about issues but with little interest in day-to-day politics.

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