MIGRATION

Migrant Channel boat crossings could cost Tories election

A lifeboat brings people believed to be migrants ashore in Dungeness last month
A lifeboat brings people believed to be migrants ashore in Dungeness last month
GARETH FULLER/PA

The Conservatives are on course to lose the next election over their failure to tackle the Channel migrant crisis alone, new polling for The Times has revealed.

The number of migrants crossing from France in small boats is the top reason why almost half of those who voted Conservative at the last election plan to switch to another party at the next general election, a survey by the More in Common think tank found.

It ranked above all other factors, including the cost of living crisis and the actions of Liz Truss during her brief spell as prime minister.

In the poll of 2,030 people, conducted last week by the think tank More in Common, 56 per cent said immigration has been too high since