New research reveals that the UK’s “Top 1%” live in a small cluster of Tory seats, Denton and Reddish MP Andrew Gwynne claims.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has this week revealed that the top 1% is overwhelmingly male, as well as generally being based in London and the South East – a mirror image of the new privileged Prime Minister.
Those in the top 1% live in are geographically highly concentrated in a small number of parliamentary constituencies. Almost two thirds of the 30 ‘top 1% constituencies’ – which house more than 1444 of the top 1% – are held by Tory MPs. The seats include the seats of Dominic Raab, Justine Greening, Dominic Grieve, Jeremy Hunt, David Gauke, Philip Hammond, and Theresa May.
Compare this to Denton and Reddish, which houses only a fraction of the country’s highest-earning individuals. Only 17% of the areas with the fewest members of the top 1% are represented by Tory MPs.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“The data released this week only confirms who the Tories represent. Boris Johnson and his Government only work in the interest of the very richest in society – it’s a government of the bankers, for the bankers.
“Fewer than 1 person in every 1,000 of my constituents are in the top 1% and I will continue to stand up for the ordinary people of Denton and Reddish in Westminster.
“A Labour Government is urgently needed to tackle the growing problem of inequality and, in particular, regional inequality.”
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP said:
“A massive proportion of the top 1% live in London and the South East, and it’s yet another sign of how Tory governments have encouraged the super-rich to concentrate in those regions while the rest of the country is held back.
“It’s shocking that so many of the top 1% are getting tax advantages, as partners and business owners, and we’re going to get more help for the very wealthiest from this Boris Johnson-led government of bankers.
“A Labour government will be for the many, not the few – and will tackle regional inequality, introduce a fairer taxation system, and clamp down on tax advantages exploited by the super-rich.”