73% of tradespeople believe Boris was right to step down
74% of tradespeople believe that a tradesperson would make a good Prime Minister
98% of tradespeople believe the government doesn’t care enough about tradespeople
Was ex-PM Boris right to step down?
During his time in office Boris Johnson showed interest in many goals for the country; the construction of HS2, 40 new hospitals by 2030 and ‘Getting Brexit done’. Some people might argue that these are ambitious goals…
Brexit has caused a major construction vacancy crisis as tradespeople from the EU are being treated to the same long immigration processes as other countries. The HS2 project, which initially received praise, ended up damaging the rail industry’s reputation after the loss of the eastern leg. Given this, it’s no wonder that 73% of our poll believed he was right to step down.
Does the UK Government care about construction?
This begs the question; does the government really look out for the trades?
In 2021 Buckingham MP Greg Smith put forward legislation that aimed to prevent tool theft. His proposal focused on removing the incentive that most thieves pursue when stealing tools: selling them second-hand online. The legislation was simple, if anyone wishes to list tools on online marketplaces, they must include the serial number of each one. This would then make it possible for authorities to track missing tools and catch the perpetrators red-handed.
Upon presenting his case, parliament decided against putting Greg’s proposal into force. However, he is still fighting for the safety and security of tradespeople up and down the country. But why has nothing been done to prevent this already?
132 out of 134 tradespeople (that’s 98.5%) who participated in this poll said that they thought the government doesn’t care enough about the people in the trade industry. With this in mind, maybe what the conservative party really needs is a Prime Minister who will stand up for the community that has proven to be essential to the growth of this country.
What tradespeople are saying about the PM
We asked the tradespeople of the On The Tools community to tell us how they thought the Government, Members of Parliament, and perhaps most importantly, the Prime Minister, view tradespeople and their issues. This is what they said:
“The government sees tradespeople as filthy, manual work peasants.”
“Why would they be concerned about the little people? We are beneath them!”
“We do the back-breaking work that keeps the world turning, but we are treated like animals.”
A tradesperson as Prime Minister
It is easy to believe that we have no influence on how the future of politics will look, with uncertainty around who will be selected by the conservative party as their new leader. However, if the chosen candidate wishes to win the favour of the trade industry, they must consider implementing the policies we need.
We asked the On The Tools community in our poll about the values they might like to see in the new PM. 74% of them said they thought a tradesperson would do a better job than Boris did. It is clear to see why this might be the case since an ex-tradie PM would more than likely emphasise their focus on the issues in the industry, and pass legislation that would make their lives easier.
But the election is currently only in its second round, meaning it will be a few weeks before the Tories are prompted to put in their final vote for the new PM.
Until that time comes, we want to hear your view on what the future looks like for the conservative party, and what your concerns are about the arrival of the new PM.
