Retail accounts for 5% of the UK economy – but its visibility gives it an outsize influence on public perception
Up and down Britain there are boarded-up shops. Banks and department stores have been replaced by vape shops, barbers and bookmakers. Shoplifting is at a record high, local services cut, and public frustration is mounting.
Politically, high street decline is perfect campaign fodder for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Research shows support for Reform is higher in places with the biggest rise in persistent high street vacancy rates. Across the UK in 2024 almost 13,000 shops – about 37 a day – pulled down their shutters for good. Closures have been most pronounced in the north of England, the Midlands and deprived coastal towns where Reform ran Labour closest at the general election.
In-depth polling by YouGov and researchers at Faster Horses shows 62% of voters considering backing Reform think their local area is in decline. “It’s just soul destroying to watch your local area turn to shit,” one focus group participant told the researchers.
