Ukip heartlands have fewest people who own a passport, analysis reveals

In areas where Ukip did very well last May - and may win more MPs in 2020 - significant numbers of locals can't travel.

New data suggests one reason for Farage's appeal. (Getty)

At least one in 10 of residents do not own a passport in the areas where Ukip is most popular, according to a new analysis by the Independent.

In the 295 constituencies across England & Wales where Ukip won above-average support in last May’s General Election, more than 10 per cent do not have the ability to travel abroad, and typically around one in five cannot.

In London, where only seven per cent of people do not own a passport, Ukip won just 8 per cent of the vote last spring.

And in inner London, where just 3-5 per cent of people can’t leave the UK, Ukip did even worse - and continue to poll poorly in the capital.

As these maps of London show, support for Ukip (in dark red in the first map), is often higher in areas where fewer people can travel (also in dark red, in the second map).

Hover over the map to see how constituencies compare.

The maps do not quite mirror one another, but you can see how similar they are. On a mathematical scale of 0 to 100, the link between them is a 66 – or 'fairly strong'.

The area of London where Ukip is most popular – Dagenham and Rainham – is also the area of the capital where the fewest locals have a passport.

Of course owning a passport does not necessarily mean you travel a great deal.

Yet this new analysis does suggest that in areas where almost everyone is able to travel abroad, Ukip – a nationalist party – struggles to win votes.

The link is less strong in Wales, where it is common for one-in-four residents to be ground-bound, and yet Ukip won less than a fifth of the vote in every Welsh constituency in May.

The map below shows how passport ownership compares across the country.

The link is stronger in England. In places like Clacton, Rotherham, Hartlepool, Mansfield, West Bromwich West, Boston & Skegness and Great Grimsby – all seats where Ukip won at least a quarter of the vote in May – at least one-in-four residents don’t own passports.

Here’s a map of how Ukip did last May.

Ukip currently only has one MP, but could win more in 2020 – potentially at the expense of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.

Nigel Farage’s party won at least 20 per cent of the vote in 69 constituencies last May, and more than 30 per cent in eight of those.