FROM PROTECT THE WILD — A DIVIDED NATION — SOME WANT TO KILL FOR THEIR FUN

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Tory MP's opinion poll on hunting not worth the paper it's written on Stuart Anderson, Tory MP for South Shropshire, proves nothing... TOM ANDERSON JAN 20 ∙ GUEST POST READ IN APP Stuart Anderson, Tory MP for South Shropshire, has released an opinion poll on the Labour government’s plans to enact a stronger ban on trail hunting. Both Anderson’s poll and his statements at the recent parliamentary debate on rural communities are questionable to say the least. Anderson, whose share of the vote in 2024 was down -31%, is joining the likes of Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage, who nailed his pro-hunt colours firmly to the mast once again when he attended a Boxing Day Hunt in Kent. He’s also in company with Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton Kevin Hollinrake, who has been spearheading the parliamentary pro-bloodsport camp. Anderson shared a video on Facebook with a headline that 63% of South Shropshire residents who took part in a recent poll were against tightening the law on trail hunting. In it he pledges his own support for so-called ‘trail hunting’. However, it doesn’t take much insight to see that these figures are hardly representative of a majority view. In the first place, the ‘survey’ was on Anderson’s personal website, which almost certainly immediately limits who would see it to his supporters. His views are well-known, and the ‘survey’ was placed below a paragraph of text that opened with: “The government’s plan to ban trail hunt is yet more proof that the government does not understand rural communities like South Shropshire. For many of us, trail hunting is an important tradition...” Unbiased, it was not… Even with such overt campaigning, less than 2.5% of South Shropshire residents responded. The poll simply showed that 1196 of the 76k+ residents in his constituency were against the ban. It proved nothing. This fact didn’t escape those who read Anderson’s post on Facebook, one person quite rightly asking: “Can you confirm the political affiliation of the 1899 people who completed the survey please? Likely that the majority who saw the survey on social media or on your website were supporters of yours, so it probably wasn’t truly representative of the electorate. Please don’t dress it up as the views of the majority of South Shropshire.” Protect the Wild’s founder Rob Pownall was also unimpressed by Anderson’s poll. He commented: “Cherry-picked surveys don’t equal public support. The vast majority of people in this country, both in urban and rural areas want to see an end to hunting with hounds, and it’s time for Stuart Anderson to respect that fact, and represent the views of the public, not side with a tiny handful of people desperate to keep this sick pastime alive.” The law has been failing to protect foxes Anderson, who narrowly avoided defeat by Lib-Dem candidate Matthew Green in 2024, took part in the debate on ‘rural communities that took place in parliament on 07 January, flying the flag for fox hunting. He wheeled out another set of deeply unconvincing figures to try to persuade the house that the supposed fact that there were “only“ 44 convictions of fox hunters between 2003 and 2024 meant that hunts hadn’t been committing crimes. He said: “Based on those statistics, they should not ban anything, because the stats do not support the idea that there is widespread criminality in trail hunting. There is no evidence of that at all.” There is masses of evidence. Sabs and monitors have documented literally hundreds of examples of hunts flouting the law. Anyone who has been paying attention will know that the police are reluctant to make arrests in relation to wildlife crimes, and rarely is anyone arrested or brought before the courts. When prosecutions do happen, they often fail. A recent report by Wildlife and Countryside Link found that the police and courts did not take crimes against non-human animals seriously and didn’t put enough resources into them. To give just one example, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped a seemingly cast iron case against the Holderness Hunt last year. The Hunt had been caught red-handed, allowing its hounds to chase and kill a vixen. The footage from Hull Wildlife Monitors was clear as day, but the CPS dropped it claiming the evidence was insufficient. Protect the Wild’s Charlotte Smith wrote at the time: “the law protects hunters. It shields them behind loopholes. It fails wildlife, saboteurs, and monitors alike. This is the reality for those trying to uphold a failing law. Volunteers risk their safety, gather evidence, and confront the cruelty head-on. Yet, again and again, justice slips through the cracks” One thing’s for sure, the pro-hunt side can’t seem to get their story straight either. In a recent debate aired on BBC Five, Tim Bonner - CEO of the pro-hunt Countryside Alliance made the opposite argument to Anderson. Bonner argued that, because there have been some convictions under the current Hunting Act, it shows that the Act is fit for purpose and doesn’t need to be changed. Bonner and Anderson have at least one thing in common: they are both feeding the public with straw-man arguments. Numbers aren’t Anderson’s strong suit However, the figures that Anderson presented to parliament are also wrong. Protect the Wild has been monitoring the number of hunting-related convictions and we have recorded a total of 59 convictions covering 78 charges of illegal hunting under Section 1 of the Hunting Act. There has been a significant uptick in the number of successful prosecutions since 2022. On top of that, we are aware of a further eight cases of illegal hunting where defendants are currently awaiting trial. Rural people hate hunting too Anderson’s poll and Facebook post feeds into an age-old falsehood that the government’s plans to strengthen the ban are an attack on rural communities and that rural people overwhelmingly support hunting. To be frank, it’s the same old crap that the Countryside Alliance has been reeling out for more than two decades now. There’s virtually no difference between rural and urban opinions on fox hunting in the UK. A YouGov poll on 29 December 2025 found that 50% of rural Britons surveyed supported the government’s proposed ban, while 35% of rural people polled opposed it. That’s a pretty similar figure to the UK overall. YouGov found that 50% of the total number of UK respondents in the UK supported the government’s planned ban, while only 29% opposed it. Protect the Wild’s Rob Pownall slammed the pro-hunt side’s duplicity in this video, responding to a speech made at one of this year’s Boxing Day Hunts: Anderson used the 07 January debate to trot out another tired argument about hunts being a “cherished” part of the community and supporting rural economies too. But the YouGov stats showed that other rural people didn’t agree with him. Their poll found that more than half of rural people thought that hunting was not important socially or economically to rural communities. Protect the Wild commissioned a Find Out Now poll in 2025 which yielded even clearer results. It found that 60% of rural respondents and 72% of urban respondents would support a stronger ban on hunting, and nearly 50% of rural respondents believed hunting with hounds was not being conducted legally in their area. Rural people versus hunting A recent report by Protect the Wild entitled ‘Rural people versus hunting’ found that: “the “town vs. country divide” simply does not exist. Rural sentiment mirrors urban sentiment around 10%, a reflection of lived experience, rooted in direct experience of the harm hunts cause: hounds trespassing through gardens, scaring livestock, roads blocked, threats made, and property damaged, not ideology. Far from preserving tradition, hunting with hounds has become synonymous with fear, conflict, and disorder in rural life.” The report looked at reputable opinion polls conducted between 2004, when the Hunting Act came into place, and today. It found that: “Despite pro-hunt organisations, such as the Countryside Alliance, British Hound Sports Association,and previously the Hunting Office, and Masters of Foxhounds Association, frequently claiming that hunting enjoys rural backing, no credible public surveys in the last 20 years show a majority of rural residents supporting fox hunting.” 2004 (YouGov): 61% supported the Hunting Act ban; 30% opposed. 2005 (Ipsos MORI/BBC Countryfile): 47% supported the ban; 26% opposed; Scotland showed 52% support vs 21% opposed. 2008 (Animal Aid / Guardian): 70–72% wanted the ban to continue. 2009 (Ipsos MORI for IFAW & LACS): 75% supported keeping the ban; 72% of rural respondents agreed, with a minimal rural/urban difference. 2012 (Ipsos MORI): 76% opposed re-legalising fox hunting; 81% opposed deer hunting; 83% opposed hare coursing. 2015 (YouGov, 10-Year Anniversary): 51% supported, 33% opposed; little difference between urban (52%) and rural (49%). 2015 (Ipsos MORI for LACS): 83% wanted the ban upheld; rural 84%, urban 82%. 2016 (Ipsos MORI): 84% against legalising fox hunting; rural opposition 82%. 2017 (Survation): 64% opposed repeal; only 11% supported. Even among Conservatives, just 16% wanted hunting re-legalised. 2019 (YouGov for LACS): 79% supported closing “trail hunting” loopholes; 74% supported jail terms for illegal hunting. 2021–2023 (YouGov tracker): 70–80% opposed recreational hunting; no regional divide. 2024 (YouGov 20-Year Poll): 79% want the ban to remain; 12% favour repeal. 2024 (Find Out Now/Electoral Calculus for LACS): 76% support strengthening the law; 70% of rural voters agree; 58% would back pro-ban political candidates. 2024 (Protect the Wild/Survation): Only 18% believe trail hunting is genuine; strong majority say it’s a cover for illegal hunting and want stricter legislation. 2025 (Protect the Wild/Find out now): 60% of rural respondents and 72% of urban respondents would support a stronger ban on hunting and nearly 50% of rural respondents believed hunting with hounds was not being conducted legally in their area. Charlotte Smith who authored the report carried out 10 in-depth interviews with rural people who had all suffered due to the actions of hunts. The stories were bleak, recounting riders and hounds rampaging through gardens and, in one case, the killing of a cherished family pet. These respondents told a wholly different story to Anderson’s, one of chaos and of aggression, arrogance and a cold disregard for the lives of people in rural areas. As we head towards a strengthened ban on trail hunting, we need to be prepared to hear these same arguments again and again. But repetition doesn’t make the pro-hunt rhetoric true. Both rural and urban people overwhelmingly oppose hunting and support a strengthened ban. Use Protect the Wild’s automated tool to email your MP now and register your support for a proper ban. Take a look at our report on how difficult it really is to get a hunting conviction. Sign our petition calling for a proper ban on hunting, and check out our proposal for a workable ban on the hunting of mammals with hounds. Read Protect the Wild’s 2025 report, ‘The True Face of Hunting with Hounds’. Be part of a growing movement backing Protect the Wild Protect the Wild is independent by design. We don’t take money from corporations, industry bodies, or political interests. Everything we do - undercover investigations, hard-hitting animations, fearless journalism, reports, and campaigns — is powered by thousands of ordinary people giving a few pounds a month. If you believe British wildlife deserves defenders who won’t compromise, become a monthly supporter today. Become a Monthly Supporter A guest post by Tom Anderson Journalist for Protect the Wild Subscribe to Tom SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start writing