As voters and politicians alike gear up for the hotly contested general election, research from the UK’s leading independent mortgage broker, Charcol, reveals that almost seven million homeowners have not remortgaged since the Tories were last in power.

As a result, consumers are collectively losing out on savings of over £5 billion this year alone.

The research also reveals that, whilst historically, borrowers have remortgaged most under Labour, remortgage activity peaked during the Tory-led period between1989 and 1993, in light of the eye-watering climb in interest rates to 15% in 1990.

The good news is that more than three million savvy homeowners have remortgaged since the last general election, taking advantage of the fierce competition in the marketplace to secure themselves substantial savings.

Charcol has analysed mortgage borrower activity since John Major, Margaret Thatcher and Harold Wilson left office:

Number of homeowners who have not remortgaged since:	Serving PM	Party	Year(s)
6,900,000	John Major	Conservative	1990 – 1997
2,400,000	Margaret Thatcher	Conservative	1979 – 1990
200,000	Harold Wilson	Labour	1974 - 1979

Elliot Nathan of Charcol comments: "There may be a general feeling of apathy over the election on 5^th May, but there’s simply no excuse for apathy over one of the biggest financial commitments of your life.

Millions of homeowners are missing out on potentially massive repayment savings by sitting on their hands instead of taking advantage of today’s low rates. A typical borrower on standard variable rate can save around £120 per month by remortgaging, and you can quickly check online or over the phone whether this applies to you."

For more details visit the ‘Switching your Mortgage’ remortgage comparison tool at http://www.charcolonline.co.uk