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As some have noted above, home-ownership (perhaps through council-house purchases) have given people who identify as working class a much bigger financial stake to defend than many middle class young people who can't get a foot on the property ladder.
I agree. Almost all older home owning 'working class' people have a healthier asset-to-debt ratio than your average childless double incomed highly educated 'middle class' city-dwellers who can only rent.
I remember when that whole Theresa May 'metropolitan elites' attack on remainers was going on. I was renting a one bed flat in Clapton with my (now) wife barely able to make rent each month. I felt that attack was a little unfair.
Whatever working class means culturally, it's certainly no longer referring to pure economics - if it ever was.
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ReekBlefs
I'd disagree (although I'm talking only in terms of huge sweeping generalities). I think "working class" seems to have a similar meaning to "real Londoner" in that it ties together a thread of nationalism and social conservatism with a family background of poverty (or at least non-wealth). Inasmuch as it is the opposite of "middle class" it doesn't really describe people's current situation. Many "middle-class metropolitan liberal elites" earn less than they could as a plumber/electrician (although they might have family backup that would stop them ever falling on really hard times). As some have noted above, home-ownership (perhaps through council-house purchases) have given people who identify as working class a much bigger financial stake to defend than many middle class young people who can't get a foot on the property ladder.