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The high level of support for the Brexit Party and the low figures for those pledging to reverse Brexit, suggest there is little remorse following the referendum.
A new group, The Brexit Party, only registered since February 2019, has surged in the polls ahead of the European parliamentary elections that will be held at the end of May.
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The group, which has no set policies, other than to implement Brexit, is now the UK’s leading party according to most polls. One poll released on Thursday by the Comres agency, placed the Brexit Party first with 28 percent. In second place is the Labour Party at 26 percent, followed by the ruling Conservative Party at just 14 percent. The largest group advocating a second referendum and a rejection of Brexit is the Liberal Democrats, polling at just 11 percent.
The Brexit Party has attracted support from all sides of the political spectrum. It was founded by Nigel Farage, a right-wing eurosceptic MEP, however, they have been endorsed by figures such as George Galloway, former Labour MP and leftist broadcaster who hosts his own show on Russia’s RT. The party has also held large rallies in working-class towns normally sympathetic to the Labour Party, areas such as Newport in South Wales saw a 2,000-strong rally, Peterborough saw an attendance of around 1,500.
The party has grown following frustration that the U.K. has not yet left the European Union following the vote to leave two years ago. Shortly after the referendum, lawmakers implemented ‘Article 50’ that meant Britain had a two-year window with which to leave the EU, with a March 29, 2019 deadline, whereby Britain must leave on with or without an exit deal. However, following a failure to agree on the terms of Prime Minister Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, the U.K. and the EU agreed that there would be an extension, placing the deadline in October 2019, so as to avoid a ‘no-deal’ Brexit that would leave Britain facing food shortages. However, those who campaigned for Brexit are frustrated at the delay.
The high level of support for the Brexit Party and the low figures for those pledging to reverse Brexit suggest there is little remorse following the referendum. The two main parties have suffered as a result, as the recent local elections the Labour Party lost seats in their traditional working-class areas, such as Sunderland and Bolsover, which voted leave and the current polls will have the conservatives on their lowest numbers in their almost 200-year history.
The European elections are held across the EU on May 23 to elect members of the European Parliament, the other institutions of the EU such as the European Commission and the European Council.
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