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News > World

UK: Labour Party Leads Opinion Polls as Tories Desert May over Brexit Deal

  • Support for Labour Party has increased after Theresa May's Brexit deal details were made public.

    Support for Labour Party has increased after Theresa May's Brexit deal details were made public. | Photo: Reuters

Published 18 November 2018
Opinion

A poll conducted by The Guardian showed that the decline in support for Tories was a result of Brexit supporters deserting the party.

Britain’s Labour Party gained a three-point lead over Tories as supporters of Conservative party deserting Theresa May according to a report published by The Guardian Saturday.

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The Tories have dropped five points to 36 percent while Labour has gained three, bringing up it to 39 percent. The Liberal Democrats have fallen by one point to seven percent, while Ukip has gone up two to eight percent.

A poll conducted by the newspaper showed that the decline in support for Tories was a result of Brexit supporters deserting the party.

After details of Theresa May’s Brexit deal was made public last week, the supporters of the party dropped by 10 points to 49 percent from 59 percent in October. Instead, Labour’s support among Brexit supporters has increased by four points to 26 percent.

The poll by the Guardian found that just 22 percent of all voters believe that May’s Brexit deal is acceptable, while 46 percent of Conservatives think that their party should back the deal brought forth by May.

Meanwhile, 42 percent of Labour supporters think that the party should reject the Brexit deal while 22 percent believe that it should back it.

The news comes as May said Sunday that toppling her would risk delaying Brexit and she would not let talk of a leadership challenge distract her from a critical week of negotiations. "A change of leadership at this point isn't going to make the negotiations any easier ... what it will do is mean that there is a risk that actually we delay the negotiations and that is a risk that Brexit gets delayed or frustrated."

Since unveiling a draft divorce deal with the European Union on Wednesday, May's premiership has been thrust into crisis by the resignation of several ministers, including her Brexit minister, and some lawmakers from her own party seeking to oust her.

To trigger a confidence vote, 48 of her Conservative Party lawmakers must submit a letter to the chairman of the so-called 1922 committee, Graham Brady.

More than 20 lawmakers have said publicly that they have submitted a letter, but others are expected to have done so confidentially. Brady told BBC Radio on Sunday the 48-threshold had not yet been reached.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sunday that a second Brexit referendum was an option for the future. "It's an option for the future, but it's not an option for today, because if we had a referendum tomorrow, what's it going to be on? What's the question going to be?" Corbyn told Sky News while adding that he will not back Theresa May during the vote on Brexit deal.

The 585-page document sets out the terms of the UK's departure, including details such as how much money will be paid to the EU, details of the transition period and citizens' rights. It is due to be finalized at an EU summit on Nov 25. 

More than two years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, it is still unclear how, on what terms or even if it will leave as planned on March 29, 2019.

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