The Nigel Farage-led Brexit Party is polling in third place ahead of European Parliament elections, with Tory Party numbers “significantly squeezed” by the emergence of the new eurosceptic group.
The poll by the Open Europe think tank ranked Labour in pole position with a considerable lead over the Conservatives, 37.8 per cent to 23 per cent, while the new Brexit Party has 10.3 per cent of voters’ support.
Commenting on the results Wednesday, Director of Open Europe Henry Newman said “things are not pretty for the Conservatives already,” observing that “Conservative support in these elections appears to have been significantly squeezed, perhaps by [the] emergence of [the] new Brexit Party.”
“And there are further causes for concern for both main parties, particularly when you look at the potential support for new challenger parties and the possible effects of differential turnouts,” Mr Newman added.
The think tank chief said that support for the new Brexit-supporting party and the Remain-supporting Change UK could be “expected to continue to grow in coming weeks as their name recognition develops.”
“When asked later in the survey about the new parties, after their initial voting intention had been recorded, many respondents showed significant interest in supporting them,” he continued.
Despite the vote to leave in June 2016 and pledges to the contrary, the British government confirmed Monday that it would be taking part in the EU-wide elections on May 23-26. Public dissatisfaction with the Tory Party’s handling of Brexit is set to spark “protest” votes, according to Open Europe, where Britons will “send a message” to their establishment leaders on Brexit.
Nigel Farage will travel to Coventry on Friday — the day the first Brexit extension was scheduled to expire — to officially launch the Brexit Party, with party chiefs revealing they are planning to contest every seat across the UK, in order to give voters the chance to “fight back against the betrayal of democracy.”
Speaking to The Sun, Mr Farage said, “I said in 2013 that UKIP was going to cause an earthquake in British politics and I think we can safely say we did that.
“The ambition now is to cause a revolution in British politics – and to end the two-party structure as it is, it’s just not working.”
“We hope to have a profound effect on the Conservative Party and to shift the centre of gravity once more,” he added.
The announcement came as Tory MP Anne Marie Morris hinted she may not vote for her regional Conservative Party candidate in European Parliament elections, saying she would have to “see who is standing in my area. I would like to be voting for people of a Brexiteer persuasion.”
Former Tory MP Michael Brown also said that he would be joining the Brexit Party this week, in what Mr Farage remarked as “A sign of things to come, Conservatives are coming our way.”