New polling for the upcoming European Parliament elections shows another astonishing surge in support for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, while the governing Conservatives have crashed to fourth place on just 11 per cent.
The Opinium poll of 2,004 people, conducted online between the 8th and 10th of May, showed support for Mr Farage’s weeks-old party up 6 points to 34 per cent, more than Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour — down seven points to 21 per cent — and Theresa May’s Conservatives — down three points to just 11 per cent — combined.
The Conservative Party’s stunning collapse puts down in fourth place behind even the Liberal Democrats, who have been only a third force in British politics since the 1920s, and barely even that after arch-europhile Nick Clegg led them to near-obliteration in the 2015 general election.
Change UK (CUK), comprised of EU loyalist defectors from Labour and the Conservatives, and intended as Remain diehards’ answer to the Brexit Party, is also struggling, down four points to a mere 3 per cent.
Leader Nigel Farage welcomed the new poll results but — perhaps cognisant of the pollsters’ missteps ahead of the Brexit referendum and the U.S. presidential election — he was careful not to give an appearance of having counted his chickens before they have hatched, tweeting simply: “Accurate or not, these are great numbers and our movement for democracy is gathering pace.”
The European Parliament poll comes around the same time as another, perhaps even more seismic General Election poll, which appears to show that the public are not only willing to swing behind the Brexit Party to send a message to Brussels and Theresa May, but to break with the two-party establishment when electing national lawmakers to the House of Commons as well.
The poll for ComRes, conducted on the 9th of May, shows the Brexit Party blowing past the Liberal Democrats and, even more remarkably, topping the governing Conservative Party, with a 20 per cent share of support to their 19 per cent.
The first-place position of Corbyn’s Labour, on 27 per cent, may also be precarious, as it actually represents a 6-point drop in support compared to the previous ComRes survey.
If translated into general election results, the ComRes data would see Mr Farage’s party claim 49 seats in the national legislature — and the ouster of a swathe of Tory heavyweights including Cabinet ministers, europhile party chairman Brandon Lewis, and even Boris Johnson.
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