Boost for Theresa May as Tories take four-point poll lead despite Brexit in-fighting
2 min read
The Conservatives have taken a four-point lead over Labour despite the on-going row over the party’s approach to Brexit.
In a boost for Theresa May, the latest Opinium poll for the Observer puts support for the Conservatives at 41%, up two points in a week, while Labour have slumped twp points to 37%.
The results were revealed as tensions within the Conservative party reached boiling point with a number of Cabinet ministers threatening to walk over the Prime Minister’s Brexit stance.
Elsewhere, the poll found that the general public still trusted the Conservatives more to lead the Brexit negotiations with 29% putting their faith in the Tories, while only 18% thought Labour were the right party to lead the negotiations.
Among Leave voters the figure rises sharply to 41% believing the Conservatives will get the best deal, up from 32% since Mrs May set out her Chequers plan in July.
And 31% of respondents said that if the Government cannot reach a deal with the EU then they would prefer to leave without one, while only 23% backed a second referendum.
In a blow for Labour, only 14% believe there should be a general election called if no deal can be reached, while just 13% say that the Government should attempt to extend the negotiation period beyond the exit date of 29 March, 2019.
The figures will come as a welcome relief for Mrs May ahead of a crunch Brussels summit on Wednesday where she hopes to strike a deal with the EU that will satisfy her own backbenches, as well as the DUP, who prop her up in the Commons.
But the poll showed that a post-conference boost for Theresa May’s approval rating has quickly fallen away, falling five points from minus 12% to minus17%, while Jeremy Corbyn remains static on minus 20%.
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