Tories hit by worst poll result 'in 16 years' as supporters flock to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party
2 min read
The Conservatives have slumped to one of their lowest poll results for years as supporters appeared to be switching their allegiance to Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party.
A fresh survey of Westminster voting intention by pollster ComRes put the Tories on just 23% support, a full 10 points behind Labour and just nine points ahead of the week-old Eurosceptic outfit.
The poll - commissioned by the Brexit Express pressure group - is the first Westminster study to include the Brexit Party launched last week by former Ukip leader Mr Farage. In a boost for Jeremy Corbyn, a third (33%) of voters said they intended to back Labour at the next election - while the Brexit Party registered 17% support.
ComRes chief executive Andrew Hawkins told the Daily Telegraph: "This is the lowest Tory support I can remember in 16 years in this job.
“For months now polls have been showing a build-up of anger and frustration among voters, and while Ukip are now seen as being beyond the pale, the Brexit Party has made a protest vote acceptable again - it is offering voters an opportunity to scratch the itch of Brexit.”
The study shows that only 53% of 2017 Conservative voters say they would vote for the Tories again in the next general election.
Almost a quarter (24%) of 2017 Tory voters said they would instead shift to the Brexit party in the next national vote.
The figures also make grim reading for the Tories ahead of planned European Parliament elections, which are slated to take place on 23 May if Theresa May cannot convince MPs to pass a Brexit deal.
A third of voters (33%) said they would vote for Labour at the European polls.
On 18% support, the Tories are just one point clear of the Brexit Party, backed by 17% of voters.
ComRes interviewed 1,061 GB adults online on 16 April 2019 for its survey.
The study comes hard on the heels of a separate YouGov poll for The Times which revealed that 23% of voters intend to back the Brexit Party if the European elections take place.
In that study, Labour racked up 22% support while the Tories lagged behind on 17%.
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