Labour snatch two-point poll lead as Brexit chaos engulfs Tories

Labour have grabbed an opinion poll lead in the wake of a disastrous few days for the Conservatives.



In a boost for Jeremy Corbyn, the latest YouGov poll for The Times puts his party on 39%, two points clear of the Conservatives who have fallen to 37%.

The Liberal Democrats remain unchanged on 9%.

The new figures are a major boost for Labour, who trailed the Conservatives by four to five points during parts of March, April, May and June with the same pollster.

The poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, comes in the wake of a chaotic week for Theresa May which saw major resignations from her Cabinet following the crunch Chequers summit.

The loss of her Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have left the chances of rallying her party behind her new soft Brexit plan hanging by a thread as Brexiteer backbenchers seek to force a change of policy.

And the row has seen confidence in the Conservatives' ability to successfully negotiate Brexit plummet to 13%, down from 18% at the weekend. The proportion of voters who think they Government are handling the negotiations badly has risen to 75%, up from 66%.

The chaos has also rocked the Prime Minister’s own personal popularity with voters, with 43% believing it is time for her to go, up from 32% in November. Some 28 per cent of Tory party members think Mrs May should now step down, with that figure rising to 49% for those who voted to leave the EU.

The figures will make grim reading for ministers who are set to release the details of their Chequers plan in a White Paper later today.

Only 13% of voters think that the Government’s plan would be good for Britain, while 42% think it would not and 44% do not know.