Survey also finds three in five Britons say politics is broken in both Westminster and Brussels

Three in five British voters say politics in Westminster and Brussels is broken, according to a poll that finds pro- and anti-Brexit parties are running neck and neck ahead of the European elections on Thursday.

The survey, shared with the Guardian by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), found Britons nurture some of the highest levels of political disaffection in Europe, with 60% of those polled saying the system in the UK and the EU is broken. Only in France and Greece are levels of disenchantment higher.

Not surprisingly, disillusionment is highest among voters intending to support pro-Brexit parties on Thursday. Nearly 90% of those intending to cast a ballot for Nigel Farage’s Brexit party supported the “broken politics” view, according to the survey of 1,600 people conducted by YouGov.

Britain’s participation in the European elections has taken on an aura of farce as would-be MEPs campaign for seats even though the UK voted almost three years ago to leave the EU. Deadlock in Westminster has prevented Theresa May’s government from enacting a withdrawal deal it concluded with Brussels.

Irreconcilable Brexit tribes create a split-screen EU election Read more

The impasse has infuriated some corners of public opinion. The poll found one in four people hoped the European elections would result in nothing less than a “revolution” in the EU, compared with 14% who hoped the 23-26 May ballot would amount to a vote of confidence in the EU.

But the contest between pro- and anti-Brexit blocs in the UK looks likely to be every bit as close as it was in June 2016, when the campaign to leave the EU won a narrow victory.

The Brexit party is on course to secure twice as many votes as any other party, according to the YouGov-ECFR poll, which gives Nigel Farage’s party 33.4% of votes.

The survey found 17.3% of voters intended to cast their ballots for the Liberal Democrats, 16.1% for Labour and 9.2% for the Green party. The Conservatives are in fifth, on 8.3%.

Taken together, all major anti-Brexit parties, including Change UK, the Scottish National party and Plaid Cymru, are given 37.5% of voting intentions. The Brexit party and its progenitor, Ukip, are on 36.1%.

Mark Leonard, the director of the ECFR, said: “Rather than engaging in a conversation with each other’s ideas, voters seem to be retreating into two camps whose divisions become ever deeper and more unbridgeable. The ‘Big Sort’ that bifurcated American politics and society is becoming the defining feature of political life in the UK.”

The survey shows the Brexit bifurcation runs deep through the heart of the Conservative and Labour parties.

Asked whether membership of the EU was a positive or negative influence on Britain, 20% of Conservatives said it protected Britons against the excesses and failures of national government, while 54% said it held the British government back from doing what was right for the country.

In all, 52% of Labour supporters saw the EU as a protective influence, compared with 16% who saw it as a drawback. In all other major parties, opinions came down decisively on one side or the other.

“This polarised election will punish those parties who are not clearly in the remain or leave camps,” said Leonard.