Labour support could slump below Lib Dems if Jeremy Corbyn backs Tory Brexit deal, poll suggests

Emilio Casalicchio

Jeremy Corbyn could see Labour beaten by the Lib Dems in public support if his party backs the Brexit deal Theresa May clinched with Brussels, a new poll has suggested.



The Labour leader has vowed to vote against Mrs May’s Brexit deal - but No 10 is said to be sounding out its opponents in the hope of getting the plan through parliament.

A YouGov survey of 5,000 voters found backing for Labour could fall from 36% to 22% if it helped vote through a compromise deal with Brussels.

The plummeting support would help the Lib Dems soar from 10% to 26% in the polls, the survey commissioned by the anti-Brexit ‘People’s Vote’ campaign suggests.

Some 49% of respondents who voted Labour last year said they would be more likely to switch to the Lib Dems at the next election, compared to 41% who said they would stay true to their 2017 vote.

And Labour support among pro-Leave voters would fall from 21% to 19%.

The poll could pile pressure on Mr Corbyn to back a second referendum on Brexit, however the Sunday Times reports that the survey is at odds with internal polling the party has commissioned.

A source close to Mr Corbyn told the paper: “A campaign for a public vote is on the table if we can’t achieve a general election, which is our strong preference.”

Elsewhere, the poll suggested that some 10 million voters who backed Leave at the 2016 referendum would back the PM’s deal if it was put to the country, while 2 million would vote Remain.

And it said 13.5 million people who voted Remain in 2016 would still vote the same way as they previously did, while 1.4 million would back the deal Mrs May secured.