More than a third of Conservative voters admit they have a negative view of Muslims, according to a new poll that lays bare the scale of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in Britain ahead of Thursday’s general election.



The poll — carried out by ICM last week for the campaign group Avaaz — surveyed 2,011 voters about their views on Muslims and Jews in the UK.

It compared the answers of people who said they voted Conservative and Labour at the 2017 election with the public as a whole, finding that 37% of Tory voters are view Muslims in a negative light, compared to 26% of the electorate as a whole and 16% of Labour supporters.

Conservative voters were also much more likely to say they agreed with the statement that Islam threatens the British way of life — 62% compared to 45% of the general public and 35% of Labour voters.

And 55% of Tory supporters agreed that there should be a reduction in the number of Muslims entering Britain, while 41% of the wider public and 33% of Labour voters backed that statement.