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Tens of thousands of middle-class voters have deserted the Tories amid the bitter splits over Brexit, according to new polling.

Support for the Conservatives among the ABC1 social groups has fallen from 44 per cent last year to 39 per cent now, surveys by YouGov show.

The waning of backing for the Tories among this group of professional, managerial and white collar workers may have started shortly after the 2016 referendum on EU membership, according to the analysis by former YouGov president Peter Kellner.

But the polling suggests it has intensified as criticism has grown of the Government’s handling of Brexit in the last year.

Mr Kellner said: “In last year’s election, middle-class support for the Tories stalled. As a result, they lost seats, especially in “Remain” constituencies.

“Since then it has dropped a further five points, from 44 to 39 per cent. This should terrify a party whose support among ABC1 voters never fell below 50 per cent before the Blair landslide in 1997.”

He suggested that many middle-class, private sector workers, a group which has traditionally given strong support to the Tories, are “appalled by the way the Brexit talks are going”.

Three tracker polls done in July to September for the People’s Vote campaign, which saw more than 25,000 adults in Britain interviewed, showed 84 per cent of Conservative-supporting middle class voters think the Brexit process has been a mess.

Mr Kellner stressed that private sector, middle class workers believe by three to one that Brexit will weaken rather than strengthen the economy and that by two to one think that it is more important to keep frictionless trade with the EU than to have control over immigation.

The analysis showed that support for the Conservatives rose from 42 per cent to 44 per cent from 2015 to 2017 among ABC1 voters, but far sharper among skilled manual and less skilled workers, from 33 per cent to 44 per cent, suggesting that middle class support may have been cooling after the referendum.

The Tories have traditionally relied on the middle classes, older voters and business for their support and many bosses fear their firms face being hit by Brexit, especially if close trade ties with the EU are torn up.

Former Tory treasurer and City grandee Michael Spencer claimed that the Tories had “lost their way” and, speaking to the BBC, alleged that Prime Minister Theresa May had “let herself down” by failing to champion business.

Mr Spencer believes it is “profoundly unlikely” that there would be no deal with the EU, stressing: “That’s not grown up politics on either side.”