2.6 million Leave voters abandoned support for Brexit since referendum, major new study finds

LONDON, 05 Sept. - (ANA) - More than 2.6 million people have abandoned their support for Brexit and now back staying in the EU, a major study has concluded and cited by the British newspaper The Independent.

If the huge number of Britons who have changed their mind had voted to stay in the EU in 2016, the referendum would have delivered a clear Remain verdict.

The data will add to the debate about whether the country now needs a new referendum, with millions having second thoughts about their Leave vote amid growing fears about Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal.

In a key finding that will particularly intensify pressure on Jeremy Corbyn to take a tougher stance against Brexit, the study found the overwhelming majority of those changing minds are Labour voters in seats the party currently holds.

It comes as Conservative divisions over Brexit deepened, with Theresa May attempting to slap down Boris Johnson after he wrote another article attacking her approach.

The Independent has launched its own campaign for a Final Say referendum, with almost three quarters of a million people having signed our petition demanding one so far.

The new study was carried out by data analysis experts Focaldata for pro-EU campaign group Best for Britain. It was based on two YouGov polls that together surveyed more than 15,000 people.

In total, it concluded that 2.6 million Leave voters have switched their support to Remain, while 970,000 have moved the other way – a net gain for the pro-EU side of 1.6 million.

The majority for Leave in 2016 was around 1.3 million, meaning if all those who have now switched their allegiance had acted in accordance with their new view at the ballot box, Remain would have won the vote by a greater margin.

MPs on both sides of the Commons have already come out in support of the idea, but the new data could act as a catalyst for politicians waiting for signs of a shift in public opinion.

The study found that Labour voters accounted for 1.4 million of the 1.6 million switchers to Remain, significantly outnumbering the 837,000 Tory voters who switched the other way.

The finding that Labour voters are particularly moving away from Brexit is likely to come as a major boost to pro-EU campaigners, who plan to use the party’s annual conference later this month to try to force the Labour leadership to adopt a tougher stance on the issue.

Campaigners believe there would be a further significant shift in opinion among Labour voters if Mr Corbyn changes the party’s official position.

YouGov found that 58 per cent of people who voted for Labour in 2017 said they were concerned about the prospect of no-deal. Fifty-six per cent want another poll on the nature of Brexit, compared to 32 per cent who did not.

A majority of all voters in Labour held-constituencies also back a Final Say referendum on the terms of the Brexit deal, by a margin of 45 per cent to 39 per cent.

Of the 262 Labour-voting constituencies, 161 currently support a new referendum, while a further 55 are expected to switch in the coming months.

It places Mr Corbyn on a collision course with Labour members, voters and constituents if he continues to resist calls for a public vote on the terms of Brexit.

In total, 69 Labour constituencies have moved to Remain, while just three have switched to Leave.

The biggest swing to Remain was the 17.2 per cent seen in the Barnsley Central seat held by Labour’s Dan Jarvis.  - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/05 September 2018 - - -