Voters’ fury laid bare

Poll: Almost half back PM on early election (and most want No Deal rather than Corbyn)

THE British public are utterly frustrated with politicians, a poll for the Daily Mail has found.

Three-quarters of those questioned said the political class had failed to function effectively and were not serving the interests of the country.

The survey found that almost half want an early election and that MPs should not have blocked one in a Commons vote on Wednesday, while less than a third do not.

Boris Johnson remains the most popular choice for prime minister, with a 20-point lead over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – who came in behind those who gave the answer ‘don’t know’. And given the choice between a No Deal Brexit and accepting the Labour leader in No10, those questioned overwhelmingly chose the former.

In addition, more people agreed with Mr Johnson’s decision to expel 21 Tory MPs who voted with Labour against a No Deal Brexit this week.

In a surprise result, Mr Johnson was found to be more trusted on the NHS than Mr Corbyn, despite the health service traditionally seen as the preserve of Labour.

But the survey is not all good news for the Prime Minister, who has endured a tough week which included the resignation of his own brother Jo as universities minister. More people now believe he is doing a bad job as PM, and there has been a sharp increase in the proportion believing he is doing a worse job than they would have expected.

The Conservative lead in the polls has also fallen to just five points. They are now on 29 per cent (down two points), Labour on 24 per cent (no change) and the Liberal Democrats on 18 per cent. The Brexit Party has had a boost, rising three points to 17 per cent.

According to the Electoral Calculus website, a general election would leave the Conservatives 14 seats short of a majority. The Tories are forecast to win 312 seats – down six – while Labour would be on 218 – down 44. The Lib Dems would gain 36 seats to give them a tally of 48, and the Brexit Party would pick up 15 seats.

The poll was carried out by Survation, which questioned 1,006 people on Thursday and yesterday.

Asked whether Britain’s political class are functioning effectively and serving the interests of the country, just 13 per cent agreed. An astonishing 75 per cent said the political class was not functioning effectively, while 12 per cent said they did not know.

Asked whether they wanted an election, 48 per cent said they did and 31 per cent said they did not. The rest said that they did not know. More people said they opposed the MPs’ vote to block Mr Johnson from calling an election, by 43 per cent to 35 per cent. However, voters prefer that an election takes place after negotiations with the EU are completed by 43 per cent to 36 per cent.

Mr Johnson came out top when asked who made the best prime minister. Some 46 per cent opted for Mr Johnson, compared with 26 per cent for Mr Corbyn. He is more trusted on the economy, crime, the NHS and education. On the NHS, the lead is 35 per cent to 30 per cent for the Labour leader.

When voters were asked a separate question including Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, the figures were 44 per cent for Mr Johnson, 19 per cent Mr Corbyn, 16 per cent Miss Swinson and 21 per cent ‘don’t know’.

Asked to choose between two options – a No Deal Brexit and Mr Corbyn entering Downing Street – voters chose the former by 52 per cent to 31 per cent. However, when asked whether they were in favour of a No Deal exit, just 22 per cent said it was their preferred outcome.

Some 37 per cent said they wanted to remain in the EU, compared to 32 per cent saying Britain should leave without a deal.

Overall, however, a separate question found the voters opted 53 per cent for Remain and 47 per cent for Leave.

Asked how they rated the performance of Mr Johnson as PM, 37 per cent said ‘good’ (down four points) and 40 per cent said bad (up five). The rest said neither good nor bad, or said they did not know. Asked whether that was better or worse than they expected, 32 per cent said better (down eight), 33 per cent said worse (up 11), while the rest said neither or don’t know.

Mr Johnson received support for Wednesday’s expulsion of 21 Tory MPs from the party, including Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond.

They had voted for a Bill blocking No Deal by forcing the PM to go to Brussels to ask for an extension to Brexit.

Some 43 per cent said they approved of the expulsions, compared with 32 per cent who were against. However, voters were split down the middle on whether they supported the No Deal Bill – 37 per cent backed it while 37 per cent opposed it.

‘Leave Tories 14 short of a majority’