Shock poll: Corbyn takes 5-point lead... with Boris favourite to take over from PM
JEREMY Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Theresa May called a General Election, an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found.
After weeks of conflict in the Conservative Party, public support for Labour stands at 41 per cent, five points clear of the Tories on 36.
If repeated at an Election, Labour would be on course to win 307 seats, while the Conservatives would claim just 264.
Although Mr Corbyn would be 19 seats short of a majority, it would leave him in pole position to enter No 10 if he could strike a deal with the SNP.
When the 11-strong Independent Group of Labour and Tory MPs is included in the poll choices, Labour is still ahead, on 35 per cent, with the Tories on 32 per cent and the new group – now called Change UK – on nine per cent.
The findings by Deltapoll represent a sharp turnaround for Mr Corbyn from last month’s MoS poll when the Tories enjoyed a sevenpoint cushion.
The new poll also shows that Boris Johnson enjoys a clear lead among the electorate in the race to succeed Mrs May as Tory leader, with more than twice the level of support of his closest rival, Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove is the next most popular, followed by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss.
The results will be seized upon by supporters of Mr Johnson. He has traditionally been more popular in the country than he is among the Tory MPs who would determine the final two candidates for a run-off among party members.
It will also embolden him in his battle with Mrs May’s allies in No10 and at Tory HQ who have been plotting to sabotage his bid to take over the reins of power.
The poll shows that nearly twothirds of voters think that Mrs May should resign – 41 per cent say she should do so immediately, with a further 23 per cent saying she should do so if her deal is passed by the Commons. Just 22 per cent want her to stay.
In a desperate bid to win support for her deal, Mrs May promised her party’s hardline Brexiteers that she would step down if they dropped their opposition, only to lose the vote anyway.
It is clear that the country is as divided as the Commons over a way through the Brexit quagmire, with the public evenly split on options such as pursuing a No Deal, holding a second referendum or cancelling Brexit altogether. Deltapoll’s Joe Twyman said: ‘Theresa May has threatened the rebel MPs in her party with a General Election if they do not finally come around and support her Brexit deal. These results, however, show just what a kamikaze risk that may be.
‘Choosing to call an Election when so far behind in the polls could be seen as the bravest or worst decision ever made by a British Prime Minister in modern times.’
Country is as divided as Commons over Brexit
Deltapoll interviewed 1,010 British adults online between March 28 and 30, 2019. The data has been weighted to be representative of the British adult population as a whole.