South West would now vote to Remain in Brexit referendum

The South West would now vote to stay in the EU, according to a new poll.

The wider region – from Bristol to Land’s End – that was in favour of Brexit with a 53-47% result in the 2016 referendum, is now split 47/53% in favour of remaining in the union, according to the Survation research.

Cornwall, which was 57% in favour of Brexit, is now in the Remain camp with support for Leave now at 49%, the survey for Channel 4 news shows.

Support for Brexit has fallen in every local authority area in Devon and Cornwall, according to the poll.

The news comes as a separate survey by YouGov showed that there is a majority in favour of a second referendum – the so-called ‘people’s vote’ – in 16 of the 18 parliamentary constituencies in the two counties.

The Survation poll sampled 20,000 people across the UK in the biggest independent survey of its kind on Brexit, while the YouGov study – for the People’s Vote campaign – polled nearly 26,000.

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw said he was not surprised by the results of the two polls.

“Westcountry people are very sensible. They can see the complete mess the Government is making of Brexit and that the reality of Brexit is turning out to be a far cry from what we were promised back in 2016,” the Labour MP said.

“It is very encouraging that a majority in the South West now backs giving the public a final say on any deal or no deal and would now vote to stay in. As I travel around our region I regularly have people coming up to tell me they’ve changed their minds or are having serious doubts about Brexit.”

Two Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs said the results did not chime with what they found in their constituencies.

Steve Double, of St Austell and Newquay, said each poll surveyed an average of 30 people per constituency.

“I get more emails most weeks from my constituents frustrated at the lack of progress on Brexit and wanting the government to simply get on with it,” he said.

“The same polls before the referendum predicted a win for Remain. Those polls did not match my experience on the ground then and neither do they now. We had a people’s vote in 2016 and I am committed to delivering the results of that vote.”

North Cornwall MP Scott Mann said: “The sample size was so small and doesn’t bear any reflection on what I am being told by the residents of North Cornwall. The vast majority of people just want us to get on and deliver Brexit.”

The Survation poll found that Leave now commands a majority only in the council areas of Torbay (56%), Torridge (54%), East Devon (52%) and Plymouth (slightly above 50%). As well as Cornwall, Mid Devon (with Leave support at 47%), North Devon (49%), Teignbridge (49%) and West Devon (49%) have all switched preference.

YouGov’s poll shows the only two parliamentary constituencies that do not want a second referendum are South West Devon (49%) and East Devon (48%).

‘The same polls before the referendum predicted a win’

Steve Double MP

A Survation poll shows the majority of people in the South West would now vote to stay in the EU