The majority of voters in all Labour-held seats back a ‘People’s Vote’ on the UK’s impending departure from the EU, according to a study by campaigners.
A YouGov poll of 26,000 people commissioned by the People’s Vote campaign found a marked shift in attitudes as the Government struggles to secure an exit deal.
People’s Vote are lobbying Labour MPs in constituencies that voted Leave in 2016 to back a Parliamentary vote for a second referendum.
This could happen if any deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May is rejected in the House and Labour cannot secure their preferred option of a general election.
The campaigners claim that their study shows a growing number of voters in Labour Leave seats have had a change of heart as the reality of Brexit becomes clearer.
Birmingham’s Yardley constituency voted 60 per cent to leave the EU, but the YouGov study shows 63 per cent now back a People’s Vote and 52 per cent would vote to Remain.
The sitting MP, Labour backbencher Jess Phillips, said her constituents feel they have been failed by the talks.
She added: “If I had to pick who decided my fate between Theresa May or the people in my community I’d pick them every single time.”
Despite the study showing a growth in backing for a second referendum, People’s Vote campaigners say there is a lot more work to be done.
They estimate that there is still not enough support in the House of Commons for a new vote and say the backing of Labour’s 257 MPs is critical.
MPs would first have to vote down any deal that Theresa May put before them for a second referendum to become a possibility.
Labour’s current policy is that if any deal failed to protect jobs and workers’ rights, its MPs would vote against it.
The party’s first move would then be to seek a general election and if that failed, only then would it consider a People’s Vote.
Voters in Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North seat were 80 per cent in favour of the second referendum, according to YouGov.
Former YouGov president Peter Kellner said that the methods used by the firm had correctly predicted a hung parliament in last year’s election.
