Corbyn’s neutral stance on a second referendum is doing little to appeal to Leave-voting Labour voters
Earlier this month we found that those who voted Labour in 2017 and Leave in 2016 were disproportionately less likely than all other voting groups to have made their mind up on December’s general election.
Since then Jeremy Corbyn has announced that he would remain neutral in the case of a second referendum, in a bid to appeal to both Remainers and Leavers within his party. So far, however, this announcement doesn’t seem to have cut through with this core group.
New YouGov data shows that just one in five (21%) Labour Leavers think a second referendum where the Government remains neutral would be a good outcome, rising to 36% when including those who say it would be an acceptable compromise.
In contrast, half of Labour Leavers (48%) think this would be a bad outcome, with a third saying “very bad”.
In terms of the policies proposed by other parties, this group are more favourable towards leaving with Johnson’s deal or with No Deal (71% and 57% respectively say these options would at least be an acceptable compromise).
Unsurprisingly, revoking Article 50 is the least favoured outcome amongst Labour Leavers, though a quarter do think it would be an acceptable compromise or better, implying that a significant proportion of them have actually come round to the idea of remaining in the EU.
Further bad news for Corbyn is that his second referendum proposal isn’t even the most favoured Brexit option with Labour Remainers.
Some 63% think this is a good outcome, slightly fewer than the 70% who say revoking Article 50 would be a good outcome. Similar numbers think these options would be at least an acceptable outcome though (81% for Corbyn’s policy, 80% for revoking Article 50).
The number of people who think Labour’s Brexit policies are clear has doubled from 13% to 24% since the start of September, but this still leaves almost two thirds (63%) confused. The number is better amongst those who voted Labour in 2017 who are split (45% to 44%) on whether Labour’s Brexit policies are clear. Again though, Labour Leavers are less positive with 63% saying Labour’s policies on Brexit are unclear.
Labour still lags hugely behind the Conservatives on clarity, despite their increase over the last few months. This is partly due to a rise in the number of people thinking the Conservatives are now clear on Brexit. Just over half of brits (54%) say they are clear on Brexit, up from 37% in August.
Photo: Getty
