LONDON, May 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives have slumped to fifth place in an opinion poll ahead of the May 23 European parliamentary election as pressure grows for her to set a date for her departure.
Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party was in the lead, up four percentage points, on 34 per cent while May’s Conservative Party had just 10 per cent, the YouGov poll for the Times newspaper showed. The opposition Labour Party was down five points on 16 per cent.
Two parties which support staying in the EU, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, were on 15 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
The collapse in support for the Conservative Party is piling pressure on May to set a date for her departure. Senior Conservatives want May to set out her departure plans this week.
Nearly three years since the United Kingdom voted 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the European Union, there is still no agreement among British politicians about when, how or even if the divorce should take place.
“There is a massive appetite for the Brexit Party right now because people want to live in a democratic country,” Farage said. “We have been betrayed, not just by the Conservatives, Labour have done the same thing too.”
Britain was due to have left the European Union on March 29, though May has been unable to get her divorce deal approved by parliament so she has turned to the Labour Party, led by socialist Jeremy Corbyn, in a bid to court his support.
The new deadline for leaving the EU is Oct 31 though many Brexit supporters fear that the whole divorce could be derailed. — NNN-AGENCIES
