Poll: UK now a nation of Remainers and Leavers

Steven Bray founder of SODEM (Stand of Defiance European Movement) holding placards during the protest outside the Houses of Parliament Picture: Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire - Credit: Zuma Press/PA Images

Britons are now much more likely to identify as ‘Remainers’ or ‘Leavers’ than they identify with a political party – and Remain is holding the lead.

Britons now identify more strongly with Remain or Leave than they do with political party, according to YouGov polling. Picture: YouGov – Credit: YouGov

As the general election looms, pollsters YouGov have found that pro- or anti-Brexit feeling is overtaking party allegiance among voters.

When asked whether they see themselves as a Leaver or a Remainer, 86% chose one of the two options. Forty-five per cent of respondents said they were Remainers, putting the cause 4% ahead of Leave’s 41%.

The pro-EU finding reflects the vast majority of Leave versus Remain polls for the last two years.

By contrast, just two thirds of the public chose a political party they felt allied with – 26% of them Conservative and 23% of them Labour.

Despite the Remain-Leave strength of feeling, only 7% chose the Liberal Democrats and just 5% chose the Brexit Party.

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A full third of the country said they were undecided or put no answer when it came to political party identification.

MORE: Pro-EU groups tell Corbyn and Swinson: work together in this ‘historic national emergency’The strength of feeling in people’s Brexit identification makes the picture even starker: 90% of respondents on both sides of the Brexit divide said they identify “strongly” with their Brexit preference, while just 15% of people said identified strongly with a party.