Most Tories Would Choose No Deal Over May's Brexit Plan - Poll

As the members of the UK Parliament prepare for a significant vote - on the government's Brexit withdrawal agreement in less than two weeks, a new survey revealed the preferences within Theresa May's own party.

A YouGov poll showed that 64% of grassroots members of the Conservative party in a two-option scenario would opt for clean exit from the European Union — that is without any deal on the table. At the same time, only 29% would uphold the agreement, negotiated by the PM after her many trips to the EU.  

Given a three-way choice, still more than a half — 57% — said they choose to leave the EU27 without striking any agreement, despite the scenario being potentially disruptive and chaotic.

Theresa May's plan — largely opposed in the Parliament last month — received the backing of merely 23% of Tory MPs, according to the poll. Fifteen percent of Tories said they would prefer to keep Britain in the European Union and not leave at all, while 5 % had no preference.

A combination of picture created in London on November 25, 2018 shows Conservative MPs (L) opposed to the Brexit withdrawl deal negotiated with EU by prime minister Theresa May (R), (top L-R) Jacob Rees-Mogg, chair of the Euro-sceptic European Research Group (ERG), and former prominent cabinet ministers David Davis and Boris Johnson who support the ERG's opposition to the deal and remain-supporting Conservative MPs (bottom L-R) Justine Greening, Dominic Grieve and Jo Johnson all pictured in London.

© AFP 2023 / Ben Stansall

The House of Commons is set to vote on the current Brexit deal in the week starting 14 January. The PM needs 318 votes to get a deal through the Parliament, yet 117 of her 317 MPs voted against her in a confidence vote on 12 December. Additionally, the PM will have to enlist support of some Labour MPs and the DUP ‘kingmakers.'

However, the DUP's Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson said on Friday there is no way Northern Ireland will support Theresa May's Brexit plan.

Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, poses for a photograph with Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Leader Arlene Foster, Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds, and Chief Whip Jeffrey Donaldson, outside 10 Downing Street, in central London, Britain June 26, 2017.

© REUTERS / Neil Hall

The Irish backstop is nothing but a "con trick" and farmers and businesses should be totally relaxed about a no-deal Brexit, Wilson added.

READ MORE: DUP's Sammy Wilson on Brexit: Irish Backstop is a Con Trick

The YouGov poll was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.