The leader of the British Brexit Party, Nigel Farage, refuses to withdraw further from more constituencies in the parliamentary elections in favor of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives. Conservative sponsors had called on him to do so.
On Monday, he announced that his party will not contest 317 constituencies where the Conservatives won in the previous general election. This could pave the way for a Conservative majority in parliament and Johnson’s Brexit deal.
Farage and Johnson are both vying for the votes of Brexit supporters. The wealthy Brexit backer Arron Banks pressured Farage this week not to stand in the way of Johnson. Otherwise, the opposition Labour Party could benefit. Farage emphasized that his intention remains to win seats from Labour as the Brexit Party so that Brexiteers in the House of Commons can hold Boris Johnson to his promise to take the UK out of the EU.
Prime Minister Johnson’s Conservative Party is rising in popularity in a recent opinion poll. The party gained support from 43 percent of respondents, three percentage points more than in a previous poll. The largest opposition party, Labour, remains steady at 30 percent.
The poll was conducted after the Brexit Party announced it would not put forward candidates in constituencies won by the Conservatives in 2017. The party seeks to prevent Brexit supporters in a constituency from splitting their vote and allowing the opposition to take the seat.
It is logical that the Brexit Party’s support shrinks under these circumstances. It dropped to 5 percent in the poll, three points less. The pro-European Liberal Democrats remained steady at 15 percent.
British polls are generally not considered definitive. Observers note that the deep divisions within parties and constituencies about terminating EU membership make opinion polling extremely difficult.
Another major question is how important voters find issues other than Brexit. The 2017 election made it clear that the importance of Brexit was overestimated.
That could be the case again, potentially giving weight to the fact that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has presented a fairly left-wing agenda, with higher taxes for the wealthy and nationalization of state-owned companies. Additionally, the Greens are, as in other EU countries previously, trying to make the election about climate and environmental debates. And in Scotland, the Scottish Nationalists are heavily focused on their demand for a referendum on Scottish independence.