- Conservatives lead Labour in a poll for first time since June, YouGov finds.
- Theresa May increases poll lead over Jeremy Corbyn after striking Brexit deal last week.
- However, public still believes Brexit negotiations are going badly.
LONDON – The Conservatives lead Labour in an opinion poll for the first time since June in a sign that Theresa May’s success in striking a deal on the first phase of Brexit talks has boosted her popularity.
42% of people said they would vote for the Tories at the next election, up 2% from last week, while 41% said they would vote for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, according to a new YouGov poll for The Times.
The 1% lead is within the margin of error, but will come as good news for May after months of speculation over how soon her time in office would come to an end.
Here is the result of YouGov’s latest opinion poll:
The prime minister's lead over Corbyn in who'd make the best prime minister has more than doubled, too, the same poll showed.
37% of respondents said May would make the best PM, up from 34% in a poll conducted last week. 28% said Labour leader Corbyn would make the best prime minister.
In a separate question on who they trust the most to handle Brexit negotiations, 32% said May, while 16% said Corbyn. More people (33%) actually said that they would trust neither leader with the task of negotiating Brexit.
May held overnight talks with the EU last week in order to make sure an agreement on the first stage of Brexit negotiations could be completed before the New Year.
Public pessimistic about Brexit
May's personal ratings have improved but the public's perception of how her British side is handling Brexit negotiations reveals pessimism among voters.
57% of people said they thought negotiations were going badly, while 26% believed the government was doing well. Just 4% said they thought Britain had the upper hand in talks, while 50% believed that the EU had the upper hand.
This follows data released last week by National Centre for Social Research and What UK Thinks which found Leave voters are increasingly pessimistic about how negotiations are going and what sort of deal Britain will get.
