Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party leads U.K. European elections poll

[brooklynite]

Last edited Wed Apr 17, 2019, 11:46 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Axios

The newly formed Brexit Party, founded in February by former U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage, is leading all other parties in the U.K.'s latest European Parliament election poll by YouGov.

Why it matters: Prime Minister Theresa May promised European leaders that the U.K. would participate in next month's elections in order to secure a Brexit extension, though the country can still avoid that fate if the House of Commons is able to pass a deal before May 23. If Brits who favor remaining in the European Union thought holding European elections might bolster their position and undermine a push toward Brexit, this latest poll suggests they could be very, very wrong.

Brexit Party: 27%
Labour Party: 22%
Conservative Party: 15%
Green Party: 10%
Liberal Democrats: 9%
UKIP: 7%
Change U.K.: 6%

Context: The right-wing, euroskeptic UKIP led by Farage was widely considered a fringe group in domestic politics, but won the most seats out of any British party in the last European elections — which have historically registered low voter turnout. After helping to successfully spearhead the 2016 Brexit campaign, Farage left UKIP in December over the party's "fixation" with anti-Muslim policies.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/nigel-farage-brexit-party-european-parliament-elections-b66fd2c3-74f7-4262-92fe-7fc590c95bb7.html

[watoos]

1. Andrew Sullivan can get his wish,

a white nationalist government. God save the Queen.

[riversedge]

4. Trump will be happy for his pal Nigel also.

[Kurt V.]

2. Cambridge analytica ( mercer ) was behind brexit and trump.

That's an under reported story, imo.

[Mike Nelson]

3. This poll...

… looks deceptive, to me. 27% is far from a majority and we don't know how the other people split up...

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. 'majority' doesn't mean anything in this context

These are just the delegates from the UK to the EU parliament. They don't get any say in how the negotiations go; it's just that many see this as a super-opinion poll, that shows how people who bother to vote feel (without worrying about whether polling companies are getting the right demographic mix, including people who hate polling companies).

We can split those parties into:
Leave: Brexit, UKIP, most of the Conservatives (10 out of 15%?), a bit of Labour (6 out of 22%): say 50% total
Remain: Lib Dems, Greens, Change UK, rest of Tories and Labour: say 46%

Hey, a 4% Leave lead, just like the referendum. Seriously, I did not set out to get that figure. If you go to the full poll, you find there's also 4% SNP/Plaid (Remain, basically). So it's more or less a tie.

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/04/17/brexit-party-leading-eu-parliament-polls

[Mike Nelson]

8. Thank you for...

… adding that, and the link. Someone in the UK told me turnout mattered, too. The "leave" got out more of their voters than the "remain" because they were angrier. Now, both sides are more angry... Don't know if that's accurate - the source wants the UK to stay together and remain EU.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Page not found - needs an extra 'l' at the end of the URL

https://www.axios.com/nigel-farage-brexit-party-european-parliament-elections-b66fd2c3-74f7-4262-92fe-7fc590c95bb7.html

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Seven factions, but only two outcomes -- "yes" or "no", so it's the totals that count. nt

[lagomorph777]

9. I thought Frogface had faded into obscurity,

aside from his dalliances with Julian Asshole and Fux Noise.

[Blue_Tires]

10. I thought Farage got out once his "job" was done?

Funny how the motherfucker is better at campaigning for Brexit than he is at actually executing it...

But given that half of the campaign for Brexit was built on outrageous, long-since-debunked lies, I don't know how he'll get the support that he had the first time....