One in four Labour voters back split of party if it loses election to Conservatives

However, 36 per cent of Labour voters are against the fragmentation of the party

Britain's opposition Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech to supporters at Peterborough Football Club/ (AFP/Getty Images)

A quarter of Labour voters support a party split of they lose the election, a new poll have revealed.

The ORB survey conducted for the Telegraph asked voters over the past week whether “Labour should formerly split and a group should breakaway and form a new party if it does not win power at this election”.

Of the 500 participants who voted Labour in the 2015 general election, 39 per cent were against it, and 36 per cent either didn't know, preferred not to say or supported another option.

This could prove to be just the catalyst some Labour members need. Rebel party MPs are reportedly in discussion to resign the whip and sit as independents until Jeremy Corbyn is removed as leader.

They would later rejoin the Parliamentary Labour Party, thereby retaining membership.

At the time, a spokesperson for Mr Corbyn dismissed the news as “another silly story from a Tory paper”.

The Labour leader has made it clear he does not intend to stand down as leader should they lose the election, despite 57 per cent of Labour voters who think he should quit if this is the outcome.

The ORB poll also asked if Labour and the Liberal Democrats should merge after the election if they don’t win power, to which 29 per cent of respondents agreed that they should. Forty per cent – almost half – were in opposition of the potential unification.

Given how close the numbers are in favour of, and in opposition to a Labour group split, it is unclear whether a breakaway group could ignite support for the party, or simply serve to give the Conservatives an advantage.

Labour supporters were firm on the topic of Tony Blair - when asked if the former Prime Minister should return to frontline politics, 57 per cent said no.

A separate poll, carried out by GfK for Business Insider confirms Mr Blair’s unpopularity, and found only 23 per cent of Labour voters would consider voting for the party under Tony Blair, in comparison to 31 per cent under the current leader.

Others insist Mr Corbyn’s future is safe, if he manages to secure a better vote share for the party, than it did in the last general election (31 per cent).