Theresa May's Brexit deal preferred by only two parliamentary constituencies, poll shows

PM has stepped up efforts to sell her deal, ahead of the crunch Commons vote

Theresa May’s under-fire Brexit deal is the preferred option in only two parliamentary constituencies, while some 600 seats would support remaining in the EU first, a stark poll has shown.

The YouGov survey found that Tory-held constituencies, Broxbourne and Christchurch, were the only ones favouring Ms May’s blueprint, while 30 seats chose a no-deal Brexit as the best outcome.

The prime minister is engaged in a frantic push to sell her deal to sceptical MPs and the public, ahead of a crunch vote on Tuesday which could threaten her leadership and her government.

After a flurry of media appearances to appeal to the public, Ms May also signalled that parliament could be given the power to decide whether the UK goes into a controversial Irish backstop, as a last-ditch effort to win over wavering MPs.

Pollsters asked more than 20,900 people in Britain to rank Ms May’s deal, no deal and remaining in the EU in order of preference, revealing the overwhelming majority of constituencies would put remaining in the EU as their first choice.

Staying in the EU gains 46 per cent of national support, while Ms May’s deal and no deal were level on 27 per cent each, the poll found.

The YouGov survey pointed to the fact that Ms May’s deal appears to suffer from being everyone’s second choice, failing to curry favour among either Remain or Leave voters.

The figures do change, however, when you look at results that would come through the alternative vote system, which allows people to put down a second preference.

In that instance, 276 seats would back remain, 176 would back Ms May’s deal and 180 would back no deal. Under a “condorcet” system which would see voters rank all options in order of preference, Ms May’s deal has the backing of 370 constituencies while remain has the backing of 262.

The poll comes as Ms May faced pressure to delay the so-called meaningful vote on Tuesday over the prospect of a devastating defeat at the hands of Tory rebels and her DUP allies.

Senior Conservative MP Sir Graham Brady, who chairs the backbench 1922 committee, said he would welcome the 11 December “meaningful vote” being deferred if no solution could be found to differences within the party over the backstop.

He told Newsnight: “I think the most important thing is to have clarity about how we might remove ourselves from a backstop.

“It’s having the answer to that question of substance that is most important, not the timing, so if that question can be answered in the course of the next few days then all well and good.

“If it can’t then I certainly would welcome the vote being deferred.”

Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair also suggested the vote should be delayed as the PM is facing the prospect of “hitting a brick wall at speed”.

He said: “Personally, I don’t see what the point is in going down to a huge defeat.”

However, Ms May has rejected pleas from cabinet ministers to defer the vote, saying: “What I am doing is leading up to a vote on Tuesday.”