Tories and Labour to lose out to Nigel Farage's Brexit Party in European elections, another poll concludes

Second survey gives new party shock lead just weeks before 23 May vote

Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party is on course for a shock victory at next month's European Parliament elections, another poll has found.

The second YouGov survey in two days confirmed yesterday's finding that the party had leapfrogged the Conservatives and Labour, suggesting it could top the ballot in the 23 May vote.

The latest poll, set out in an infographic below created for The Independent by statistics agency Statista, places the Brexit Party on 23 per cent, Labour on 22 per cent and the Conservatives on 17 per cent.

It suggests a narrower lead for Mr Farage than the first survey, which had the Brexit Party on 27 per cent, Labour on 22 per cent and the Tories on 15 per cent.

Change UK, the group of MPs who defected from the Conservatives and Labour earlier this year, are on 8 per cent, just behind the Green Party (10 per cent) and the Liberal Democrats (9 per cent), according to the poll for The Times.

The surveys suggest the Brexit Party has attracted significant support from former supporters of Ukip, which is languishing on 6 per cent. Pollsters said a large number of Tory voters furious at Theresa May's failure to deliver Brexit are also backing the new party.

The Brexit Party only launched last week, having been formed in January.

European Parliament voting intentions, from YouGov poll

(The Independent/Statista)

Mr Farage, the former Ukip leader, presented his new party to the public alongside Annunziata Rees-Mogg, the sister of Tory Brexiteer leader Jacob Rees-Mogg. She had twice stood to be a Conservative MP but has now defected to the Brexit Party and is its top pick for a European Parliament seat.

Mr Farage told supporters: “I do believe that we can win these European elections and that we can again start to put the fear of God into our members of parliament in Westminster.

“They deserve nothing less than that after the way they’ve treated us over this betrayal."

Responding to the latest poll, he wrote on Twitter: "There is a long way to go, but it is clear that there is a desire to change politics for good. Positive vibes!"

Mr Farage led Ukip to victory in the 2014 European Parliament elections, when it topped the poll with 26.6 per cent of the vote, but the party's popularity has tanked under current leader Gerard Batten.

YouGov's director of political research, Anthony Wells, said the Brexit Party's clear name was helping it win over Leave voters.

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He said: "They've got very good branding - it does what it says on the tin. If you want to say 'I support Brexit' you've got a party there that is called the Brexit Party. That probably does help them in away that Change UK does not help The Independent Group."

He added: "Some of the surge is that people didn't realise that Nigel Farage is now the Brexit Party not Ukip, but some of it might be that it is in the immediate aftermath of them getting lots of publicity from their launch."