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Nearly third of voters would consider backing The Independent Group in their constituency, polling suggests

Follows the group's meeting with Electoral Commission over becoming official party

Ashley Cowburn
Political Correspondent
Sunday 10 March 2019 01:33 GMT
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Who is part of the Independent Group?

Nearly one in three voters would consider backing the Independent Group in their constituency if it existed as a fully-fledged political party, a poll suggests.

It comes after the group – launched just last month in Westminster when 11 MPs quit the Labour and Conservative parties – held meetings with the Electoral Commission for talks on becoming an official party.

Earlier this week, the ex-Labour MP Chuka Umunna, who is now the group’s official spokesperson, also released a 50-page pamphlet in a “personal capacity” setting out his position on various policy areas.

According to the research by BMG for The Independent, 30 per cent of respondents said they would consider backing the Independent Group if they were running in their constituencies while 18 per cent said they were unlikely to consider, and 31 said they would not consider. A further 23 per cent of respondents said they did not know.

But the group has a considerable way to go: when respondents were asked how they would vote in a general election if it were to be held today, just four per cent said they would cast their ballot for the Independent Group.

If the group were to be included in a general election as a political party, Labour would also receive 25 per cent of the vote while the Conservatives would enjoy 31 per cent support, the poll suggested.

Releasing his pamphlet on Thursday, Mr Umunna said axing tuition fees and renationalising the utilities – both policies of the Labour Party – are a waste of money.

The “circus” of the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions should also be scrapped, he said, and MPs moved to a horseshoe-shaped chamber, instead of the big parties squaring off against each other.

The ex-Labour MP said the other members of the Independent Group “agree with much of what I have written”, but made clear: “This pamphlet is written in a personal capacity and deliberately so.”

Following his meeting with the Electoral Commission on Tuesday, Mr Umunna said: “We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of people who have signed up to our website, who have shown support for what we are doing and want to see an alternative, to build an alternative.

“So we are here at the Electoral Commission to explore with them how we do that.

“We aren’t a political party but quite clearly there is an appetite for a new one, so we are here to discuss with them what that involves.”

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