Johnson's Conservatives lead Labour as campaign enters final stretch: Poll

Boris Johnson’s Conservatives hold a solid lead over Labour in a couple of key weekend opinion polls as campaigning enters the final stretch of what’s been a bitterly contested general election.

According to a Savanta ComRes poll for The Sunday Telegraph, the Tories’ lead fell to 8 percentage points, back to where it was shortly before the starting pistol was officially fired on the campaign. That would be enough to secure a parliamentary majority of 14, the report said.

An Opinium poll in the Observer suggests Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party failed to make any inroads in the past week, with the Conservatives amassing 46% of the vote for a 15-point lead. The left-leaning newspaper quoted Adam Drummond, head of political polling at Opinium, as saying the picture is “starkly negative.”

“Heading into the final week, a recovery is not impossible but doing so would require a turnaround even more spectacular than the one Mr. Corbyn achieved” in the 2017 election, Drummond said.

According to interviews with senior political officials on both sides of the divide, Johnson is heading for a majority of between 20 and 35 seats in the House of Commons, Bloomberg reported. All Conservative candidates have pledged to vote for Johnson’s Brexit deal, meaning even a small majority would in theory ensure the U.K. completes its divorce from the European Union by the Jan. 31 deadline.

Poll Breakdowns:

Savanta ComRes surveyed 2,034 British adults online Dec. 4-5.

Conservatives 41% (-1 point), Labour 33% (+1), Lib Dems 12% (unchanged) Brexit 3% (unchanged).

46% said they’d be worried if they woke up on Dec. 13, the day after the election, to find Corbyn was the new prime minister.

Opinium surveyed 2,003 adults online Dec. 4-6.

Conservatives 46% (unchanged), Labour 31% (unchanged), Lib Dems 13% (unchanged) Brexit 2% (unchanged).

A separate Savanta ComRes poll commissioned by Remain United showed the Conservatives with a 6 percentage point lead over Labour.

Gina Miller, who founded Remain United as part of a drive to stop Britain’s departure from the EU, said if people vote tactically then the U.K. could still be set for a hung parliament.

“Based on these findings, remain and soft leave voters should be very energized knowing that their votes have the power to defeat a Tory majority,” Miller said in a statement.

Johnson's Brexit hangs with a thread as European Union seeks more time

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal was hanging in the balance Tuesday, after the European Union Presidency said more time was needed before a summit of its leaders this week.

Antti Rinne, premier of Finland — which currently has the rotating presidency of the EU — said negotiations may need to continue after the EU Council summit that starts Thursday.

“I think there is no time in a practical way and in a legal base to reach an agreement before the Council meeting, I think we need to have more time,” Rinne told reporters in Helsinki.

With 17 days before the UK is due to leave the EU, Johnson repeatedly pledged to “get Brexit done,” as he spoke in Parliament on Monday following a Queen’s Speech that laid the ground for a general election. He’s refused to ask for a delay to Brexit, even though the Benn Act says he must do so if he hasn’t finalized a deal with both the EU and UK Parliament by October 19.

The EU plans to decide Wednesday whether there will be a deal for leaders to sign during the Oct. 17-18 summit and has ruled out negotiating during the actual meeting of leaders.

Johnson postponed a meeting of his political cabinet to Wednesday, when it may become clearer whether a Brexit deal will be done this week, and the government will then be able to decide whether to call MPs in for a sitting on Saturday.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid also announced Nov. 6 as the date for his annual Budget, but that will only take place if the government gets a Brexit deal.

Pound Shaken Up by Positioning in Fear of Swift and Brutal Move

With the clock ticking down, Johnson’s Brexit opponents in the U.K. met Monday to discuss their next move. They concluded any deal Johnson brings back would probably be incomplete, meaning he’d likely have to delay Brexit anyway, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

The group, which consists of some Labour MPs, the Liberal Democrats, Wales’ Plaid Cymru, the Scottish National Party and Greens — alongside some former Conservatives — said they’d wait and see how the next 48 hours pans out.

If Johnson gets a deal they would then decide whether to seek a confirmatory public vote on it as a price for allowing it to pass Parliament, the people said.

But Johnson once again ruled out another referendum on Brexit on Monday.

“If there could be one thing more divisive more toxic than the first referendum, it would be a second referendum,” he said.

Boris Johnson's plan to suspend Parliament survives early court test

Opponents of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament in the final weeks before Brexit lost the first of several legal bids to stop him on Friday. Scottish judge Raymond Doherty rejected the request for a temporary injunction pending a full hearing in the case on September 6.

“I’m not satisfied that there’s a need for an interim suspension or an interim interdict to be granted at this stage,” Doherty said in his ruling.

Queen Elizabeth II has already given the go-ahead to shutter parliament between mid-September and October 14 — just two weeks before the Brexit date of October 31.

The move was widely seen as limiting the time for parliamentarians to move against Johnson, who has said Britain must leave the EU with or without a deal. Legal bids to halt the suspension have also been launched in Belfast and London.

Former prime minister John Major, a strong supporter of EU membership, has said he will seek to join the London legal action.

Johnson announced the surprise decision on Wednesday to dismiss parliament — known as proroguing — next month for nearly five weeks. The move sent shockwaves through British politics, triggering a furious outcry from pro-Europeans and MPs opposed to a no-deal exit.

Wrong-footed, Johnson’s opponents labelled the suspension of parliament a “coup” and a “constitutional outrage”. Johnson said he wants to “step up the tempo” in talks with the European Union to strike a new Brexit deal. Johnson wants the so-called backstop, the fallback provisions regarding the Irish border, scrapped completely.

“While I have been encouraged with my discussions with EU leaders over recent weeks that there is a willingness to talk about alternatives to the anti-democratic backstop, it is now time for both sides to step up the tempo,” he said.

There are growing concerns among some major players in the EU that Britain will not be able to come up with realistic alternatives to the backstop in time. A spokesperson for the European Commission said they were willing to work “24/7 throughout this long process”.

“We expect the UK to come forward with concrete proposals as President (Jean-Claude) Juncker made clear to Prime Minister Johnson earlier this week.” The backstop is included in a divorce deal the EU agreed with Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, which parliament has rejected three times.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Britain had come up with “nothing credible” to replace the backstop.Opponents of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament in the final weeks before Brexit lost the first of several legal bids to stop him on Friday. Scottish judge Raymond Doherty rejected the request for a temporary injunction pending a full hearing in the case on September 6.

“I’m not satisfied that there’s a need for an interim suspension or an interim interdict to be granted at this stage,” Doherty said in his ruling.

Queen Elizabeth II has already given the go-ahead to shutter parliament between mid-September and October 14 — just two weeks before the Brexit date of October 31.

The move was widely seen as limiting the time for parliamentarians to move against Johnson, who has said Britain must leave the EU with or without a deal. Legal bids to halt the suspension have also been launched in Belfast and London.

Former prime minister John Major, a strong supporter of EU membership, has said he will seek to join the London legal action.

Johnson announced the surprise decision on Wednesday to dismiss parliament — known as proroguing — next month for nearly five weeks. The move sent shockwaves through British politics, triggering a furious outcry from pro-Europeans and MPs opposed to a no-deal exit.

Wrong-footed, Johnson’s opponents labelled the suspension of parliament a “coup” and a “constitutional outrage”. Johnson said he wants to “step up the tempo” in talks with the European Union to strike a new Brexit deal. Johnson wants the so-called backstop, the fallback provisions regarding the Irish border, scrapped completely.

“While I have been encouraged with my discussions with EU leaders over recent weeks that there is a willingness to talk about alternatives to the anti-democratic backstop, it is now time for both sides to step up the tempo,” he said.

There are growing concerns among some major players in the EU that Britain will not be able to come up with realistic alternatives to the backstop in time. A spokesperson for the European Commission said they were willing to work “24/7 throughout this long process”.

“We expect the UK to come forward with concrete proposals as President (Jean-Claude) Juncker made clear to Prime Minister Johnson earlier this week.” The backstop is included in a divorce deal the EU agreed with Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, which parliament has rejected three times.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Britain had come up with “nothing credible” to replace the backstop.