Tories sink to fourth place in humiliating election poll as MPs bicker over leadership contest

Survey shows party trailing Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party and Liberal Democrats

The plight of the Conservatives has been laid bare as a fresh Westminster election poll shows the party in a humiliating fourth position – trailing Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.

The survey, suggesting many Tory MPs are at risk of losing their seats in a snap election, comes as the party’s leadership contest rages on, with six candidates remaining in the race to replace Theresa May in Downing Street.

The poll by YouGov also shows Labour behind the Liberal Democrats, with the unashamedly pro-EU party continuing to enjoy a boost in the wake of its successful set of results at the European elections.

According to the research by YouGov, the Brexit are ahead of Westminster’s established political parties on 26 per cent while the Liberal Democrats enjoy 22 per cent of the vote share.

Labour, who are calling for a general election, are trailing behind in third place, as the Conservatives are in a humiliating fourth position for a second time, with just 17 per cent of voters opting for the party.

Asked which party they would vote for if there were to be a general election, eight per cent of respondents said they would cast their ballot for the Green Party while Change UK has just one per cent support.

It comes after predictions of a Margaret Thatcher-style landslide for the Tories under Boris Johnson – the frontrunner in the contest – promoted a row among polling experts.

Mr Johnson, alongside his five rivals, will appear on the BBC’s live debate on Tuesday, and today said the party could do less with the “blue on blue” battles that have overshadowed Ms May’s premiership.

“I think that anymore blue on blue action is not what I want to get into in this contest,” he told the BBC’s World At One.

On Friday, Sir Vince Cable, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, also welcomed his party’s newest recruit, Chuka Umunna, who recently left Change UK – a party he had joined after defecting from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party earlier this year.

Sir Vince revealed during a press conference that he was “having conversations” with other independent MPs about joining the Liberal Democrats.

“He joins alongside 20,000 people across the country just this month, demonstrating clearly that the Liberal Democrats are the biggest, clearest and most formidable force in the liberal centre-ground of British politics today.”