Poll: 70% of Britons want closer EU ties, including half of Farage's voters
A new POLITICO and Public First poll finds seven in ten British voters want the government to build closer ties with the EU, a view shared by a majority of Reform UK supporters.
A new poll conducted by Public First for POLITICO shows that most British voters believe the current relationship with Brussels is too distant. The survey, which questioned 2,028 UK adults online between September 13 and 15, found that 70% want the government to pursue closer ties with the European Union.
Notably, even among supporters of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party — traditionally associated with euroscepticism — 51% agreed the current arrangement with the EU is too distant, double the 25% of Reform voters who want more distance from the bloc.
A delicate balancing act for Labour
The findings land at a sensitive time for the governing Labour Party, as Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces pressure from senior colleagues to reverse Brexit and rejoin the EU. Seb Wride, head of polling at Public First, said the public increasingly views Europe as a source of alliances as the United States is seen as unreliable or even adversarial. However, he cautioned that wanting closer ties is not the same as wanting to reverse Brexit, meaning Burnham must carefully balance pro-European sentiment against public reluctance to reopen old wounds.
Among respondents, 31% supported a closer relationship with the EU only if it did not require following EU rules, while 39% backed much closer cooperation even if it meant accepting some EU regulations again. Left-leaning voters were far more supportive of closer ties than those on the right, with Green Party voters the most enthusiastic at 64% favoring much closer cooperation. Older voters showed less appetite for closer relations with Brussels.
As Burnham prepared to address party members in Liverpool on Tuesday, other Labour figures weighed in on the future of UK-EU relations. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair published a report urging Burnham to put EU membership on the agenda for the next decade, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan called for an immediate debate on rejoining the bloc, describing Brexit as the biggest act of economic self-harm any country has inflicted on itself.
