CONSERVATIVE voters are split down the middle on whether Boris Johnson should resign, a snap poll has found.
YouGov research suggested that 46% of people who voted Tory in 2019 want Johnson to stay on as Prime Minister, compared to 46% who think he should step down.
At the beginning of July, the polling firm said, Tory voters had wanted him to step down by 54% to 33%.
This is out of step with the UK public as a whole, the poll of 2474 British adults found.
According to the YouGov findings, 69% of people think Johnson should leave office, compared to just 22% who want him to stay on.
The difference is even starker in Scotland, where just 13% of respondents said Johnson should stay on as Prime Minister. This is opposed to the 71% who think he should leave.
The divide is the widest of any area in the UK. London, which comes nearest, saw 72% of people say Johnson should step down, but 17% say he should stay on.
When voters were divided into how they voted in the 2016 EU referendum, a majority (51%) of those who chose Leave think Johnson should resign. Some 41% think he should stay on.
Among Remain voters, 85% said he should go, compared to just 9% who think he should remain in post.
The news comes as analysis from the Conservative Party headquarters (CCHQ), reported in The Guardian, suggests that support for Johnson staying on as prime minister may be weaker than previously thought.
Johnson loyalists, led by the multi-millionaire business he ennobled – Peter Cruddas (above), have been running a campaign to have his resignation as prime minister rescinded.
They are also asking the party to put Johnson on the leadership ballot as Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak face off over the summer for the keys to No 10.
Reports said that a petition of Tory members to have Johnson on the ballot had reached 14,000 signatures.
While the petition’s authors insist that signatories have been asked for their party membership number, CCHQ analysis found that fewer than half of them were genuine, according to the Guardian.
Cruddas said it was “nonsense and all part of the coup to get rid of Boris”.
He went on: “We’ve had hackers and now this. They’re all trying to undermine democracy and now they’re trying to cast doubt on our petition. Thank you to all the members who have signed and continued to sign. The truth will come out and all will be verified.”
The race to replace Johnson in No 10 will drag on through the summer, with hustings scheduled to be held across the UK.
The results of the vote of the approximately 175,000 Tory members will be announced on September 5, with the winner expected to take over the following day.
