Theresa May’s hopes that her MPs will have come back from their Christmas breaks in their constituencies feeling more sympathetic towards her Brexit deal have been dealt a fresh blow by the latest round of ESRC Party Members data. The YouGov study found that in a three-way choice, 57% of Tory Party members would back no deal, while only 23% would support her deal. Just 15% supported remaining in the EU outright…

The backstop was particularly unpopular, with only 11% of Tory Party members saying that they thought the backstop made sense at all. Not surprising when the UK, EU and Ireland have all committed to not putting up a hard border whatever happens. May is going to need more than just “Operation Figleaf” to get her deal through…