Ukip hits new high in latest opinion poll

Support for the UK Independence Party has reached a record 19%, according to a poll which saw both Labour and the Tories losing ground.

Support for the UK Independence Party has reached a record 19%, according to a poll which saw both Labour and the Conservatives losing ground.

Labour was down three points to 35%, the Conservatives were down one to 29% and the Liberal Democrats were unchanged on 8%.

The ComRes poll for the Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday found support for Nigel Farage’s party was up 4 percentage points since the last survey a month ago and gives Ukip the highest share recorded by any pollster.

According to the study 46% of Britons would vote to leave the European Union in a referendum now, compared with 24% who would stay in.

But if some powers were returned to the UK from Brussels 43% would vote to remain in the EU, with just 24% determined to see Britain leave.

The poll found just 26% said David Cameron was a good Prime Minister, a record low in ComRes studies, while 31% believed Ed Miliband was performing well as Labour leader, a new high.

The survey revealed that 57% of voters believed Mr Cameron’s party was more divided over Europe than it was under John Major, with 14% disagreeing.

But there was some comfort for the Prime Minister, with 49% of voters saying the offer of a European referendum would be important to them at the next general election, with 27% disagreeing.

Some 32% believed Mr Cameron would make the best prime minister of the party leaders, with 24% opting for Mr Miliband.

ComRes interviewed 2,017 British adults online on May 15/16. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all adults and by past vote recall.