UK voter opinion shifts towards Brexit, polls reveal

Previous polls taken from online surveys have tended to show voters to be more in favour of Britain staying in the EU. But in the latest ICM research, carried out for the Guardian, both phone and online surveys were used, reiterating the majority in favour of leaving.

In the phone poll of more than 1,000 adults, 45% said they favoured leaving the EU, and 42% remaining, with 13% undecided. Once the ‘undecided’ were excluded from the calculations, 52% were left in favour of Brexit, and 48% for remain.

Using online polling, 47% said they would like to leave, and 44% remain, with 9% undecided. Excluding the latter, 52-48 in favour of leaving, exactly the same as the phone method.

The result using the online method is almost unchanged, but the phone polls seem to indicate a shift towards leaving the EU, when compared to the last poll carried out by ICM for the Guardian. In mid-May, remain had a 10% lead among those polled by phone, on 55% to 45%.

Such a public opinion comes in spite of a barrage of warnings from politicians about the economic risks of Brexit.

Class and geography have been found to be a factor in the support for Brexit, according to ICM.

62% of skilled manual workers support Brexit.

Scotland is for remain, while voters in England and Wales would back Brexit.