Labour could significantly boost their chances of winning the next general election if they pledge to rejoin the EU, according to a major new poll.
An MRP poll by YouGov for pro-European campaign group Best for Britain suggests Andy Burnham could win 321 seats at the next general election if Labour pledged to reverse Brexit.
That would leave the party five seats short of an overall majority – but still comfortably ahead of its rivals and in a position to form the largest party in the Commons.
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The findings come amid undeniable evidence that attitudes towards Brexit have shifted dramatically since the 2016 referendum, with several polls suggesting a majority of Britons would now support closer ties with the EU.
One YouGov poll earlier this month went even further, finding that 99 per cent of parliamentary constituencies would vote to rejoin the bloc.
The latest MRP analysis was based on responses from almost 14,000 people surveyed over the summer, before Burnham became Prime Minister. Participants were asked how they would vote under different Labour positions on Britain’s relationship with the EU.
The results suggest that the closer Labour moved towards reversing Brexit, the greater its projected electoral haul.
A pledge to rejoin the single market would see Labour projected to win 257 seats, according to the poll.
A commitment to rejoin the customs union would result in a similarly strong performance, with the party projected to take 256 seats.
Both positions would represent a significant departure from Labour’s current Brexit policy.
The government has maintained its so-called red lines, ruling out rejoining the customs union or single market, as well as restoring freedom of movement.
But this week, Andy Burnham refused to rule out a pledge to rejoin the EU being on the next Labour manifesto, something senior party figures such as Sadiq Khan have called for.
Last month, polling expert Sir John Curtice argued that adopting a more pro-EU stance would do very little harm to Labour’s chances.