Apart from the Tories, the membership of every major party wants a second EU referendum

An overwhelming majority of Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP members want a second EU referendum, a new study has found.

The research, conducted by the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University London, found that 78 per cent of Labour members support a second EU vote, while the figure for Liberal Democrat and SNP members is 91 per cent and 87 per cent respectively.

Just 14 per cent of Conservative members felt the same way.

The research highlighted stark differences between the party memberships on Brexit and other issues.

It found that almost nine in ten Labour members think that Britain should stay in the single market post-Brexit—a policy which also has overwhelming support amongst Lib Dem and SNP members. In contrast, just a quarter of Conservative members would support such a move. On the issue of continued membership of the customs union a similar pattern emerged.

The survey, of more than 4,000 people, is one of the most detailed polls of party memberships in Britain ever conducted, with the focus for researchers usually being the electorate at large.

The Labour leadership in particular will be paying close attention to the findings, which show the gap between the views of the Labour membership and official party policy. Jeremy Corbyn said last month that Labour “is not advocating” a second referendum. Until recently he had also ruled out continued British membership of the single market and customs union—though the party has softened its stance in recent months.