Surprise poll shows Liberal Democrats ahead in UK

The centrist Liberal Democrats are the surprise leader in a new poll asking voters in Great Britain who should lead Parliament.

The YouGov poll released Friday found the Liberal Democrats ahead of both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, which have been the dominant forces in British politics.

{mosads}The Liberal Democrats held the support of 24 percent of voters, while the Labour and Conservative parties were tied at 19 percent each. The far-right Brexit Party came in second place, with 22 percent of voters’ support.

YouGov’s director of political research in the United Kingdom, Anthony Wells, wrote in a blog post that it was likely the first time the poll had registered two supposed third parties in the top two positions in a U.K. opinion poll.

“Realistically though, we’ve got several weeks of coverage of the Conservative leadership election ahead of us, followed by the media circus around the elevation of a new Prime Minister. The media agenda will move back towards Labour and the Conservatives, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t seem one or other of them move back into the lead,” he wrote.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced her resignation, necessitating the election of a new conservative leader. 

British adults’ preference for prime minister was largely unclear in the poll, with 55 percent of respondents saying they were unsure which party leader they wanted to see lead the country. May was supported by 23 percent of British adults, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was supported by 15 percent.

Information about the poll’s methodology was not immediately available.