More than half of UK Conservatives ‘back death penalty’

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON

More than half of the Conservative Party members support the death penalty for serious crimes, poll revealed.

The study, undertaken by political activists at the Queen Mary University of London, found that members of the Tory party possess a “higher level of authoritarianism” than other party backers, with 54 percent in favor of the death penalty, compared to 23 percent of the SNP supporters, 9 percent of Labour activists and 8 percent of Liberal Democrats backers.

With the issue of education, 84 percent of Tory members believed that children should be taught to obey authority, while 38 percent of Liberal Democrats and the SNP members and 31 percent of Labour members held the same belief.

On Brexit, 25 percent of Conservatives said that the U.K. should remain in the single market, compared to 87 percent of Labour members, 96 percent of Liberal Democrats and 95 percent of the SNP members.

Furthermore, a mere 14 percent of Tory supporters said that there should be a second referendum on the final outcome of the Brexit deal, while the figure for Labour stood at 78 percent, Liberal Democrats at 91 percent and the SNP at 87 percent.

These figures show a stark contrast between members of the Tory party and those in the Labour, Liberal Democrats and the SNP parties.

"Britain's party members are the lifeblood and the foot soldiers of our democracy. But that doesn't necessarily mean they look like or think like their parties' voters - or, indeed, look or think like each other,” Tim Bale, professor of politics at Mary University of London, said.

"The Tory grassroots are something of a “breed apart” from their Labour, Lib Dem SNP counterparts," he added.

The study also revealed that just 28 percent of Tories believe they have a significant say on policy, compared to three quarters of Liberal Democrats and the SNP members and 61 percent of Labour members.

The study, titled ‘Grassroots: Britain’s Party Members’, polled 4,117 members of the four main parties shortly after the 2017 General Election.