Thread by @chrischirp

Parliament is about to be prorogued & PM is threatening to double down against parliament to
ensure UK exit on 31st Oct – so why not read this thread on 3000 voter survey @ChristabelCoops & I did about PM vs Parliament? (Just published by @IanDunt politics.co.uk/comment-analys… ) 1/8

We asked whether it was OK for PM to suspend parliament or take other measures to ensure a No Deal EU exit against parliament’s wishes – country evenly split, but basically remain / leave driven BUT 2/8

Is it only about what outcome you want? We also asked people about the opposite scenario: a Remain PM ignoring parliament to secure revoke against parliament’s wishes… this time, *both* Remainers and Leavers were against, SO 3/8

Are Remainers just more constitutionally minded? We showed 50% of people the “revoke” scenario 1st & 50% the “no deal” one 1st. Leave (but NOT remain) voters were significantly LESS likely to support suspending parliament if they’d seen “revoke” 1st. Esp women & under 45s. 4/8

What does this mean? It means that being reminded that the constitution can protect you from outcomes you *don’t* like can make you less supportive of ignoring constitution for outcomes that you *do* like… 5/8

and that since Remain voters have been exposed to this for months, this probably explains why they are against suspending parliament in both cases and aren’t influenced by order of scenario 6/8

So yes, country is divided & yes, leavers are supportive of PM flouting parliament BUT just being reminded that this could cut both ways modifies their support. So it’s important to remember & highlight how sovereignty resting with parliament protects against authoritarianism 7/8

Finally, go read the article (1st tweet). The survey was carried out with @YouGov and funded by @UCL_GC @UCL_GCCU Also tagging @UCL_EI 8/8