The Conservatives have slumped to fifth place in the polls for the upcoming European elections as one Tory MP admitted the party was going to get a “mauling”.
A YouGov survey for The Times released on Monday showed the Tories on just 10%.
According to the poll, The Brexit Party is in the lead on 34% and Labour is second with 16%.
The Lib Dems and Green Party are on 15% and 11% respectively. And Change UK is on 5%.
Huw Merriman, parliamentary aide to Chancellor Philip Hammond, said he expected the Tories to be handed an “an absolute mauling” by voters on May 23.
“The public will blame the Conservative government because we were the party that brought forward the referendum,” he told BBC Radio 4′s Westminster Hour.
The MP, who backs a second referendum, said “for those that didn’t want it and wanted Remain, they’ll blame us for having tried to take us out.
“And for those that voted to leave, they’ll blame us for having not got the country out of the EU.”
Cross-party talks between the government and Labour are due to resume today in an attempt to find a compromise Brexit deal that can win a majority in parliament.
But Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has warned any deal will need to include a second referendum in order to win the backing of Labour MPs.
He told The Guardian “probably 120 if not 150” of the party’s 229 MPs could vote against the deal unless it was linked to so-called “confirmatory vote”.
Starmer said the party leadership would have to decide “in the coming days” if it was worth continuing with the talks.
Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, will use a speech on Monday to repeat his calls for another public vote.
Watson will say the late Labour leader John Smith would have backed a “people’s vote as a way out of this destructive mess”.
According to The Times, Theresa May has been urged by cabinet ministers to pull out of the talks and move to indicative votes by MPs.
Hammond is said to be among those who have lost faith with the plan to strike a cross-party deal.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds on Sunday also expressed support for finding a “stable majority” by allowing MPs to vote on different options.