The Conservative safe seat held by Charles Stanley investment professional John Redwood could be under threat from the Liberal Democrats in the December election, according to a new poll.
The chief global strategist has been the Wokingham MP since 1987, but his pro-Brexit views are at odds with the electorate, where 56.7% voted to remain in the European Union.
A Survation poll conducted between 1-4 November revealed support for the MP had fallen over 14 percentage points since the last election.
2019 voting intentions in John Redwood’s electorate
| Conservatives (John Redwood) | 41.9% |
| Liberal Democrats (Phillip Lee) | 37.9% |
| Labour | 11.7% |
| Brexit Party | 5.4% |
| Greens | 3.1% |
Source: Survation
In 2017, Redwood (pictured) won the seat with 56.6% well ahead of the next most popular party, Labour, which received 25.1% of the vote.
But he is now polling at 42% with 38% of the electorate stating they will vote for the Liberal Democrats, which have surpassed Labour to become the next most popular party.
Redwood is being challenged by his former Conservative colleague Phillip Lee, who crossed the floor in September during a speech by prime minister Boris Johnson to join the Liberal Democrats. Lee, a remain-supporting GP, had been an MP for neighbouring electorate Bracknell, which he won for the Conservatives in 2017 with a 58.8% majority.
In the week after the 2016 referendum, Redwood said a “carefully managed” Brexit would have a modest influence on the economic performance of the UK and the EU in the short term. He did not expect UK growth would be difficult in the medium term.
In 2017, he faced political heat for a column in the Financial Times advising investors to seek opportunities outside the UK.
He was this year knighted for political and public service in the New Year’s honours list.
