'Remain' leading 'Leave' by 13 percent points ahead of UK's EU referendum - ORB poll

LONDON (Reuters) - The "Remain" camp holds a 13-point lead over "Leave" rivals in Britain's EU referendum campaign, after winning support for the first time from a majority of men, those aged over 65 and Conservative voters, according to a poll published on Tuesday. The ORB survey for the Daily Telegraph newspaper found that among those who definitely plan to vote in the June 23 referendum, support for remaining in the union stood at 55 percent while backing for a British exit was at 42 percent. The three voter groups of men, older people and Tory supporters had all favoured leaving the European Union when they were surveyed in March, the newspaper said, but a majority of each now backed "Remain". Pensioners, previously considered to be the most consistent Brexit supporters, now narrowly favoured staying in the union the survey found, with 52 percent of the over-65s intending to vote to "Remain" and 44 percent backing "Leave". Amongst all voters, those wanting to stay in the European Union had a 20-point lead with 58 per cent of voters saying they backed the pro-EU campaign, the survey of 800 voters carried out between May 18 and 22 found. The proportion of voters undecided or likely to change their minds stood at 16 percent, up one percentage point from its May 16 poll, but down 8 points from March. ORB pollster Johnny Heald said the undecideds, when pushed, were twice as likely to be considering "Remain" over Brexit. "Evidence from other referendums in countries such as Ireland and Canada indicate that those who tell pollsters they don't know how they will vote in the end are significantly more likely to support the status quo as they have not been convinced by the arguments to leave in this case," he said. However, he said the Remain campaign needed younger people to turn out to vote, something they were traditionally less likely to do than older people. (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by John Stonestreet, Peter Cooney and Michael Holden)