'Out' camp widens lead over 'In' ahead of UK's EU referendum: ICM

Reuters

Published Jun 13, 2016 01:12PM ET

'Out' camp widens lead over 'In' ahead of UK's EU referendum: ICM

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's "Out" campaign has widened its lead over the "In" camp ahead of the country's June 23 referendum on its membership of the European Union, two opinion polls published by ICM showed on Monday.

According to two ICM polls, one online and one conducted by telephone, "Out" held 53 percent support compared with 47 percent support for "In," the Guardian newspaper, which sponsored the telephone poll said.

That compared with a 52-48 percent split in favor of "Out" in ICM polls two weeks ago, the Guardian said.

Those polls excluded respondents who answered "don't know."

The ICM polls are the latest to suggest momentum has swung towards the "Out" camp, unsettling investors.

A poll published on Friday which gave "Out" a 10 percentage-point lead added to pressure on sterling and pushed the cost of hedging against huge swings in the exchange rate to record highs [GBP/]

ICM said it interviewed 1,000 adults by telephone and 2,001 adults online between June 10 and 13.

Including people who said they did not know how they would vote, the telephone poll showed 50 percent of people backed "Out," 45 percent of people supported "In" and 5 percent were classed as "don't know", ICM said.

The online poll showed "Out" leading "In" by 49 percent to 44 percent with 7 percent saying they did not know how to vote.

Both polls showed falls in the share of "don't knows," ICM said.