BRIGHTON, England, Sept 23 (Reuters) - More than half ofvoters who backed Britain's opposition Labour Party at a 2017election think it is now time for leader Jeremy Corbyn to standdown, an opinion poll showed on Monday.
Corbyn is holding his party's annual conference in theEnglish coastal resort of Brighton, seeking to showcase Labour'sleftist policies and present himself as the only person who canresolve the impasse over Britain's planned exit from theEuropean Union.
But the opening days of the conference have beenovershadowed by internal splits - including over Brexit - thathave raised questions over the strength of Corbyn's position.
The YouGov poll showed 54% of those who backed Labour in2017 think Corbyn should resign and be replaced with someoneelse, with 29% saying he should stay and 17% saying they did notknow.
YouGov surveyed 1,650 adults on Sept. 18 and 19, before theconference began.
Among the wider electorate, the percentage who thoughtCorbyn should go was 58%, while that stood at 34% among thosewho said they were current Labour supporters.
The veteran Labour leader, who took control of the party in2015, comfortably survived an attempt to oust him in 2016 thanksin part to a huge influx of grassroots members who backed hisshift towards a more radical left-wing agenda.
Corbyn said on Sunday he intended to lead the party into thenext general election, which is not scheduled until 2022, but isexpected to be held later this year as Britain tries to resolvethe deadlock over how or whether to leave the European Union.
Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson is promisingBritain will leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without an exitdeal, but opponents believe they have passed a law forbiddinghim to do so. The outcome of that impasse is uncertain.
The situation has put Corbyn's own Brexit policy underintense scrutiny.
He wants to request more negotiating time, win an election,negotiate a new deal and then put it to the public in areferendum which also offers voters the chance to remain in theEU. Corbyn has not said what he would campaign for in thatreferendum.
The YouGov survey showed that 69% of the general populationfound this policy unclear or confusing. Among those whoidentified themselves as voting to stay inside the EU in 2016,46% opposed his Brexit policy.(Reporting by William James, editing by Deepa Babington)