More than seven in 10 people would support assisted dying for terminally ill adults, new research has found.
Among Conservative voters in Red Wall seats that figure rises to over three quarters, suggesting Boris Johnson would have the support of his party members if he chose to change the law.
There is no current law to help terminally ill people end their lives in this country, despite it being legal in many other places around the world.
However, the Scottish parliament is about to consult on changing the rules to allow people to end their lives in certain strict circumstances, as long as two doctors agree.
The polling, conducted by JL Partners for Dignity in Dying, shows that 72% of people would support an assisted dying law for those who are coming to the end of their lives and are of sound mind.
Just 9% of people asked said they would oppose such a decision. Among Conservative voters support increased to 76%.
The subject is due to be debated in the House of Lords next month, where even stricter conditions are being proposed than in Scotland – including oversight by a High Court judge.
It comes as the British Medical Association chose last week to drop its long-held opposition to assisted dying in favour of a neutral position, following the Royal College of Nurses and the Royal College of Physicians.
Mr Johnson has previously expressed his support for a change in the law during his time as mayor of London, but any change would likely require his support as prime minister given the restrictions on parliamentary time.
Writing in The Telegraph in 2014, Mr Johnson said there should be strict criteria governing any change, setting out that only those with six months left to live should be allowed to end their lives.
He wrote that the “time has come” to look again at the law and that the public broadly supported “a very big change in our approach to death and dying”.
He added: “We all see it. We say little about it.
“We know that it is humane – something we hope someone may have the kindness eventually to do to us, too. The point is that the pass is sold, the principle established.”
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