Male voters and Liberal Democrats are more likely to sympathise with Assange
Male voters and Liberal Democrats are generally more supportive of Ecuador's decisions to grant Julian Assange asylum, according to new polling.
A YouGov survey for the Sunday Times showed most Britons thought Ecuador was wrong to grant the Wikileaks founder asylum after Sweden demanded his extradition to face allegations of sexual assault.
Fifty-five per cent of voters oppose the Ecuadorian decision to grant Assange asylum, compared to 25% who support it.
But if the results are split along gender lines a clear division emerges. Thirty-one per cent of men support Ecuador's decision, compared to just 18% of women.
In general, voters opposed the idea of British police entering the embassy to seize Assange, but here there was also a gender divide.
Thirty-three per cent of voters would accept the use of the little-known law while 54% would oppose it. But the figure grows to 66% opposition among men, while there is an even split among women, where 40% back the idea and 42% oppose it.
Liberal Democrat voters show more support than Labour or Tory voters towards Assange throughout the poll. Analysis by YouGov boss Peter Kellner suggests this is unusual, with the party's supporters sitting in between Labour and Tory opinion in the majority of surveys.
The majority of those who supported the extradition to Sweden did so on the basis of the reliability of its legal system, but there was much less support for America.
By 51% to 29% respondents said Assange would not receive a fair trial in the US.
There is no existing evidence of a US demand for Assange's extradition, although Australian activist insists that is behind the allegations in Sweden.
