UK thinks Santa Claus would have voted against Brexit and Donald Trump

Brexit cheerleaders Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are probably on Father Christmas' naughty list this year since the fictional festive figure would have voted Remain at the EU referendum, according to British voters.

YouGov, who surveyed more than 1,600 people between 13 and 14 December, found that 63% of respondents thought Santa would have taken a pro-EU stance at the historic ballot.

"Presumably this is an acknowledgement of the importance of 'freedom of movement' in enabling Santa to perform his Yuletide activities," said YouGov's Matthew Smith.

The pollster also asked UK voters how St Nicholas would have voted at the US presidential election in November.

Rather than backing Republican Donald Trump (18%) or Democrat nominee Hilary Clinton (40%), the respondents said Santa would have voted for a third party candidate (42%).

The study also found that the British electorate think Father Christmas would back the Green Party at the next general election (30%), with Labour (23%) as his second favourite party and the Conservatives as his third (20%).

"Political perceptions on Santa tend to follow party lines. Between 41% and 50% of those who voted Conservative, Labour or UKIP in 2015 all believed that Santa would vote for their party," Smith said.

"However, the second most popular answer for each of these voting groups was Green, with as many as 31% of Labour voters giving this answer.

"Curiously, just 13% of Liberal Democrat voters believe that Santa would vote as they did, whilst 42% believe he would vote Green instead."