WOMEN are helping Jeremy Corbyn head towards an overwhelming victory in the Labour leadership contest, a newly-published poll has predicted.
A YouGov survey of Labour members and supporters revealed that while the Islington North MP is the favourite candidate overall with 53 per cent of voters backing him, he is particularly popular among women.
Some 61 per cent of women polled said they will choose Corbyn in the first round of voting, compared to 48 per cent of men.
Women politicians and activists in Scotland last night welcomed the news that Corbyn was ahead in the contest.
Elaine Smith, Labour MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, said his commitment to anti-austerity as well as the style of his politics were behind his success in reaching out to women.
“His anti-austerity approach will certainly strike a chord with women. We know that in society women tend to be the poorest, and issues such as cut backs and job insecurity tend to affect women more,” she said.
“I also believe Jeremy has a quiet, collegiate and less confrontational approach to politics and that is appealing to everyone, but particularly women,” she said.
Lynne Robertson, manager of North West Women’s Centre in Glasgow, which supports women affected by economic deprivation, said she believed women liked his principled stances.
“Jeremy Corbyn stands out as someone who is different from the other candidates. He doesn’t look like a career politician. He is coming out as a real person. I think that directness and straightforwardness appeals to women,” she said.
“He talks the language people understand. If I was voting, I would vote for Corbyn.”
Robertson said she was angered too by the talk that Corbyn would take politics back to the 1980s, saying that if politics was once again concerned with values such as equality and fairness, that was a positive development.
Alys Mumford, of gender equality’s group Engender, said research by her organisation had shown that of the £26bn worth of welfare cuts implemented by the UK Government since 2010, 85 per cent has come from women’s income.
“Corbyn has campaigned strongly on these issues, and we would not be surprised if this was a motivation in women lending him their support,” she said.
“This polling is interesting as it undermines the theory we have heard so much over the past two years in Scotland, that women tend to be more cautious voters than men.”
The poll of 1,411 Labour voters and supporters also found women were snubbing Liz Kendall with just four per cent giving the Blairite candidate their vote in the first round, considerably less than the 11 per cent of men who would back her.
The sexes also diverged on who they preferred of the remaining candidates, Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper.
Cooper was women’s second favourite candidate, while men preferred her rival Burnham.
Corbyn, who heads to Scotland tomorrow for a two day tour, began the race as a rank outsider, managing to just get enough nominations to take part.
However, his presence has electrified the contest with “Corbynmania” taking hold as hundreds of supporters flock to hear him speak out about welfare cuts, Trident and the privatisation of the railways and other public services. The survey questioned 729 people who were already full members of the Labour Party at the time of May General election, and 682 who had joined as either members of supporters since then.
With 53 per cent of voters supporting Corbyn, it would mean he would win the contest in just one round. In 2010 Ed Miliband beat his older brother David to become the new leader of the Labour party after the contest went to a fourth round.
The YouGov poll, published yesterday, put Andy Burnham in second place on 21 per cent, three points ahead of Yvette Cooper, while the Blairite Liz Kendall trails on eight per cent.
Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, said he would “be astonished” if Corbyn did not win the contest.
The poll also found Corbyn’s support was strongest among trade union affiliates with 67 per cent giving him their support and weakest among full members who joined before Ed Miliband became leader with just 39 per cent of that group supporting him.
The poll found a similar level of support among Labour party members and supporters in Scotland for Corbyn, with 53 per cent giving him their first preference votes, compared to 25 per cent for Burnham, 15 Cooper and Kendall getting eight per cent.
The poll also handed Tom Watson a comfortable lead in the deputy leadership contest, with 40 per cent of first preferences, with Stella Creasy the closest challenger on 19 per cent.
Today is the deadline for supporters to register for £3 to vote in the contest, and ballot papers are to be sent out this Friday. Voting closes on September 10 with the result announced two days later.
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